


Journeys of the Dreamer: Nakama United

by NorthSouthGorem, UnitedOsprey1991



Series: Journeys of the Dreamer [2]
Category: Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Pokemon - Fandom
Genre: Deviation From Canon, F/F, F/M, Fanservices, Harems, Hetero, Kamen Rider - Freeform, Multi, Multiverse, Powerful Characters, Powerful Ocs, Yuri, multiple OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 454,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthSouthGorem/pseuds/NorthSouthGorem, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnitedOsprey1991/pseuds/UnitedOsprey1991
Summary: Hello Everyone. This Is UnitedOsprey1991 with a brand new story. This is the sequel to my first story Journeys of the Dreamer: Riders of Aura. For new readers, I suggest you read that because you will get lost. For old readers, thanks for the support and here’s hoping this story lives up your expectations.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Hikari | Dawn/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Kasumi | Misty/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Lila | Anabel/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Natsu Dragneel/Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Lisanna Strauss, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel/Mirajane Strauss, Original Character/Original Female Character
Series: Journeys of the Dreamer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716757
Kudos: 4





	1. Start of New Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone. This Is UnitedOsprey1991 with a brand new story. This is the sequel to my first story Journeys of the Dreamer: Riders of Aura. For new readers, I suggest you read that because you will get lost. For old readers, thanks for the support and here’s hoping this story lives up your expectations.

Normal: Dialogue

_Italics: Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy._

CAPS: Attacks

**Bold: Yelling and Belt Noises**

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_ **

Chapter 1: Preparing for Adventure

Long ago, in the time before recorded history, there existed a Kingdom of vast size. This Kingdom was a utopia, full of life, riches, equality and beauty. This prosperous time was brought about under the protection of the Royal Family and Guardians and their Knights. The knights were a group of five incredible people chosen to serve each of two Guardians, dubbed the Prince and Princess of their element. The Guardians were seemingly gods personified once they were sufficiently trained. Each generation produced legendary knights and guardians and the realm was kept stable under their just hand and the royal family they swore fealty to.

Until one day, a horrible darkness spread through the Kingdom and launched a terrible war that threatened to consume it. The last generation of both the Royal family and the Guardians made a desperate last gamble. They split the kingdom into many different worlds and scattered their power to five different worlds. One a world of wonderous creatures, one a World of magic, One a World where the dead protect the living, One a World controlled by the elements and one where ingenuity rules.

Origins forgotten over time, these worlds were built with the knowledge and treasure of the Kingdom lost. The only people who could awaken them were the descendants who unknowingly have this incredible power.

Before the world was split, a prophecy was made that would tell when the Guardians would return.

_The Darkness is upon us_

_The worlds descend to chaos_

_But fear not for the Guardians will return_

_He who dreams of a thousand dreams_

_Shall find his power at the beginning of his eighth year_

_He shall train to protect his destined ones_

_And they will train to protect him_

_He shall leave his world_

_To find the remaining eight who have the power to win_

_One who has the blessing of the sky (Thunder)_

_One who swims as though born in it (Water)_

_One who trains to slay his parent (Earth)_

_One who commands the celestial heavens (Metal)_

_One who is born of death (Darkness)_

_One who rejects reality (Light)_

_One who is burdened by being a savior (Wind)_

_One who sees through all faults (Ice)_

_The Darkness will be destroyed if the ten Guardians train and protect each other_

_But be wary of the ones who think they are friends as they will attempt to deceive_

_Take head if the darkness destroys the dreamer_

_All will be lost to maelstrom_

_But if they see the through the deceivers_

_The darkness will be destroyed in its entirety_

_The worlds will be forever united_

_As love is the ultimate light_

_Let love lead the way for hatred will lead to destruction._

_Let the dreamer light the way to peace forever more_

_Now as the worlds move closer together, the powers that were sealed away have begun to awaken. The Guardians of Fire, Lightning and Water have been awaken. Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower, together with their knights, Brock Slate, Max and May Birch, Anabel Soleil and Dawn Berlitz from the world of Pokémon have become the first completed team, the Riders of Aura. Along with the Guardian of Fire, Drew Smith and his two knights, Gabriella Sirgant and Victoria Annabeth Spallina, they have trained in their powers and their skills ready for what is to come. Now their new journey begins in the world that is now their new home._

_ Friday, March 4th 2005, Oakland, New Jersey about 2:30PM (Earth Prime) _

_The school bell ringing signaled the end of the day. The mass of students leaving to head to their lockers let to a cacophony of sound as they prepared to go home._

_A slender young woman with mid back length red hair in a small pony tail, wearing a blue shirt and matching skirt opened her locker and looked at the mirror to check her appearance and collected her books for home. A pair of hands covered her eyes._

_“Guess who?” A male voice said._

_The woman smiled. “Hm…no gloves, so its not Dawn, not enough calluses for May, and too rough for Anabel. I am going to say my loving boyfriend Ash.”_

_The girl turned around to see the now named Ash wearing a grey vest, a tight black muscle shirt and blue jeans and his trademarked hat that he was now allowed to wear._

_“Hey Mist.” He said kissing her on the cheek getting the now named Misty to pout._

_“No lips?”_

_“Not right now. So where’s the others?” Ash replied._

_“Right here knucklehead.” Another male voice called out. The couple turned to see three people, two girls and one boy. The lone boy was brown haired with brown eyes and glasses and was wearing blue jeans and a red t-shirt depicted the school Florida State. The first girl was a long dark blonde haired girl with tanned skin and blue eyes. She was wearing blue blouse and a grey skirt. The other girl was a brunette with blue eyes, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a striped shirt with her hair tied up in a ponytail. This was Drew, Gabriella, who preferred Gabby and Victoria, who preferred Tori._

_“What up guys? How was class?” Ash said._

_Drew groaned. “Good, but seriously these State tests are going to be murder on my mind.”_

_“Don’t remind me, at least you don’t have Graham.” Gabby complained as the group walked out._

_“So what are our schedules today?” Tori asked._

_“Most of us are off today. May and Anabel are at Gymnastics practice.” Drew said as they headed out into the courtyard to wait for two of their companions. Soon enough, there was a small boy with blue green hair, glasses, brown eyes, a green shirt and blue jeans running out of the door._

_“Hey guys!” Max said running up to them out of breath. “Sorry, got out of gym a little late.”_

_“It’s fine, Max.” Ash said as he sat down with Misty sitting next to him._

_“Don’t you have to train for cross-country, Ash?” Max pondered._

_“Heh, I do that enough running through the woods and outrunning you Maverick.” Ash chuckled._

_Ash and his friends had come from their old world and settled in nicely in Drew’s homeworld. Outside of the training they have done, they had branched out into other various activities they enjoyed. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Misty took up swimming and had proven she was among the best swimmers at the local YMCA. The high school they were going to next year was eagerly waiting for Misty to come to the school._

_The same could be said for Ash as he took up cross-country and track at the middle school. In track, he was a sprinter but he was capable of going the distance that cross country events demanded. He was already being scouted for some college._

_For Max, he had started taking up Lacrosse, something that surprised his friends and family. But he was determined to train his hardest to prove he made the right choice. Considering the alternatives, his parents got behind quite eagerly and now was eagerly waiting to get onto the local team._

_May and Anabel decided to take up gymnastics. Their already flexible bodies were made more so with the exercises they went through. May made sure tease poor Ash at every chance as a result, especially considering her bust had started to grow a bit while Anabel improved her dancing quite a lot._

_Speaking of Anabel, perhaps the most surprising thing the Pokemon trainers had taken up was, Anabel learning to be a DJ. She was listening to the radio one night and was curious about the song being changed with different tunes on the radio. After some discussion with Drew and his family, she started to do some random music mixing and she found her empathic abilities allowed her to feel what the music was and how to create the best sound. Buying a turntable and some recording equipment, her bedroom had become her recording studio. There were some days where she DJ’d for hours on end, completely lost in the music. Her remixes had gotten some airtime on radio and she even posted some videos of her on this new site called Youtube. (This was 2005)_

_As for Dawn, she had taken up being an artist and fashion designer. Encouraged by what happened in Hearthome City, she designed some truly unique designs. The other girls helped model the designs and Dawn even modeled some of them, the girls loving to literally doll her up._

_Speaking of the blue haired girl, she was walking out of the door of the school with a group of admirers. She was wearing a pink ruffled skirt and a pink blouse with white leggings and gloves up to her sleeves with grey slip on shoes. Her hair was in two pigtails and her face was done with some light make-up to accentuate her pale features. This was Dawn Berlitz._

_“Sorry, I’ve got to go home girls. I promise to have some more designs soon.” She said with a cheery smile._

_“See you Monday Dawn.” One of the girls called out as they went their separate ways. Dawn sighed and walked to her friends and her secret boyfriend and girlfriend. “Man being popular is tough. Hey guys.” She waved to them._

_Ash waved to Dawn who laid next to his shoulder and Ash pulled her close._

_“So we waiting on Tsuki?” Ash asked._

_“I am right here. And I can see Mrs. Ketchum and Brock and Mr. Smith coming.” Said a very pretty silver haired girl with a black t-shirt and blue jeans. This was Tsuki, who unknown to those outside of the little group, was older than the age she appeared as._

_Everyone nodded and headed towards the two cars, a black Chevrolet Trailblazer and a grey Toyota Sienna. In the seat of the front part of the truck was a dark skinned young man who had just started driving under the supervision of the older man in the passenger seat, wearing a green shirt and brown pants. The man was a black haired middle aged man wearing a blue shirt and grey khakis. This was Brock Slate and Drew’s dad Mike. In the time since he and his family came to this world, Brock had settled in nicely and had taken up a part-time job at the local vet, where his expertise with pokémon translated to veterinarian skills._

_In the Sienna, sat a beautiful red haired woman with a yellow shirt, a blue skirt, a pink jacket and gardening gloves. This was Ash’s mother, Delia Ketchum. After getting the paperwork through, Delia found a job at the local botanist. Her care for the plants and her skill with raising organic food made her quite popular with the locals._

_Ash, Misty, Max and Dawn headed towards Delia’s car while Drew, Gabby and Tori walked to the truck._

_“Drew!” A female voice called causing the young man to stop and smile. He turned to see a tanned woman with black hair that was about as tall as Max at the moment, wearing a red shirt and jeans. From her appearance she was from India._

_“Hey Nupur what up?” He asked._

_“Nothing, do you have Emma’s gift for her party tonight?”_

_“Oh yeah.” He said taking out his bag and opening up his bag to pull out a small box and card. “She’ll love it.” He said giving it to her._

_“Thanks Drew. See you Monday.” She said walking over to a Mercedes two cars down. Drew watched her go with a smile. The two meeting each other was pure coincidence. They had the same math class and also the same lunch. One day while he was eating with his current friends he noticed her sitting alone._

_ Flashback, September 2004 _

_Drew was stepping out of the lunch line with his lunch in hand. As he walked over to his friends, he noticed a girl eating by herself, two tables over._

_“Drew are you going to sit down?” Gabby asked._

_He looked to see most of his friends in this lunch sitting down._

_“I will. Its just there is this girl over there who looks lonely. Mind if I sit with her today?”_

_Ash waved it off as he swallowed his meal. “It’s fine. Its nice to have friends outside of us Drew. Keeps us grounded.”_

_Misty giggled at the mature answer as Drew walked over to the table. The girl looked to be writing something down._

_“Hey there. Your in my math class with Miss Zaire.” Drew said sitting down. The girl looked up and noticed the boy sitting down. “Yeah, I’m Nupur Sobti. And despite my size I am not in 6 th grade.”_

_“Not commenting on your height. Drew Smith. A pleasure. You looked lonely.”_

_The girl seemed to brighten up. “Thanks, I guess. What about your friends?”_

_Drew looked over and saw them laughing. “Don’t worry about them. They actually encouraged me to meet with you. So what you got there.” He asked pointing to the food._

_The pair started to talk for a few minutes before the bell rang and they headed towards their class._

_ Flashback End _

_Over time, Nupur introduced her to some of her friends, a couple of which were out of district. They were all autistics, something Drew could relate to and over time he introduced them to his friends. While it was awkward for two completely different social circles to interact with each other, they eventually started to find common ground, though the Nupur’s group interacted with Drew more than his friends._

_Drew sighed as he entered his dad’s car with Tori and Tsuki. Mike turned to his son. “You don’t like keeping secrets like this. Especially some who is your first friend you had that was like you.”_

_Drew looked out the window as Nupur’s ride drove away. “You don’t know the half of it. If she knows half of the things we get into, she might be scared off.”_

_“Is it because you might have something more than feelings of friendship for her?” Tsuki asked next to him._

_“Maybe. Our friendship means a lot to me. I just don’t want to ruin any real relationship we might have.”_

_Tori sadly smiled. “We know that we weren’t going to be the only ones to have you. Even if we didn’t have this over our heads, we would encourage you to go after her.”_

_Drew smiled and kissed her. “Thanks Tor.”_

_The ride back passed comfortably as they headed to the street where most of the families lived. Up on top of the hill that was McCoy Street, sat a tan colored house that was two stories with a large backyard perfect for training. The houses next to it had their barriers cleared and the yards became one big practice field._

_The students changed out of their clothes and into their training outfits. They consisted of martial arts gi’s colored for each specific person. Drew had a black one, Misty was blue, Ash was blue, Dawn was pink, Brock was grey, Max was green, Gabby in yellow_

_When they got outside, the pokémon trainers were instantly greeted by their many companions. And they were as variable as a zoo. There was the humanoid Gallade who immediately started to spar with Max. There was the bunny Buneary who bounced around Dawn with the penguin Piplup and the electric squirrel Pachirisu. Over in the large pond, Misty and Tori were beginning to walk out onto the water to begin their training in manipulating water. Surrounding them were the various water pokémon Misty and her family had acquired. Off to the side of the clearing Gabby began a kata of her preferred martial Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, while Brock began cracking rocks. And in the middle of the clearing, Ash and Drew stood with two wooden Bokken tensed to start, Drew’s off to the side in a one handed grip while Ash was settled in a kendo stance._

_An unspoken signal and the two blinked and charged at each other, both weapons straining under the combined force. Drew lifted his sword underneath Ash’s, using his strength advantage to raise it. Ash countered by back flipping over Drew’s wide swing. He then charged in swing his weapon almost too fast for the eye to see. Drew dodged them as best he could bending his body out of the way. He bent all the way back and went into a hand stand using his legs to strike at his face. Ash immediately blocked his kick and immediately went onto the defensive. A couple more minutes of this and they reset themselves looking for another opening._

_Off to the side, Delia had set down refreshments and watched her son spar Drew._

_“Our boys seem to be enjoying themselves.” Mike’s voice broke her concentration. She turned to see him sitting down with a glass of water in his hand. Mike looked out onto the field to see everyone training hard._

_“You know I sent my son off on an adventure and he returned with friends he wouldn’t have otherwise. Pretty much picked up another son and three daughters.” Mike pointed out._

_It was true. Misty, Anabel, Dawn and Ash did not have a significant father figure in their lives. Mike had taken the role of the group father, dispensing valuable advice to them. He especially liked having Ash around as the boy had missed out on lot growing up without a father and thus thrived on his advice. Drew took it in stride, not caring he had to share his father and he liked having them as adopted siblings even though legally they were adopted by him._

_Speaking of May and Anabel, the two walked through the door, the brunette in a red gi.and the empath in a purple one._

“We overheard what you said. I can appreciate what you are doing for us. Even giving Team Rocket some jobs.” May said.

Mike’s company had expanded in the last year or so and was convinced by his son to give Jessie and James a chance. They had actually thrived with positive influences and were being a big help in the office.

Mike chuckled. “I always believed that if they are willing to put in the work, they deserve the job. I believe God gave them second chances for a reason.

May smiled and watched the duel again. “If you don’t mind, I think that duel of theirs is going to become a free for all.” She said as she cartwheeled and jumped into the fight. Drew and Ash immediately blocked her attack and the battle became an intricate dance of blades and fists.

Anabel turned to Mike. “You don’t have to say anything, Mr. Smith. You’ve given us stability and for that I am grateful for it. Thank you for everything you have given me and everyone else.” She reached up to kiss him on the cheek and headed off to where her pokémon were waiting to train.

Delia giggled as Mike watched her run off. The man sighed. “They are growing up. Soon I might not be needed.”

“You will always be needed. Everyone turns to you for advice, don’t forget that.” She reassured him.

Mike smiled as the three way battle continued. After a half an hour, the battle had turned into a free for all as everyone gotten into the fight. Another 15 minutes before drained from sparring, the kids collapsed into heaps of laughter as they were covered in dirt, mud and grass. This seemed to end the training and their pokémon walked over to play with them.

The sun set a few minutes later and the group started to head back to clean themselves up. Ash had May on his back and Anabel and Dawn on his arms. Gabby and Tori were talking training tips with Brock and Max and Drew were discussing some homework. Tsuki was watching them from the deck with a large smile. She then looked up and her smile fell. “Soon. I feel their journey will be soon.”

A couple of hours later, Anabel was in her room in a white tank top and blue short shorts, having recently cleaned up after dinner. Her room was bathed in a calming blue light, pictures of various dancers and animals adorning the walls. With Anabel being an orphan, Delia had adopted her and was now living in with her and Ash, along with Misty who crashed there because her sisters were out modelling.

Anabel walked up to the turntable and put on her headphones. She looked through the songs on her Ipod and selected two. The music started to play and closed her eyes. Through her empathic abilities she saw the colors the songs were giving off. Waving her arms around, she started to mix the songs to blend the colors around. The songs changed and she was on top of the new mixes. After a couple of songs, she activated the wireless function in her head phones and started to dance in the middle of her room. A couple of songs later, she was stopped and flipped the turn table off but kept the music playing. She opened her eyes as she caught her breath and saw Ash on the bed in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.

“Hey Ana.” He called out.

Anabel smiled. “Hey Ash.” She whispered. He handed her a glass of water and she took a big gulp.

“Make any good remixes?” Ash asked leaning back on the bed.

“Yeah. But I felt today was more about feeling the music then creating it. Hence why I was dancing.” Anabel replied doing a twirl before stepping between the boy’s legs.

“And dare I say, your dancing is getting more and more beautiful.” He responded as the empath pushed him onto the bed and crawled up to him.

“Thank you.” She said shyly before leaning into capture his lips in a kiss. The two lost themselves into the kiss, Ash pulling her in close and started to feel around her back but not going underneath. The two released to catch their breath and saw the love in each other’s eyes.

“Got room for one more?” Misty’s voice called out from the door way. Rather than be embarrassed, the two smiled and turned to see the red head leaning against the door, her hair down and in a black sports bra and matching sleep shorts, showing her taunt tummy and her long swimmer’s legs and arms. People had given her the nickname the Mermaid, for grace and her skill in the pool. Her model like body, hardened by the training in and out of the pool, combined with her decent sized chest, wide hips and her tanned skin, made her the wet dream of every straight boy and some girls in the school. But she had chosen Ash, who was no slouch in the looks department as Anabel could attest feeling his chest.

The empath smiled. “Always room for you Mist.”

Misty sauntered over to the bed and hugged the empath and put the younger girl between her and Ash.

“You know sharing a bed with Dawn and May is nice, but there is something special about snuggling up with my boyfriend and my favorite teddy bear.” Misty whispered into Anabel’s ear.

Anabel smiled and snuggled into Ash. “Yeah.” Ash started to thread his hand through her hair. She reached over to telepathically shift the music off and then closed her eyes drinking in the combined from both Ash and Misty.

Ash watched her fall asleep and looked up to Misty. “You think Dawn and May would be jealous?”

Misty shrugged her shoulders. “Probably up to the point where they get their turn like this. Sweet dreams.” She said kissing Ash and then snuggling into Anabel’s back.

Ash watched them fall asleep and then drifted off himself.

Unknown time Later: Ruins of the Palace

In a far different world then one the guardians currently resided in, there stood a massive dwelling that resembled a castle. The years had not been kind to the castle, the ruins held the scars of a massive battle that took place at the Kingdom’s fall. Like the Kingdom, its name was lost to history, but those who still remember it call it the Palace. Once the home of the Princes and Princesses, it now held the darkness that destroyed it.

“GENERALS TO [ME]!” A Sinister voice called out to the halls of the Palace.

With that call five shadows materialized themselves. The first was a purple haired man wearing a blue and purple outfit standing about 5’3 and was carrying a large lance. This was the former trainer now Dark Aura trainee Paul, who had given up his humanity for power.

Second was a redheaded woman, about 4'11" with small breasts. She wore a green cloak over leather trappings and had brown eyes. She wielded a dark-red staff made of Redwood. Despite her innocent appearance, the look in her eyes revealed the depths of insanity. Yuzan, a former goddess and the reason why several cities were flooded.

Third was a man of 5'9", wearing a white robe with a black belt and carrying black-hilted katana. He had Red hair and brown eyes. Malachi, a shinigami who once headed the Kingdom's army. His banishment came about for using his power to kill people and was sentenced to life-long imprisonment for several murders in cold blood and crucifying the bodies.

Fourth was a woman with brown hair and a C-cup bust. She was dressed in ninja garb, including dark green armor with a mess underneath. Biker shorts and closed toed shoes completed the ensemble. Her weapon was a two foot ninjato. Junko, a kunoichi that had betrayed the royals and lead millions to their deaths from selling her country's secrets.

The final man was dressed in a black suit and tie. He stood at 6'0 and carried a huge zanbato that he could lift one-handed. Matthew, the elder brother of the last prince of Fire. He had been enraged at being passed over for his birthright and willingly betrayed his family to get the power he so coveted.

“Are we already moving out? I thought we were still gathering more troops?” Paul asked.

“Malachi is still gathering his minions. However Yuzan’s troops are in position on her world.” Matthew said.

Yuzan giggled sinisterly. “My army is ready. _These mages won’t know what hit them~.”_

Junko scoffed. “This world is so behind technologically, Yuzan should have no trouble conquering this world.”

“What about the Guardians?” Malachi asked. His face had dark colored cracks in face from his summoning of his minions.

Yuzan giggled. “Don’t you worry! _We have the capital and the army to win._ By the time those riders interfere… _They won’t be able to stop us.”_

“How are you getting the investment?

“I have some very rich benefactors that I was… _Able to Presuade through intimidation, blackmail._ You know the usual things.”

Matthew shook his head. “Why you do this is beyond me. But seeing your success, I will not stop it.”

“SILENCE!”

The five generals bowed to the two red eyes that appeared above them. Like the true name of the Palace, the name of the Darkness had been lost to history. However, the generals now call him the Puppetmaster.“Yuzan your plans [Will] Go Forward. We also need you to find the Guardians here and destroy [Them]!

Yuzan rubbed her chin. “Perhaps I can hire these guilds of this world. _Surely someone will go after them for a price.”_

Matthew pulled up a hologram. “There are hundreds of guilds on this world, the Guardians could be in any of them.”

“I will find them. _And kill them!”_ Yuzan hissed.

The Generals left and went to prepare their armies and to find the other guardians.

Back on Earth

Tsuki widened her eyes and sat up from her bed catching her breath. She held her chest to calm her heart as she remembered what she saw.

A knock on the door snapped her out her stupor. “Come in.”

In walked Drew, looking concerned. “Tsuki, what’s wrong?”

Tsuki shook her head. “It’s the same thing that happened before we headed to Ash and the other’s world.”

Drew shook his head. “That didn’t spook you as much as this.”

Tsuki wrapped her arms around her knees. “It’s just…I believe they already have a foothold in this world. We need to begin preparations as soon as possible.”

“The Equinox right?” Tsuki nodded. Drew stood up and smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll kick butt just as much in that world as we did in Ash’s world.”

Tsuki smiled. “Your powers are still growing, I believe you will win as well. Good night, Brother.”

“Good night sister.”

The two went back to bed and fell asleep quickly, thinking about what would transpire soon.

March 20th, 2005, 8:30 AM

Drew and his friends stood in front of Tsuki who had her arms out and her eyes glowing. Light poured from them and formed on either side of Tsuki. The light died down revealing identical copies of them, right down to the attitudes and their clothes.

Brock shook his head. “It feels weird looking at ourselves.”

Tsuki smiled. “It is fine to feel that way. While these bodies act as your real bodies, training and learning, you will head to this new world and defend it.” She said recovering her energy.

“So now what?” Dawn asked.

“Now we must prepare. The portal will be ready at sunset.” Tsuki said.

Ash nodded. “Alright then. Let’s get started.

Drew POV (Start the Pacific Rim Opening Theme)

_“Years before, if you told me that there were different worlds. out there and I was going to save each one, well I would you were nuts._

Each of the friends head to their respective rooms. The girls got dressed in their old outfits resized for their new sizes, while Brock starts to make a tally of all the gear they would take. Ash and Max are gathering up the pokémon and putting them in their poke balls. Drew is walking up to a wall that had a picture of Earth.

“ _However, each of my friends, including those from my favorite series had a unique gift. We are descendent from a powerful group of people that defended these worlds before they became what they were. They were called…The Guardians._

Drew opens up a statue and presses a button. The wall folded backed to reveal ten different weapons. Drew went for the two foot long sword. Gabby took the golden brown bow. Tori retrieved the light blue staff. Ash went for the katana with a yellow and black sheath. Misty went for the blue trident. May went for the oriental sword with a brown tassel. Max grabbed the two Sais and the staff. Brock took the large Poleaxe. Anabel grabbed the two purple chakrams and Dawn took the silvery rapier with a revolver mechanism.

Each of them examined the weapons and made sure they were sharp and maintained. They then took a couple of practice swings before putting them in their respective holsters.

As Drew put his sword away, Tsuki approached him with a much larger sword.

“Drew. I believe you should take this.”

Drew looked at the sword. It was much larger than his current weapon, Leonid, almost as tall as him.

“Your giving me Regulus? I thought I wasn’t ready for it.”

Tsuki shook her head. “Your not. But I feel you may need this sooner than later. Take good care of it.”

Drew nodded. “I will.”

A couple of hours later, the group of friends headed towards an elevator that was built into Drew’s house. Tsuki had started to construct an underground base of operations for this world in preparation for a potential battle here. The elevator opened to a large cave with a large circular structure that reminded Drew of the Stargate. Their families were waiting patiently as their children walked out of the elevator with a purpose. Off to the side a case opened up with steam billowing out. Out of the steam stood ten objects. A black phone, a red object with a small slot that looked too thin for an Ipod, a silver buckle with what looked a camera on the front and an opening on top and seven golden buckles with a lever on the side and an opening for a card on the side.

_The belts. Ancient powers contained within a device no bigger than our hand. When we activate them, we become Guardians of Humanity, Kamen Riders._

The group headed towards the portal where their families stood.

“You two be good now. Don’t do anything rash.” Norman said to his children

“Stay out of trouble you two. Especially you Max.” Caroline encouraged.

“Mom!” Max groaned but hugged her parents.

“Be careful honey. You are all I have.” Joanna hugged her daughter.

“I will mom.” Dawn said with small tears in her eyes.

“Misty, like, don’t’ get any more beautiful there.” Daisy told her baby sister.

“Yeah, you just might take our jobs.” Violet continued.

“Oh don’t listen to them. Go show them what the Waterflowers are made of.” Lily countered.

Misty smiled. “Thanks girls you stay out of trouble.”

Ash was being hugged by his mother. “My baby boy. Just come home safe and change your underwear everyday!”

“Mom.” Ash groaned but kissed his mother on the forehead. Delia turned to Anabel. “You girls keep him out of trouble.

“You got it, mother.” The empath replied.

Gabby and Tori were saying goodbye to their parents, while Brock was being swarmed by his siblings.

Drew was looking at his dad. “I’m going to miss ya man. You watch out for everyone.”

“Including Nupur?” Mike pressed.

“Yeah…even her.” Drew replied.

Finished up with their good byes, Drew turned to Tsuki and nodded and pulled out his watch. Tsuki closed her eyes and spread her arms. The portal began to turn and electrify, the time space barrier beginning to fold in. Snapping her eyes open, they were glowing with ethereal light. At the same time, Drew thrust his watch in front of him and hit the barrier. The combined energy activated the portal.

“Portal is stable. Good luck, and may the stars guide you.” Tsuki replied.

The group of friends nodded and braced themselves to run.

“ _When a hurricane is coming, an act of God, you get out of the way. But with our powers…We are the Hurricane.”_

”Let’s Ride!” Drew called out. Max led the procession as he jumped in with a cheer. His sister followed and one by one they departed. The last three were Drew, Ash and Misty. They followed behind Brock and they each saluted their families before hopping into the portal, their destination unknown.

What will they find? Who will be the next group of Guardians? Who will be their allies? Find all of this out, in Journeys of the Dreamer 2: Nakama United.

**END OF Chapter**

**UO: Alright New story and hopefully new fans. I hope you like it. This is the unbetaed version, once its betaed, I will post it. But for now, read and review kindly.**

**Preview: A new world greets the Guardians. But their old enemies rear their ugly head. New friends and their abilities will make them selves known. What will happen? Find out next time.**

**Next time: Welcome to Fiore**


	2. Welcome To Firoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Riders visit a new world and run into two travelling mages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: Alright I'm motivated for this story. ACTOR CHECK  
> Drew: Here!  
> Ash & Misty: Let's Go!  
> Anabel: Present  
> Dawn: No need to worry  
> Gabby: Good to go  
> Tori: Let's do this!  
> May: Ready  
> Brock: Good to go  
> Max: Read-AHHH (Max gets thrown back by a chair)  
> UO: REALLY? ALREADY!? COME ON!  
> (Whole Cast ducks as another brawl breaks out.)  
> UO: God damn it. Ash, disclaimer! Now!  
> Ash: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokemon (Ducks a chair) Fairy Tail (Dodges a sword) or Kamen Rider. He makes no money and only owns the plot. (Gets hit by a random figure)  
> (Set is blown up)  
> UO: Start…the…Show

“Dialogue”  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling and Belt Noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 2: Welcome to Fiore

Small town in Fiore, June 29th X784

When we last left our heroes, they had left their home and arrived in a brand new world. In the last week or so they had learned that the country they were currently in was called Fiore and that the world was known as Earthland. They had also learned about guilds and how they would provide jobs for money. Each had earned a substantial reward for taking out a group of bandits that had been harassing the last town they were in. When they asked where they would find a guild, they were pointed in the direction of Magnolia and the guild Fairy Tail, about a four-day walk from the town they had been in.

Now they were stopped at a small town for lunch. The girls had exchanged their outfits in the previous town, after seeing that most of them were unique in that they showed off a woman's attributes a great deal; especially some of the women in the guilds. Misty, being a swimmer at heart, sported a blue bikini top with blue short shorts and strapped sandals, showing off her incredible body. When the boys saw her, they were launched backwards by blood shooting from their noses, getting the girls to giggle and Ash to grumble about perverts. At the advice of her boyfriend, she also donned a t-shirt in town that, while no less flattering, at least gave her some decency.

May, being the minx she was, went for a blue crop top that exposed her midriff and her growing bust. Her long legs were encased in a tight set of blue pants with dragons running up the leg and black slip on shoes. When she showed it off, she had to laugh at Ash's reaction and took every moment to show off her butt to him.

Anabel, feeling bold, went with what Drew called a harem dancer outfit. It was a purple outfit consisting of a purple top that exposed her midriff and sheer silk leggings, attached to a black bottom that hugged her butt, leaving her arms bare. She also wore a veil over her mouth and had two anklets on each foot that were silver and two bangles that was connected to a shawl that added to her allure when she danced. She saw Ash's reaction to her outfit and did a small dance that got him to smile and kiss her.

Dawn, being the shy one, settled on what was described as a Lolita outfit, specifically the sweet variety. It consisted of a white corset with a ruffled skirt that came down to her knees with red linings at the edges and images of rabbits and penguins sewn into it. She wore long silk gloves that came up to her shoulders and silk stockings that reached her thighs, along with knee-length boots that were functional and stylish. Her dark blue hair, which contrasted beautifully with the outfit, was done up in two pigtails, with a couple of ribbons. When she came out in her outfit, it took all of the girls' restraint to not glomp her and play with her like a dress-up doll. Fortunately, they would have plenty of time to do that when they got a place to stay in Magnolia.

Gabby, being the tomboy she was, went for a more practical outfit. She wore a green tank top and a short skirt, with matching boots with slots to holster her knives while showing a lot of her tanned skin. Tori decided to wear a sleeveless shirt, a knee length skirt and a blue cloak over her body, making her the most modest of the girls, but still displayed a figure worth showing off. Drew saw the outfits and smiled saying he was lucky to have such beautiful girls with him.

The guys, knowing it was summer, went with shorts and t-shirts. Drew had blue jean-shorts and his favorite college shirt with his Seminole hat on. Ash was in a black muscle shirt and shorts, his hat from his early training days on his head. Brock wore a green tank top and black shorts while Max went with a blue shirt and white shorts. Satisfied with their outfits, the group broke up to explore the town before lunch.

The girls started to head towards where they would meet the boys for lunch. As they chatted amongst themselves about their last job, someone ran into them and fell.

"OOF!" the person uttered, falling on her butt.

Dawn, who had ran into the girl, gasped. "Aw man, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?" She worriedly asked.

While Dawn panicked, her friends took a look at the girl on the ground. Her most prominent feature was her bust, which was even larger than May's. She was dressed in a white shirt with blue lines across her stomach, along with a thigh-length blue skirt, brown knee length boots and a blue ribbon in her medium length blonde hair. Her face had a creamy hue that was blemish and make-up free. Her large brown eyes captured their attention, as they were large and full of emotion. The girl appeared to be their age, yet she looked like a runway model.

The girl rubbed her head. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized.

Dawn smiled and held out her hand to help her up. "That's fine. I'm Dawn Berlitz. These are my friends, Misty Waterflower." She waved to her other hand over to the others.

"Hello."

"May Maple."

"Hi there."

"Anabel Soleil."

"Nice to meet you."

"Gabrielle Sirgant, we call her Gabby."

"What's up?"

"And Victoria Annabeth Spallina, we call her Tori."

"Hey there."

The blonde girl smiled and introduced herself. "Its nice to meet you all. I'm Lucy."

This raised a red flag. "No last name?" Misty pressed.

Lucy immediately looked down. "No, it’s...well, I’m not getting with with my family at the moment. They didn’t want me…striking out on my own. But I did.”

"Are they supposed to be important?" asked Tori.

"Uh…Yeah. They have a lot of money…and well," Lucy looked down at this, afraid of losing her new friends.

"You ran away?" Gabby theorized as they started walking.

Lucy nodded bashfully. "I wanted to be my own person, so I've been on the road for the last week to walk my own path. I wanted to go to Fairy Tail; their guild was so cool and had so many famous people!" She replied with enthusiasm.

Misty smiled. "What a coincidence! We’re heading there with our friends too, so the more the merrier. We were just heading to lunch, do you want to join us?"

Lucy beamed and followed her new friends as they headed towards where they would meet the boys. As they went, Anabel got Misty's attention. "She's not telling the full story," she whispered, "Don't push it."

Misty nodded and headed towards the restaurant, where the boys were waiting. The place they were meeting was a decent size eatery and it provided. Lucy, walking in behind the others, followed their line of sight to four boys who were sitting and drinking with each other. Two of them appeared to be the same age, one in a black shirt and one in a red.

The older looking one had tan skin and wore a green tank top. The younger boy had a blue shirt and shared similarities with May. The two boys lit up at the sight of the girls. She noticed what appeared to be a yellow rodent hop off the black shirt boy into Misty's arms.

Lucy walked quietly behind them and Misty pulled her close to the table.

Misty began her introductions. "Guys, this is Lucy; she wants to join Fairy Tail and we told her she could come with us. Lucy, these are our friends. May's brother Max," she pointed to the younger boy.

"Hi there," Max cheerfully.

"Our moral compass, Brock."

"A pleasure!" Brock tried to swoon but Max elbowed him in the gut.

"Gabby and Tori's close friend Drew."

"What's up?" Drew answered.

"And my boyfriend, Ash," Misty finished.

"Hey there. This is my buddy Pikachu," said Ash, indicating the rodent in Misty's arms.

"So cute~!" gushed Lucy, stars shining in her eyes. This made those at the table laugh at her enthusiasm. She composed herself and sat down.

Drew brought up something that was bugging him. "So no last name?" He didn't see Gabby telling him to drop it.

Lucy looked down. "It's…complicated. But from what your friends told me, you guys don't know about this company. My family is the head of this huge consortium of railways and shipping and I didn’t want to be a part of that world any more.

Drew hummed. "So, your family controls a lot of the railways and the shipping. Sounds like the Vanderbilts where we come from."

"Vanderbilts?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. The Vanderbilts were a family that built their wealth on the railways using what are now considered illegal tactics, but they were very smart businessmen and women. Along with the Carnegies, who controlled steel and the Rockefellers who controlled energy, they essentially turned our country into an industrial machine."

Lucy was amazed, but then she caught onto what he had said. "You say that in the past tense. What happened?"

"What else? The government wised up, people needed better working conditions and the march of technology as the years moved on. Comparatively, from what I could tell, you’re about…the start of an industrial revolution or a little bit later. We’re about three centuries beyond what we've seen here."

Lucy's jaw dropped and then shook her head. "You have to be kidding me. This technology of yours is more powerful than trains? How’ve we not heard about something like that?"

Rather than tell her, Drew decided on showing her what he meant. "Ash, pull out your Pokedex."

Ash nodded and pulled out the small rectangular device, which he gave to Lucy after turning it on.

"Now, point it at Pikachu.” Drew waved his hands at the yellow mouse.

Lucy decided to humor Drew and did so, almost dropping it when it started to talk. _Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pichu. Pikachu's tail is sometimes struck by lightning as it raises it to check its surroundings._ The blonde girl looked at Pikachu in amazement as Pikachu wagged his tail smiling. “Pikachu!” Then the yellow mouse squealed as Misty rubbed his ear, “Chaaa~~!

"Our tech is pretty advanced. This can fit in your pocket," the brunette revealed to the stunned blonde, "Anyway, as I was saying, from what we can gather, science, religion and tech are about three centuries behind us, but you make up for with Magic. Maybe two and a half, but clearly you are far behind us on the tech tree."

Lucy took all of this in as the group ordered their meals. They decided to interrogate the blonde and she took it all in stride, loving the fact they wanted to know about her, not where she came.

As they finished their meal, the doors to the restaurant slammed open to reveal a group of about ten men storming into the establishment. The other patrons were scared as the leader was the head of a local group of bandits. With a confident swagger, the man walked up to the bar to order his drink. As he did, he noticed Lucy and the others. He smirked and strode over.

"Hello ladies. Why don't you do yourself a favor, ditch the losers and come with some real men?"

To their surprise, however, the girls just ignored them and continued to talk, though the blonde looked nervous.

"Hey I'm talking to you bitches!" The man snarled

Dawn lifted her nose haughtily. "We heard you. The real men you’re talking about are sitting with us already. Even Max here is more of a man than you."

This stunned everyone in the restaurant, especially the leader. Before he could say anything, a familiar voice called out.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. But could you please leave our friends alone?" Drew asked nicely.

The leader turned around and grinned. "I was just telling these girls to get with a real man not someone like you."

Drew shrugged. "When I see one, I’ll let them know. Anyway, have we paid?" he asked Ash.

The aura master nodded, not paying attention to the large man, who was slowly losing his temper.

As Drew knelt down to get his stuff, one of the men grabbed his shoulder. Drew responded by squeezing the offending hand. "Don't touch me," he growled, getting the man to whimper. The man backed away enough for everyone to get up from their table and head for the door.

The leader growled. "Listen you retarded idiot, don't you walk away from me. You know who I am? I’m Gustav. The man with a 10 million Jewel bounty. I could crush your puny body and take those bitches with me!"

Now, Drew was normally not the most patient person, although he _had_ gotten quite a bit of help in that regard. But there were some things that would set him off. The word retarded was one of them. He sighed and glanced over at Ash, who lifted his sword. Behind them, Brock and Max them cracked their necks and tensed up for the inevitable brawl. Then he looked over at Gabby, who rolled her eyes as she and the other girls took a seat.

Lucy blanched and turned to the girls sitting down. "Uh…Guys? Shouldn't you, you know, help them?" she asked May.

May glanced at her, then at her fingers. "Oh don't worry, this won't take long." She took a look at her watch. "Bet is five minutes, any takers?"

"Sucker's bet. Won't even last two," Misty replied.

"Alright, two minutes. Any takers?" May revised.

"I got over. They are out of practice," Tori said, with Gabby siding with her.

"I'll take under," Anabel replied, with _her_ girlfriends taking her side.

"Losers have to clean the dishes next meal," May stipulated.

"Deal," the other girls agreed. Lucy was shocked at how casual this was and turned to see Drew opening his mouth.

"You know we have a saying where we come from. Manners," Drew started to say, popping Leonid out just enough to show off the hilt, his back to his opponents. "Maketh. The Man."

Ash unlatched Raikou and held it in his hand. Brock started to kneel, seeing where Drew was going to attack. Max was ready to turn, one of his sais out of its case.

"Do you know what that means?" he asked. When he got no answer he smiled. "Then let’s teach you a lesson," he continued. Then, in one swift motion, he hooked the hilt to a beer glass and swung it, sending it soaring clear through the air at the leader. The glass struck true and shattered, knocking him out.

The four boys turned around as Drew put Leonid back into place. "Alright, so are you gonna stand there or are we gonna do this?”

The nine remaining raiders looked on, totally stupefied as their leader keeled over backwards. At Drew’s words, they snapped out of their stupor and charged at the four who dare to defy them. The first one hurled a fist at Drew, but he merely deflected the blow using his sheathed weapon into the face one of the other attackers, which knocked him out.

Another one tried to attack Ash with a knife. He swung his sword to block the overhead knife swing, then jabbed him in the stomach with the hilt and then hit him in the chin. He then swept the legs of a second one attacking him and the nailed him in the chest taking the breath out of him

Brock had elbowed his attacker and then head-butted him. He noticed Max had pulled his opponent's jacket over his head and kicked out his legs. Another one tried to hit him, but Max got around him and drop kicked him in the back. Brock then threw his opponent towards Max's and the two knocked heads and fell unconscious.

Drew took another of his attacker's arms and used his strap to wrap the arm and pull it behind his attacker. He then shoved him into another grunt who was sent towards the bar. The man grabbed a beer bottle only for Drew to swing and break the bottle and kicked him into the bar. He then lifted his hostage, flipped him and slammed him to the floor.

By this time, Gustav had recovered from getting hit by the glass and stumbled to his feet. As he watched as his men dropped to the ground like flies and growled. He staggered to his feet and started to power up a magic circle in his palm, fingers curled into a claw. “You fucking _loser!_ **BURST BULLET!"**

He fired six bullets of light from his palm at Drew, who stood without flinching. Ash jumped in front of him, sword gripped hard. Two quick flashes of steel and the bullets were deflected away. Ash then ducked, revealing Drew winding up his arm. The last thing Gustav saw was Drew launching his sheathe at his head, which flipped him over and sent him toppling to the floor.

The leather holster bounced back and Drew caught it on his blade, before sliding it all the way back in. He turned to the barkeep. "Sorry about the damage," he said sheepishly, rubbing his head.

The barkeeper waved it off. "It was no trouble. Those guys have been bothering us for months. Lemme call the Rune Knights to arrest them. Here," the man held up the money they’d paid for their meal, “Consider your meal on the house.”

About an hour later, the Rune knights arrived and cuffed the group of brigands. They also gave the group their bounty money. In addition, they were paid quest money, as a job to eliminate the thugs had been recently posted.

The group made their way out of town with pleased smiles, full bellies and an amazed Lucy.

"So we met a new friend and we took out some bandits, not bad for one day. How far are we out from the next town?" asked Ash, hands behind his head and Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Two maybe three?” Brock replied, “Hargeon seems to be the next town and then it's a short train ride to Magnolia." He folded up the map.

"Good. I've missed our road trips," Drew said with a shrug. The group began their journey out of the town and towards Hargeon.

Lucy, though, was still in awe over what she had witnessed. "You guys were so cool! What's your secret? Did you use any magic in that?"

May giggled at her enthusiasm. "Nope. That was pure hand to hand skill. That finished rather quickly, didn’t it?" she taunted to Tori and Gabby who in an act of maturity stuck their tongues out

"Hand to hand? You used your weapons…right?" Lucy asked hesitantly.

Brock grinned. "True, we do use weapons,” he agreed, “But we mostly just use martial arts when we can help it. There was no magic involved.”

"Our magic is called Aura: an internal energy that in the right hands can create powerful attacks," Max added.

Anabel continued. "In order to properly use these attacks, we need the bonds of several creatures like Pikachu here, called Pokémon. The stronger the bond, the more effective the attack."

"Where we come from, Pokemon are used in everyday life. From battling, to working together to even being companions," Misty explained.

"Misty and I were gym leaders, people who test out trainers for the right to determine who the best is in a given region,” supplied Brock. “Ash, Max and Drew are trainers who battle with their pokémon to better their bonds and battle to see who’s the best. May and Dawn are coordinators; they show off their pokémon and appeal to the crowds. Anabel is called a Frontier Brain, special trainers that are tougher than most other trainers."

Ash stopped in front of a tree. "There’re over seven hundred pokémon in the wild, divided into 18 different classes or types. Some are obvious like fire and lightning.” To demonstrate, Ash raised his hand, which suddenly crackled with electricity. ** "Lighting Aura: Thunderbolt."**

Lucy's eyes widened as the bolt struck the tree and blasted a hole in it.

"Some of them are situational, like Bug," May picked up before her hand glowed silver. **"Bug Aura: Silver Wind."** The silvery edged wind cut through the tree effortlessly.

"And some are just really strong like Psychic," Dawn replied.

“Our training has allowed these moves to bleed into us,” Anabel finished. She held up her hand, her eyes glowing purple. **"Psychic Aura: Confusion."**

Lucy panicked as she was lifted off the ground. She had to hold her skirt as it had inadvertently flipped a bit. Anabel immediately regretted it and put her down. “Sorry about that,” she apologized sheepishly.

Lucy waved it off, though slightly shaky. "It’s fine. You guys really are amazing, though!"

Drew grinned. "Well, that's their magic. Ours is a bit different, on the other hand. We control the elements physically, rather than learn it from others." To demonstrate, he snapped his fingers to create a fireball. Tori conjured up a ball of water, while Gabby kicked up a pebble and rotated it with her fingers.

He motioned to the Pokémon trainers. "They can manipulate elements too, but theirs is more focused on using their Aura. Ours are pure manipulation. In addition to training our manipulation of the elements, we learned martial arts to defend ourselves and supplement that. Striking, punching, grapples, our bodies can be weapons unto ourselves.” He then regarded the blonde girl. "What about you, Lucy?"

Lucy rubbed her head ruefully. "My abilities aren’t as cool as yours… I can summon Celestial Spirits to fight for me, like how you use your Pokémon to battle for you."

"You mean these Celestial Spirits?" asked Max, holding up several gold and silver keys.

Lucy’s eyes widened and her hands reached for her waist to discover her keys had been swiped by the small boy. “How the heck did you do that?!” she cried.

Max smiled and tossed the keys to Drew, who caught them. "No other weapon and you rely too much on your spirits. Lose them, you lose your ability to fight," Drew replied, getting her to hang her head. He took a closer look at the keys. "Hm…Crux the Southern Cross, Horologium the Clock and Lyra the Harp," he muttered. He looked at the Golden Keys. "Taurus the Bull, Cancer the Crab and Aquarius the Water Bearer. Zodiac constellations, nice." After that he tossed them back to Lucy, who caught them with unsure hands. "Astronomy, the study of the stars, is a popular science back where we are. That's how I know about them," he explained, not waiting for her to ask as they started walking again.

After a few moments, Lucy spoke up. "Can you…teach me?" Everyone glanced at her. "Can you teach me to fight without my spirits?” she clarified, “I don't want to be a burden on anyone. Especially at Fairy Tail.” As she spoke, her expression became surer, more determined.

Unbeknownst to her, her friends were waiting for that. Misty turned to her and smiled. "Lucy, all you had to do was ask."

Lucy returned the smile as they continued on their journey, learning about her new friends.

Three hours later, they stopped to set up camp. The blonde watched as everyone released their pokémon. The variety was enormous, from dragons and large birds, to small animals like squirrels and rabbits. Lucy was fascinated with all of them, watching them with awed eyes. Ash provided his pokedex to let her view what each pokémon was and did, while the others started to train.

A half hour later, Lucy was still fiddling with the electronic device as her new friends trained. She watched Misty dancing out on the river in her blue bikini. She reminded Lucy of Mirajane Strauss in her bikini, except that Misty was a real swimmer and her tanned skin and red hair contrasted with Mirajane’s pale features.

Over in the trees, May danced with her sword, weaving through leaves that swirled around her. Considering what they’d told her, she was confident that May was in fact controlling them.

Next to her was her sparring partner, Anabel, using what she was told were chakrams. There was a certain grace the empath exhibited and despite her reservations about the outfit she wore, Lucy had to admit the purple haired girl pulled off the look beautifully.

Looking over to Gabby, Lucy observed her moving boulders with Brock. Then Lucy saw piercing the rocks with arrows fired from her bow. As she observed them, she noticed off to the side that Max was moving in a circle pattern, keeping his imaginary opponent in front of him. Tori was checking her weapon, an ornate blue staff that was about half her size, before she stood up and began to spar with Max. Lucy’s eyes were sparkling; with so many things to watch, she couldn’t decide what to do.

"Buneary," a squeaky voice called out. Lucy turned around and had to compose herself at the sight of the rabbit. Unknown to most, she loved rabbits and Buneary was just too cute for her not to gush over. Dawn's pokémon, in particular Buneary, Pachirisu and Togekiss, were adorable and she loved learning about them. The bunny hopped up to her in curiosity. She picked it up and hugged it gently. Buneary responded by nuzzling into her face.

Dawn, who was standing nearby as her pokémon surrounded the blonde, smiled. "They seem to like you," she noted.

Lucy looked up to see the blue haired girl out of her travel outfit and into her training clothes, which consisted of a pink long sleeve shirt and matching pants with her hair was down to her shoulder blades. "Yeah, they are so cute!" Lucy gushed. "I have a thing for rabbits. Buneary is sooo soft! It’s like a stuffed animal~!" she squealed, holding Buneary close.

Dawn giggled. "I take care of her every day; she’s been one of my most dependable pokémon."

Lucy smiled and turned back to observing the others while some of the pokémon surrounded her. A few moments later, Dawn left to go train with Ash. Drew approached Lucy who looked like she was enjoying herself as she played with the Pokémon.

"Alright Lucy, time for your first lesson," he gently told the blonde. Lucy followed him to a clearing near the campsite, where he then guided her through some basic stretches.

"Alright, first lesson," Drew told her putting out his palms. "Give me a good punch." He indicated his hands as the targets. "Don't worry about hurting me."

Lucy nodded and clenched her fist. However, Drew noticed the way she was holding it and sighed. "Okay, you’re going to hurt yourself like that." He adjusted her hands so they were in a proper fist and adjusted her legs to put more power behind her fists. "Alright, now try," he told her, holding up his palms.

Lucy nodded and with grunt, swung her fist to hit Drew's palm. He felt it but didn’t flinch. "I guess your upper class privilege made you a little weak up in the arms," he theorized.

"Shut up. I didn't do manual labor, we had servants," Lucy protested pouting.

Drew then taught her how to punch correctly. They started with shadow boxing, with him making her dodge his slow swings and make her own punches.

"Alright, now you know how to at least punch. Let's try your kicks," Drew told the blonde, making sure to put on a helmet.

"Why the helmet?" Lucy asked curiously.

"In case you aim for the head," he answered remembering how hard some of his friend’s kicks could be.

After a few basic kicks, two things were apparent. The first was that Lucy had raw power behind her legs, as evidenced by the bruising Drew got. The other was that she had some balance issues; when Drew blocked her kicks, she almost immediately fell on her butt. In a sense, she was even more of a clean slate than the Ash and his friends. Teaching her would be a test in their ability to teach outside their group.

Lucy groaned from her position. "That was the hardest my body ever worked in my life."

Ash chuckled. "Well, get used to it. No pain no gain!

"I know. I asked for it." Even so, she smiled. "Thanks for teaching me."

Drew chuckled. "No problem. Give me a couple of days we will figure out which art you should focus on,” He told her as he gingerly felt a bruise, "But I can definitely say this. Kicks are going to be a focus for you. Damn that hurt," He groaned as Tori began to heal it.

Lucy laughed sheepishly as dinner was served. They talked around the campfire about what their lives were like up to that point, including explaining where their respective groups came from.

After the fire died out, they relaxed and began observing the stars.

"They’re really beautiful out here," Ash said from his sleeping bag.

Lucy smiled sadly from her own borrowed bag. "Yeah. It was one of the things I liked to do with….my mom.

Ash glanced sideways at her. "She must have been a great woman."

Her smile brightened. "She was. She loved to tell me stories of every constellation. I loved the story of the cowherd and the weaver princess." Lucy beamed at the memory.

"Tanabata," Drew replied, "Where we come from, there's a very popular story in one of the older countries that we are allies with. It's concerning the three stars in the summer triangle. Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, Altair in Aquila the Eagle, and Vega in Lyra the Harp. The river is the Milky Way, Vega is Orihime and Altair is Hikohoshi. Once a year, if the sky is clear, the magpies form a bridge to connect the two sides of the river."

"It's a beautiful story that shows love has no bounds and if they are destined to be together, the universe will help," Lucy replied.

Drew smiled. Just then, the girls finished getting dressed for bed. Misty was in a black tank top and sleep shorts, with her hair down to her mid back. May wore a grey tank top and shorts. Anabel had on a purple t-shirt and shorts. Dawn was in a pink night gown that came down to her knees with her hair down to her shoulder blades. Gabby wore a grey undershirt and sleep shorts, Tori was wearing a long blue nightgown.

Lucy watched the girls appear and had to blush. She’d never seen girls as beautiful before, but with the way the moonlight shone on the girls and the way the clothes hugged their bodies, she couldn't help but look at them through an envious gaze. From Misty taut and tanned skin, to Dawn's pale arms and legs, each of them were beautiful in their own way.

"Can I ask something?" asked Lucy, "Where the hell did you get such great bodies?"

May shrugged getting her breasts to bounce a bit. "Eat right, burn off the calories, train our butts off. Not much more than that." She pointed to Lucy. "But I'm jealous of _your_ figure. What are those, D-cups?"

Lucy groaned. "31E and they’re still growing! Mom was close to an H-cup from what I remember. I don't mind, but half the time I feel like I can't wear a bra because I can't find the right size."

May giggled. "Its fine. Any other girls would be jealous, but we have some early bloomers here. I know how it feels."

Lucy smiled gratefully. Then her smile turned to shock as May, Misty, Anabel and Dawn all crawled into Ash's bag, while Gabby and Tori stepped into Drew's. Lucy thought there would be a fight, which only served to increase her surprise when they only cuddled up with their respective boys and hugged each other.

Drew saw this and smiled. "You know how the Tanabata story is about love that transcends boundaries? There is a reason we are together that ties into our powers, but we don't feel like telling you right now. But you should know, we’re fine with sharing, even though our society frowns on a relationship like this. So, in public Misty is Ash’s girlfriend, while I’m seen as close to Tori and Gabby."

Lucy saw this and couldn’t disagree. Their relationship while unusual, it was cute. She watched as Misty hugged Anabel close while Dawn snuggled into May like a kitten. Over in Drew’s bag, Tori and Gabby took each other’s hand and laid on Drew’s chest.

"My lips are sealed,” the blonde girl promised, “You don't have to worry about me blowing your cover.”

Tori looked up from Drew's shoulder. "You'll find someone special, I can feel it. Just keep trying."

Lucy nodded and leaned back in her bag and drifted off to sleep. For the first time since she left home, she slept peacefully.

Two days later, July 1st X784 (Beginning of Fairy Tail canon)

After two days of traveling, the group of eleven arrived at Hargeon. Considering that Lucy was using the weights that Dawn used when she started training, it showed how much effort the blonde put into it. By trying to keep up with the group’s pace with the additional weight, she worked up her muscles slowly. Still, she was exhausted by the end of the each day, which resulted in them delayed in reaching the town by a day.

Now Lucy was looking for a magic shop to see if she could find any magic keys to add to her repertoire. To her dismay, she only found one, the one she was standing in with May and Dawn.

"What? Are you sure this is the only magic shop in town?" Lucy complained.

The shop keeper was at least sympathetic. "Sorry young lady. This town is more about commerce than magic. Feel free to browse, though."

Lucy groaned and started to browse around. May and Dawn were curious at the wares, but they were equally disappointed at the wares, thought it didn't stop their partners, Piplup and Skitty from nearly knocking over the store.

The blonde ignored the commotion as her eyes were drawn to a glint of silver. It was a key, similar to her celestial spirit keys. The image on the handle resembled a humanoid head with a large nose. Her brown eyes lit up. "Oh wow! It’s Nikola, the Little Dog!"

Dawn perked up. "Canis Minor? Tori ought to be happy. She loves dogs," she replied.

Lucy walked up to the counter. "How much?" she asked.

"A celestial mage huh? Not much of those any more. How about…20,000 Jewels?"

Lucy's jaw dropped. "20,000!? Seriously!?" She then paused and smiled. She posed, putting her arm behind her head and jutting out her chest, unbuttoning the top button. "Can you please lower the price for me?" she tried in her most seductive voice.

The shop owner started to blush. "F-fine, 19,000!"

 _“Only that little?!”_ She screamed.

Lucy was about to despair when May and Dawn came to her rescue. "Are you sure you can't lower it for our friend?" May whispered, leaning over the counter with a seductive smile.

"Our friend would really like it. Can you please give her a lower price?" Dawn pouted, getting her eyes to sparkle.

The shop owner sputtered. "W-Well, for such a lovely lady, then I’ll offer it for 8,000 jewels! That's as low as I'll go!"

Lucy pouted but was thankful for the assistance and paid for it.

The three girls walked out of the store with Lucy still moping a bit. "I can't believe my sex appeal only got a 1,000 jewel discount."

"You've got plenty Lucy, some people just won't see it," Dawn assured her.

Lucy sighed. "Thanks anyway. Now I have another key for my collection. Oh man, I can't wait to meet this spirit!"

"What's Lucy babbling about?" Drew called out walking up with Ash. Anabel, Misty, Tori and Gabby, came in from another direction. He and Ash had picked up a cloak each. This was partly due to being so close to the coast. The other part was that as Guardians, they should have something to distinguish them from their knights. Drew's was crimson and gold, while Ash's was dyed in black and yellow; Misty's was blue and white.

"Lucy is excited to have a new spirit," Dawn explained.

"Ah." The boys nodded in understanding.

Just then Misty noticed a group of girls squealing. "Wonder what that is?"

"Let's check it out," May replied. The group walked towards the commotion. As they got close, Anabel started to feel something off, like some sort of hypnosis. When they got a good look at what the girls were cheering about, they weren't all that impressed. The man, who called himself Salamander, was not particularly good looking, with messy black hair and a shaggy beard. He was wearing a purple shirt with a similar cape color and red pants.

"Geez, these girls are deluding themselves," Drew grumbled to Gabby. The blonde however looked like she was wavering. Hearing no response he turned to the blonde. "Uh, Gabby?"

"It's a charm! Ash, grab the others!" Anabel ordered. Ash noticed the other girls appeared to be under a spell. He grabbed May and Dawn who was closest, while the empath grabbed Misty. The touch seem to snap the spell they were under. Drew touched Gabby and Tori and seemed to snap them out of their hypnosis, but Lucy was already in the crowd.

' _What is…this feeling? My heart is beating really fast! I need—’_

Her thoughts were cut off by a male voice shouting. "Igneel?! Is that you?!"

Lucy snapped out of her delusions and turned to see a pink haired boy, wearing a red shirt, white pants and a scarf. He was fighting his way through the crowd with remarkable ease.

When he finally broke through, the pink haired boy took one look at him and scoffed. "Oh. You’re not Salamander. Damn it, I thought he would be here," he grumbled.

He turned to leave, but the girls who were gawking at Salamander growled at the man. Natsu gulped as the women turned to him growling like beasts. Before he could react, Natsu was dragged down and beaten to a pulp by the angry women.

The named Salamander just chuckled. "Now ladies, he didn't mean to be rude. Here, kid." The man signed a piece of paper and tossed it to the young man. "My autograph. It could be worth something someday."

The pink haired man growled, turning away. "I don't want your autograph," he said dismissively.

The ladies moved to assault him again when the man waved his hand. "Now ladies, don't worry about him," he called out, rising into the air, "In the meantime, I’ll be having a party on my ship. All of you lovely ladies are invited!"

The man calling himself Salamander flew away and the group of girls scattered.

The pink haired boy groaned as he sat up. He noticed a hand in front of his face. "You are really determined to find this Igneel person, Mr…?" Drew asked him.

The pink haired mage looked at the brunette and grinned as he was helped up. "Natsu Dragneel."

"Drew Smith. Nice to meet you," The brunette smiled and introduced Natsu to the rest of his group.

"NATSU!" A high pitched voice cried.

Natsu looked up and saw a blue cat with black eyes and a light blue belly _flying_ towards him. "Hey Happy!" he called out to the blue cat. If Lucy hadn't met her new friends, she would have been weirded out by a flying talking cat. But considering what they had at their disposal, this was nothing that she hadn't seen. Though the talking part bothered her a bit.

Lucy shook her head as the introduction passed to her. "I'm Lucy. Thanks to you, I broke free of the enchantment that Salamander was using to lure me in."

Natsu looked confused. "Huh? Ah, sorry, Luigi. I was just trying to find Igneel. When I heard something about Salamander, I thought he was around…"

Lucy puffed up indignantly. "ITS LUCY!” she snapped, before rallying. “Anyway, let me treat you to lunch for breaking that spell on me."

Natsu grinned. "Thanks Luigi!" The boy turned to walk away.

Lucy growled in frustration. "It’s _Lucy!"_ she called out as they headed towards a café.

Drew sighed. "Come on. Let's go make sure she doesn't kill him…or he makes her pay a billion Jewels in food."

The group started to head in the same direction. Gabby, however, glanced back at the direction Salamander had left in. Tori noticed Gabby had stopped walking and turned to look at the dark blonde. "What's wrong Gabby?"

"...That guy gave me a bad vibe,” Gabby told her, “Feels like he might be up to something."

Drew had stopped as well to listen in. "If you think something is up, go investigate it,” he told her quietly, “Max!" The young boy stopped and turned. "Gabby needs your help with shopping. We'll save you some lunch.”

Lucy was oblivious, but the rest of the group read between the lines. 'Gabby’s going to investigate something and Max is back-up.'

Max sighed. "Alright, let's go."

The group split up to their tasks. Lucy took Natsu to a local diner and he had _piled_ up the food.

"So Natsu, who is this Igneel person? Is he a Salamander?"

Natsu swallowed the chicken in his mouth. "Igneel was my dad. As for Salamander, pfft… He’s a Dragon!"

Lucy's eyes widened. _"A Dragon?!_ Those are supposed to be a myth!" she yelped in shock.

Brock though brought up a valid point. "If this dragon was as big as I think it is, wouldn't people be running from it?"

Natsu moved to counter the point…then stopped. Then he planted his forehead on the table, his partner joining him. "I can't believe I didn't think of thaaaat…" he groaned in dismay.

“Aye,” moaned Happy.

Lucy decided to change the subject. "So we’re all mages; I’m a Celestial Mage myself. They’re so cool! I hope they let me in!”

Natsu smiled and grinned. "Wish you luck, Lucy!”

Lucy sighed as she paid for Natsu's meal, while the others started to pay for their meals. As Lucy left, Natsu and Happy got on the floor and bowed. "Thank you for the meal!" He handed Lucy the poster. "Please take this! As a token of our thanks!”

Lucy reluctantly took the autograph, grimacing mildly at it, before they left the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Gabby and Max had tracked Salamander down to a bar in one of the seedier parts of town. They noticed Salamander go in the bar. Noticing a window near the top, they wall ran up to the window and got in. Quietly they made their way to rafters and listened in.

"So how many girls do you think we’re gonna get, Bora?" one of the lackeys asked.

"Maybe 15 or 20. And I told you not to call me that! I saw the real Natsu the Salamander out there! If we reveal my name here, the Rune Knights will be all _over_ our asses!" the now-identified Bora hissed.

"S-sorry, Boss…so, any good merchandise?"

Bora smirked. "Oh yes. That blonde beauty that broke free from my spell. You should have _seen_ the body she had. That’ll fetch me _such_ a big pay day… I’ll find her and convince her to come to me."

"How, boss?"

"Oh, I’ll find a way," Bora smirked. He took out an object disturbingly similar to Gabby’s drives, holding it meaningfully between his thumb and index finger. "I paid a hefty sum for this thing. I’d better get my money’s worth back. Make sure our ship is ready to go tonight!"

Gabby and Max watched with trepidation as the fake Salamander walked out with a sinister grin on his face. They climbed back onto the roof and watched as Bora headed towards a park. They followed him from the rooftops, using their recently learned Parkour skills to leap over from building to building to follow him. They soon reached the park and spotted a familiar head of blonde hair.

Lucy was reading the latest Sorcerer's Weekly Magazine. In the centerfold was a beautiful, white haired, curvy young woman with bright blue eyes, wearing various bikinis and posing alluringly. Lucy gushed over the spread and hugged the magazine close. "Oh, Mira~ She's so pretty… All of the Fairy Tail mages seem so awesome; I wonder how I could join them?"

"I can help you with that," 'Salamander' called to her. Lucy turned to see him walking up to her. "I’m a personal friend of the guild master. If you want, I could put in a good word to the guild master."

Lucy's eyes sparkled excitedly. "R-Really!? Thank you so much!"

'Salamander' chuckled. "Just come to my party tonight. I assure you…it’ll be _life-changing."_

Lucy nodded and ran out to get a dress for the party later.

"Wait! Lucy!" Gabby called out, but Lucy was already out of earshot. She cursed.

"Gabby, what's going on?" Drew asked as her friends and Natsu ran up to her.

Gabby turned to the group. "This 'Salamander' is a phony! He's someone named Bora, claiming he's from Fairy Tail!”

Natsu snarled. "I've never heard of anyone named Bora! How dare he use our guild's name like that?!"

Happy, however, clapped his paws. "Bora the Prominence. He was a member of the Titan Nose Guild, but got kicked out for thievery and other crimes."

"Well he's moved up from petty theft. He's a Slaver now!" Max responded.

At this everyone's eyes turned cold. "We need a plan to get those girls and Lucy out of there. Where's their ship?" Misty growled.

"In the harbor. They’re leaving tonight!"

Drew rubbed his chin, frowning at nothing. "We can't rush this, we have civilians mixed with our adversaries. Here's what we are going to do," he told the others.

Later that Night

Lucy was smiling as she talked to 'Salamander.' He was regaling her with stories of his missions and other fun events.

Bora had finished laughing from a joke Lucy told. "Wow, Lucy. You seem to be quite the comedian. I must say that could useful in our guild." He held up his glass. "To our future."

Lucy was about to raise her glass, when she noticed something on his finger: a hypnosis ring. She stood up abruptly and spilled the drink on him.

"What the hell Lucy?! I thought you wanted to be part of Fairy Tail?!" the man asked, angrily wiping his shirt off, trying to get the stains out.

Lucy pointed at the man with an accusatory finger. "No! If you were going to coerce me with sleep magic, then forget it!" she snapped, glaring venomously at him.

'Salamander' looked at Lucy in surprise…but then laughed sinisterly. "Eheheheheh…And here I thought you were an easy target."

At the same time

Gabby flew towards the ship on her Flygon. Stealthily, she flew near the back of the ship and, leaping off the dragon’s back, grabbed onto the railing to climb onboard. She crouched and looked onto the darkened ship.

"If I were a Slaver bastard, where would I take my victims?" Gabby pondered. As she did so, one of Bora's accomplices walked past her location, carrying two girls. Not wasting any time, Gabby stabbed the man in the calves. He dropped the girls in shock, only to lose consciousness from Gabby slamming his head into the deck. She checked the girls to find they were under a sleep spell. Taking a moment to stash them somewhere safe, she quickly headed in the direction he’d been heading and saw Lucy talking with Bora. Behind her back, more girls were brought in, carried like potato sacks into the dining area.

She overheard Bora yelling at Lucy. "You little bitch! I had you all ready to come with me and then you had to be the curious type. You’ll be lucky if _any_ guild wants you after this!" he snarled viciously.

Lucy grabbed for her keys, but Bora was faster and quickly levitated them out of reach.

"Now my dear, I don't think you’ll be needing these anymore." And to Lucy's horror, he tossed them out the window.

Gabby, who had seen this, reacted. She quickly called out a pokémon resembling a ballet dancer with green hair, a body shaped like a white dress and with red horns on its head. "Kirlia, catch the keys!" she ordered.

Kirlia's eyes glowed and the keys stopped in midflight, glowing as well. They floated over to Gabby, who snatched them out of the air, unseen. She pulled out her bow to intervene with Lucy’s predicament, when the ceiling suddenly buckled and collapsed onto Bora and his cronies. Out of the wreckage came Natsu, who looked positively _steaming._

"Natsu!" Lucy called out happy.

Gabby's reaction was less enthusiastic. "That damn idiot," she muttered, facepalming.

On the Shore

"That moron! We had a plan and he decided to go gung ho! Ash, get Staraptor ready," Drew growled.

Ash was about to call out his Staraptor when Max spotted something. "Uh, Misty, are you sure you didn't give Gabby a water-type? Because I see a huge Tidal Wave!"

The others turned and saw a 30 foot wave incoming. Drew groaned. "Just what we need. _Hit the deck!"_

The group ducked behind a wall as the wave nearly broke through the wall. The resulting wave showered them with salt water.

Ten minutes earlier

Natsu was about to beat up Bora, when an unfortunate weakness of his reared its ugly head. Namely, the swaying of the ship registered with his inner ear, while his eye couldn’t see any motion, eliciting nausea and dizziness. He gulped and clapped a hand his mouth, then collapsed to floor.

"Lame!" cried Lucy in dismay. Happy quickly grabbed her and took to the sky, leaving Natsu to be taken out by Bora and his group. "Happy, we’ve gotta go back for Natsu!" Lucy cried.

"Natsu will be fine. But we might not be for long!" Happy replied.

"Why?!" she demanded.

Just then, Happy's wings dissipated. "I just ran out of magic!" he told her cheerfully.

The two screamed as the fell towards the ocean. However they were quickly snatched up by a flying green, insectoid dragon. The two looked around to see Gabby smiling from its back. "Nice of you to drop in! I thought you might be needing these!" she called out, jingling Lucy’s keys.

Lucy took them gratefully. “Thank you so much!” she exclaimed. She turned back to the boat and, looking at her keys, was struck by an idea. "Get me close to the water!" Gabby complied and ordered Flygon down to the sea. Lucy pulled out the key with Aquarius’s symbol on it and stuck it in the water’s surface. **“Open,”** she intoned, **“Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!”**

She turned the key and despite there being nothing but water, Gabby and Happy both heard a distinct *Click.* A blue magic circle spread from the tip of the key, glowing on the water. With a flash of light, a Celestial Spirit was summoned into the human realm.

Leaping out of the water like a dolphin appeared to be what looked like a mermaid. She had blue hair, a striped bikini top and tail, with a black collar on her neck and gold bracelet on her right arm. She also had a large jar that presumably held a lot of water.

Happy's eyes sparkled. "Fish!"

The mermaid tsked, which pissed Lucy off to no end. "Don't you back-sass me! I need you send that ship towards shore!"

Aquarius ignored her, summoned a huge wall of water from her vase. Gabby and Flygon had the instinct to fly away as the tidal wave picked up the ship and hurled it towards the shore.

Flygon quickly headed towards shore while Lucy was chewing out Aquarius.

"Watch it! You almost hit me!"

Aquarius grimaced irritably. "Tch. I hit the boat instead. Now, let me go back to my _Boyfriend~~"_

Lucy growled as she realized Aquarius was aiming for her as the mermaid left into her gate. Gabby grabbed Lucy's hand. "Come one we need to get the girls out."

Meanwhile, Natsu finally recovered from his motion sickness. In a surprising feat of strength, he leaped up to the top of the ship and shed his red coat, revealing a muscular torso covered by a dark colored vest. "Who the hell do you think you are?! I’m Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail and I've never seen you in my life! Where the fuck do you get off giving my guild a bad name, huh?!"

One of Bora's accomplices started to shake. "Bora…I-I think he's the real deal!”

"Shut up! Take him down!" Bora ordered agitatedly.

Two goons rushed him, but Natsu only decked them both in one punch, effortlessly. The punch also revealed a red tattoo on his shoulder, which somewhat resembled a perched bird.

"I don't care if you’re the King of Fiore! No one uses Fairy Tail's name like that!" he barked.

Bora growled in return. "Damn you…you’re the real one, aren’t you?! _Salamander!”_ He conjured a large fireball and flung it at the pink-haired boy.

Lucy saw the fireball and panicked. "Natsu! Get out of there!"

Happy, however, didn’t seem too worried. "Don't worry Lucy, fire like that won't hurt him."

True to Happy's word, Natsu didn't even flinch. In fact he started to swallow the fire like it was a drink.

Natsu spat off to the side. "What the heck? This fire is nasty. But thanks for the snack anyway. Now I'm _all fired up!"_ He took in a breath, putting his fists over his mouth, end to end. **“FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!”** He blasted forth a powerful river of flames that wiped out most of the thugs.

"Skin that can resist fire, a stomach that can digest flames, and hands that can create fire. Natsu's magic was taught by his father, Igneel," Happy explained. "Magic that can mimic the legendary dragons. The lost magic, Dragon Slayer Magic!”

As Happy explained, Natsu clenched his fists, causing fire to wrap around them. He pounded his fists together, creating a magic circle containing a dragon’s head and grinned savagely. He charged at Bora, the image of a dragon following behind him. **"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!”**

Bora tried to fire off a spell, but it was absorbed into Natsu's attack. The Dragon Slayer’s punch slammed into the man’s face, leaving an imprint of his fist on the mage. Bora soared all the way to the sea wall until he was out of sight. Then there was a distant thump.

Natsu laughed. "That's what you get for messing with Fairy Tail!"

Lucy watched, amazed, as Natsu stood tall. If this was one mage could do, then who knew what else Fairy Tail could do?

Up on the ship, Brock let out a whistle as they smashed through a wall. "Damn, that was a good attack."

"No kidding, he really did look like a dragon," Max agreed.

Dawn, who was checking over one of the girls who had been rescued, glance over to where Bora crashed and noticed him getting up. "Guys, he's not down yet!"

Indeed, Bora was getting back up. Natsu noticed this and got back into a fighting stance. "You're a tough guy aren't ya? Well I'll knock you down again!” he taunted.

Bora laughed sinisterly and pulled out a red rectangular object. "You would think that. But with this, I can destroy you and your flames!" He slammed the object into his palm, let it sink into his body. As glowing red veins grew along his forearm, his body convulsed as it started to transform. His skin glowed as flames covered his body, turning it a stony black with veins of lava spread throughout his torso. His hands turned into claws and his hands and feet gained reptilian scales.

 **"With this power I am unstoppable! I am _Hellfire_** _!_ " he howled. He snapped his fingers. Black shadows rose from the ground and condensed into multiple soldiers that marched in front of him.

Drew saw this and knew it was their turn to act. "Guys, finish cleaning up! Ash, Misty, it’s our show now! Let's Go!" he called out, jumping off the ship.

"Right!" Ash called, following him.

"Alright!" Misty cheering, trailing behind the other two.

Natsu perked up when he saw the troopers approach and grinned itching for another fight. He was about to ignite his fists when Drew, Misty and Ash landed in front of him poised to fight. “Drew, Misty, Ash…what the heck?” he asked.

"Natsu, I know you want to fight them. But you don't have the skills to take on all of them. Let us fight as well," Drew replied.

Natsu was about to protest, but Misty grabbed his shoulder. "If you want, we can tell you what we do; but not here. Please, for your own sake, listen to us," she told him sternly.

The pink-haired young mage saw the seriousness in her eyes, nodded and backed off. “Alright. Fine.”

Ash turned to Lucy, who was watching them with curiosity. "We told you the truth about our magic, but we didn't tell you what we all did. Now, let us show you." He held up a golden belt buckle with a strange looking ball imbedded in the center and thrust out his hand. "Pikachu! Let's go!"

Pikachu cheered and jumped off Lucy’s shoulders, glowing as he did so. He shrank until he took the form of a card which Ash grabbed and held up. Misty pulled out a similar buckle and held up a card that depicted her Starmie, while Drew though tossed his hat and cloak which landed perfectly on Lucy. From he pulled a black rectangular device out from behind his waist, held it to the side and pressed something on it.

**STANDBY: LEO**

Ash and Misty inserted their cards into the buckles. A deck of cards came out and surrounded their waists. The belts started pulsing once the belts completed. Ash raised his right hand with two fingers pointed up and in front of his face his left resting on his waists. Misty raised her right hand palm up and her left matching it on her waist. Drew crossed his arms, the face of the rectangular object facing Hellfire, his right hand formed into a claw.

Hellfire snarled. "What’re you gonna do with that, toss it at me?" He laughed.

Drew chuckled. "You wish," he said, briefly shaking it before resetting his stance, “These things will have you on the floor.”

Hellfire growled. "Who the hell’re you?

"We're just a couple of Kamen Riders passing by. Remember that!" Drew called out. "HENSHIN!" He flipped his phone and hand so that the face of the phone was towards him and his hand was in position to cross over it. He swiped the phone and brought it to the center of the belt that materialized around his waist

**COMPLETE**

Drew's body glowed as armor formed around him. When the glow died down, his form had changed considerably. He was clad in armor, bearing gold stripes to go along with its crimson coloring. On his forearms were elbow length golden gauntlets. On his legs were a pair of knee-length boots and his shoulders were reinforced with metal pauldrons. His helmet had a cat like appearance like a lion’s with matching cat like red eyes. On his back was a red cape that came down to his shoulder blades. On his belt, the phone's face lit up with the Leo symbol. A long-sword in a crimson sheath was strapped to his waist.

"HENSHIN!" Ash and Misty responded in kind. Ash snapped his right hand to a lever on the side. He thrust his left hand out in front of him, two fingers raised. Misty flipped her hand and did the same, while crossing _her_ left hand over her chest. The levers both flipped over the front of their belts, revealing a yellow lightning bolt for Ash and a blue water droplet for Misty.

**EVOLVE**

Two shields popped out and fell back onto the couple. The shields conformed around them and then disappeared, revealing two armored figures. Ash was now clad in a blue and yellow armor with a blue chest plate embossed with yellow lightning bolts. The boots were black with the same design and the helmet was gold with blue eyes. Hanging from his back was a yellow cape. On his waist was a katana in a black sheath, with a yellow and black hilt

Misty, meanwhile, now stood in blue armor with green stripes down her legs. She also had a sea green skirt with a similarly-colored tear drop on her chest. The helmet had a wavy design and fins for ears, and large dark green eyes. Behind her trailed a light blue cape that flowed to her mid back. There were also fins on the arms and legs. On her back was an ice-blue trident.

Drew pulled out his sword, the moonlight gleaming off the blade. "The Lion Prince of Fire: Kamen Rider Zodiac!" he yelled, swinging his sword. The swing coincided with a blaze fire erupting behind him as he planted the blade in front of him

Ash pulled out his sword, the Fang of Raikou, brought it down in a rapid chop, then flourished it left to right. "The Lightning Prince of the Sky: Kamen Rider Aura!” His shout was accompanied by lightning striking behind him.

Misty spun her trident, the Tears of Lugia. Then she swung it behind her back with her right hand and thrusted her left hand out. "The Mermaid Princess of Water: Kamen Rider Triton!" Her shout was complemented by the ocean rising and crashing down behind her.

Lucy watched with wide eyes as they finished their transformations. "So cool!" she breathed

Natsu evidently agreed and voiced his opinion. "Kick their sorry butts!”

All three Riders each gave a thumbs-up to acknowledge them.

Hellfire growled. "I don't care if you got a pretty armor upgrade! Troopers, advance!"

The gang of shadowy figures charged at the riders, roaring with battle cries. The Riders however were calm and stood ready to fight back. The first one attacked Zodiac with an axe. He blocked the charge with little effort and bisected his opponent in one slash.

Aura blocked an overhead slash, then retaliated by cutting through his opponent so quickly that the mook couldn’t even register the swing. Triton meanwhile struck at a trooper’s shins, tripping him, then stabbed it in the back. She watched as more charged at her, only to block with the shaft of her trident. She then drew a card from her belt depicting her Staryu firing off multiple stars from its gem. She quickly slotted it into her belt buckle.

** SWIFT **

She held up her hand and fired off a series of golden stars. The impacts slammed many Troopers back and about a half dozen were destroyed, dispersing into rapidly vanishing black vapor.

Aura parried another blow and kicked his opponent in the chest, turning it into a backflip. While in motion, he pulled out a card showing a lightning-throwing Pikachu and inserted it into his buckle.

** THUNDERBOLT **

He raised his sword to the sky and unleashed multiple bolts, which arced and forked out in a wave, disintegrating the opponents in front of him. He then scanned another card; this time with Pikachu swinging a glowing tail.

** IRON TAIL **

Raikou glowed within the Troopers’ sight, leaving an afterimage as Aura vanished in a flicker. He reappeared behind them, sliding his sword home with a metallic click. The creatures cried as they collapsed, multiple deep slashes carving themselves open across their bodies.

Zodiac had all but _walked_ through his opponents, clearing them out single-handedly. He stood facing Hellfire, looking like he had somewhere else to be. Hellfire launched more and more attacks but each attack glanced off Zodiac’s armor like it was a mirror.

"Damn you!” he snarled, **“HELL'S PROMINENCE!”**

He fired off a large burst of flame from his clawed hand. Zodiac, however merely held out his hand and caught it, surprising Hellfire and the captivated audience. "Your pyromancy is atrocious," he muttered, snuffing the flame with a wave. "This is _real_ fire!" He conjured a large fire ball. **"PYRO BULLET!"**

He thrust the large ball at Hellfire, making the kaijuu roared in pain as the flames caused internal injuries.

Natsu was cheering. “You guys rock!”

Zodiac grinned. "Glad you like it. Now, to finish this guy off!" he yelled, holding up his phone, and pressed the Leo symbol again.

** STANDBY LEO: FINISHER **

Hellfire staggered upright, the light under his stony skin flickering, as the Rider slotted his phone back onto the belt. Zodiac's sword, Leonid, glowed brightly as flames surrounded it. "NO, WAIT!" he pleaded.

Zodiac didn't listen and charged, trailing his blazing blade behind him.

** "LEO BREAKER! ** **"**

Zodiac cleaved through Hellfire, hitting the mysterious device and smashing it. He then appeared behind his opponent and planted the tip of his sword in the ground. "May you burn for what you tried to do to those girls!" he growled. Hellfire staggered as his body convulsed and fell backwards, blowing up in the process.

Zodiac turned away and powered down, Aura and Triton doing the same. "Great job guys," he commented lightly.

The two grinned and gave him a high five in reply. As they walked back to Lucy and Natsu, Drew knelt down to pick up the device that fell out of Bora. "Wonder what this is?" he mused.

May’s ears perked up as she heard something. She turned around and paled, gulping. "Uh guys? We…might have a problem.” She pointed to the harbor front.

The group turned to see more than half the harbor front destroyed, most likely from Natsu as the Riders had kept their fight contained. All they could do was facepalm at the destruction.

"Great, what else could go wrong?" Lucy asked the most dreaded question.

Before they could admonish Lucy for asking it, they heard whistles. They turned as to see a group of armored soldiers approaching the group.

"Oh no! The Rune Knights!" she gasped.

Not even needed to know who they were, Drew quickly turned to the others. "Grab your stuff. Brock, Smokescreen, now!"

The others scrambled to get their gear and started running. Brock stayed behind briefly to face the Knights and slammed the handle of his axe into the sand. A plume of black smoke erupted from the ground, obscuring the gang from sight. When it cleared, only Bora and his lackeys remained.

"Where are we going?" Dawn asked as they ran.

Natsu grinned. "You guys wanted to go to Fairy Tail right? Then follow me!"

The group smiled, but no one smiled harder than Lucy; her dream was in her reach. They ran into the night, adventures waiting on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UO: Well that didn't take too long. Again this is unbeta-ed. I will post the betaed version later.
> 
> Preview: The Riders join the prestigious Fairy Tail and show them what they could do. How will the crossing of cultures fair? Find out next time.
> 
> Next Time: Meeting Fairy Tail


	3. Meeting Fairy Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Riders meet the Infamous Fairy Tail and their mission becomes clear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: Hey guys (Sees Destroyed set) SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THIS TIME?  
> Ash: Well…we started talking with the Fairy Tail guild, you know because we would be working together and we started talking about the dog and cats and somehow it devolved into a brawl.  
> May: (In her underwear.) Yeah, it got ugly…especially with the girls.  
> Ash: (Blushing) Uh…May? Could you put something on?  
> May: (Looks down) Oh, sorry! (Covers herself)  
> UO: (Sighs) Where is everyone else?  
> Drew: (Completely unscathed) Natsu and Grey are helping Erza fix the set. Lucy got her clothes destroyed, Max and Brock are helping clean up. Tori is healing everyone. Anabel and Dawn are fixing their clothes. Misty is making sure the Pokemon are okay. Gabby is yelling at Makarov.  
> UO: (Groan) God damn it. Someone do the disclaimer  
> Dawn: (Corset is fixed but skirt and leggings are torn): UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokémon, Fairy Tail or Kamen Rider. He makes no money and only owns the plot.  
> UO: Start the show while everyone cleans up

“Dialogue”  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ **Attacks  
Yelling and Belt Noises  
 _Yelling in head_**

Chapter 3: Meeting Fairy Tail

July 4th, X784  
Council Building, Era. (Play the Carmen theme) (Episode 2 for most of the chapter)

When we last left the heroes, they had found themselves in a new world run by magic. They quickly began integrating themselves by heading towards a guild called Fairy Tail. Along the way they met a fellow traveling mage by the name of Lucy Heartfillia, who was heading towards the same guild. Along the way to the town called Hargeon, they had encountered a group of bandits that had large bounties on their head and defeated them with ease. In the port city, they encountered another mage, Natsu Dragneel and his partner Happy, along with the slaver Bora. He used an unknown device to attack Natsu and the heroes, transforming into a terrible beast. Drew, Ash and Misty showed their new friends their powers as Kamen Riders and destroyed Bora. In the aftermath, they had to escape the Magical Rune Knights and follow Natsu to the guild he called home, Fairy Tail.

Far away from the chaos in Hargeon lay a large castle like structure. It was made of white stone and exhibited a powerful façade with multiple towers. This was Era, the headquarters of the Fiore Magic Council. This council of ten wizards governed the mages of Fiore. They were considered to be among the more powerful mages in the country and had the backing of the royal family. They had gathered in their council room for one reason.

“Those damn Fairy Tail mages have gone and done it _again!”_ one voice cried out, “They’ve destroyed an entire port THIS TIME!”

“What is the matter with them?” another voice asked.

A blue haired mage with a strange tattoo over his left eye chuckled. “Now now, they aren’t all _that_ bad. I am actually quite fond of their dim-witted laissez-faire attitudes.”

A shorter old man next to him rubbed his chin. “They may behave like idiots, but they’re actually quite capable,” he admitted mildly.

“Yes, that’s quite true. That leaves us at a quandary,” another member admitted.

“I say leave them alone. After all, without them the world would be quite boring.” The blue-haired mage smirked. “Anyway, is there anything else on the agenda?”

“Yes,” the lone female member announced. The image changed to show the three Kamen Riders. “Those three armored figures. They were able to take down one of these mysterious monsters without taking damage,” she told the group. She pulled up a projection of the fight on the beach, showing all three riders winning handily.

“That’s preposterous. Some of our best mages have barely beaten those creatures and yet three strangers wiped them out without trouble!?” the man condemning Fairy Tail gasped.

“These vigilantes should not be interfering with council business!”

“Those vigilantes did what hundreds of Rune Knights couldn’t do and even kept the property damage to a minimum. On top of that, they brought down an entire slavery ring. Surely they can be left to their own devices?”

The blue-haired mage smiled. “Now then, I think we can compromise. We should monitor them and if they seem to be a threat, we bring them in for questioning. If we’re done here, let us adjourn.”

The rest of the council began to vanish, as they were all in fact just projected images. The blue-haired man started to chuckle. “So…those Kamen Riders that that little vampire told me about are really here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a similar object to what Bora had, except black and blue and bearing an image of a comet. “This’d better be worth it, for Zeref’s sake,” the mage told himself. Then he too vanished.

(End Song)

(Same Time in Magnolia.)

After a day of traveling, the group of 12 mages and a flying cat arrived in the town of Magnolia. The non Fiorians noted with some awe, that the town was a beautiful town that reminded them of Middle Ages London combined with some aspects from New Orleans and Rome. Having lived in the suburbs of one of the larger cities on Earth, New York City, they were used to a very fast pace of life. To arrive in a town that was more or less laid back compared to what they dealt with, was a refreshing change.

As they walked through the cobblestone streets of the town, they were greeted by many people who were friendly to them but were a little more wary of Natsu. Considering the destruction the boy had wrought in the previous town, perhaps it was justified.

Saving their tour for later, they followed Natsu to the large building near the north part of town. The building itself looked like a castle with large towers and a circular roof. The place was made of concrete, with wooden window panes and an enormous metal door. Compared to the apartments they’d passed, it resembled old castles from Europe. On the top of the main door was the same emblem that adorned Natsu’s shoulder.

“Here we are! Welcome to Fairy Tail!” Happy cheered, flying over the group with his wings, paws outstretched.

Lucy’s smile widened giddily; she was finally here, at Fairy Tail!

Max, however, looked at the emblem. “What’s that supposed to be, some sort of bird?” he asked dubiously.

“Nope. It’s supposed to be a Fairy with a tail!” Natsu replied cheerfully.

May scratched her head in confusion. “Fairies have tails? I know some Fairy-type Pokemon have tails, but the actual creatures themselves…?”

“None of the legends we’ve found support that theory,” Tori pointed out.

“Well that’s half the fun! It’s an endless mystery so we have endless adventures,” Natsu grinned. “Now then, let’s say hi!” He walked up to the door and kicked it open with a *wham.* “We made it back alive!” Natsu yelled.

“We’re home!” Happy cheered.

Drew facepalmed. “Ever hear of knocking? Or better yet, since you’re from here, open it normally,” he grumbled as everyone went inside.

The interior of the guild hall resembled nothing so much as a large bar. From the festive atmosphere and the drinks being passed around, it fit the profile. If one didn’t know any better, it’d be like a preview of Valhalla itself.

A snide voice sniggered. “So I hear you causing trouble in Hargeon. You went all—” The man was cut off as Natsu kicked him in the face, surprising the newcomers.

Lucy voiced their opinion. “What?! Why’d you do that?!”

“You lied to me about that Salamander! I’m gonna kick your ass!” Natsu barked angrily pointed at the man accusatory.

“Don’t blame me, it was a rumor I just heard!”

“It was just a rumor?!” he snapped.

“Nhaa, you wanna fight? Let’s go!”

The distant sound of a fight bell was heard as the guild began to brawl which got the newcomers to panic and find cover, save for Lucy who watched with a big smile.

Happy tried to placate Natsu. “H-hey, Natsu, I think you need to calm down---AHHHHHH!” He was caught up in the melee and got sent flying into a wall.

As this was happening, a black-haired man wearing only boxers perked up. May took one look at him and freaked out, covering Max’s eyes as they tried to find a spot to hide from the carnage.

“So Natsu’s back huh? I’ll show ‘im!”

As he headed towards a melee, a slightly drunk voice called out, “Hey Grey! Nice clothes!”

The now-named Grey turned to a brunette woman in a blue bikini top and brown pants. “I don’t have time for that, Cana!”

Cana sighed. “This is why I don’t date the men in the guild! They have no class.” And to the shock of the newcomers she started to drink out of a barrel of wine.

“It’s only noon, and you boys are already whining like a couple of babies!” a loud, deep voice yelled out. The group turned and Dawn and Max gulped. The white-haired young man that stood before them was Elfman Strauss. He was enormous and muscle-bound, with a strong jaw and a pair of hard eyes. He wore a blue tracksuit, which was partially unzipped.

Grey and Natsu turned around and punched him clear to the ceiling. “Butt out!” Brock and Tori had to duck as the large man went flying past them.

“Geez, it’s so noisy…” Lucy turned to the source of the suave voice. It belonged to a brunette in a green jacket, red shirt and jeans, who holding two ladies close like some sort of pimp. Lucy’s eyes widened, recognizing one of the most eligible bachelors according to Sorcerer’s Weekly: Loke. Before he could say anything, however, he was knocked over by a random flying mage. He quickly got up. “I’m gonna have to go take care of business,” he told to his girls.

“Good luck, Loke!” they shrilled, swooning.

Lucy, who observed this, pulled out a book and crossed out his picture. “Well, he’s off my list. Is there anyone sane here?”

Drew who was standing next to her and already had to break a couple of chairs to keep his friends safe. “I don’t know, but I’m about ready to bust some heads.”

“Now now, you don’t have to bother,” a cheerful voice told them.

The two turned and Lucy gained hearts in her eyes at the sight of a white-haired woman in a floor length red dress. “OH MY GOD IT’S MIRAJANE! IN THE FLESH!”

Mirajane giggled. “Oh, a fan? Nice to meet you. Are you new here?”

Drew shook his head at Lucy’s cheers and nodded at the glamorous young woman. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Strauss. The photos don’t do you justice. Question, does this happen often?” He gestured at the brawl.

Mira smiled wryly. “Oh, yes, it’s always like this. Besides,” Elfman was suddenly thrown onto Mira, accidentally burying her in a pile of bodies. She poked her head out from underneath, still smiling, but bleeding from the forehead. “It’s kind of fun…dontcha think…?” Then she went limp, head hitting the floor with a small thump.

“Aaaah! Don’t die Mirajane!” yelped Lucy, panicking.

“Dawn, Tori, can you get over here? I think Mira might be hurt!” Drew bellowed as he ducked another chair.

The chaos of the brawl got to the point that Grey lost his boxers to Natsu. The naked mage turned to Lucy. “Excuse me, could I borrow your underwear?”

“As if!” Lucy yelled, swinging at Grey. With a powerful thwack, he was sent flying back into the throng.

Loke stumbled out of the tussle and spotted Lucy. “Geez, it’s so noisy…wanna ditch this crowd and-”

“Back off, playboy!” Drew barked, kicking him away.

With the amount of damage that the guild suffered, it was only a matter of time before magic started getting thrown around. Grey held his hands together and ice began to form. Cana withdrew a card from her pocket, looking disinterested. Natsu clenched his fists and ignited them, while Elfman turned his arm to stone. In response, Ash, Drew, Misty and Brock broke out their weapons, ready to defend themselves.

Lucy, meanwhile, held up Happy as a shield, “They always fight like this?” Lucy asked a smiling Happy.

“Uh huh!” Happy replied.

Lucy teared up. “You don’t seem worried!” she complained

All activity stopped when a large foot slammed down on the floor. Everyone looked up to see a titan of a man looming over the proceedings. His shadowed face glared down from the distant ceiling. “You brats stop bickering! It’s annoying as hell!” he thundered

Lucy gasped at the man. “He...he’s huge!”

The traveler’s reactions were more extreme. They turned their weapons towards the giant, who just stepped on a laughing Natsu.

“I didn’t know you were back so soon, master!” Mira called out casually, stunning the newcomers at her quick recovery. The revelation also made them lower their weapons.

Lucy started to panic. “Th-this giant is the Guild Master!?” she shouted in shock.

The titan turned to Lucy and the Riders. “So, looks we got some new recruits.” Then, before their eyes he began to shrink down until he was shorter than even Max. The shrinking stopping revealing a short old man with a cap that resembled a jester’s hat, an orange suit and the guild emblem on his chest. If one expected the Odin of this living Valhalla to be majestic, they would think a joke was being played on them. He stuck out his hand to greet the newcomers, grinning broadly. “Nice to meetcha!”

Lucy gasped and her new friends weren’t far behind. “He’s so tiny!” Lucy exclaimed.

Mira smiled. “Of course. Let me introduce you to the guild master, Makarov Dreyar.”

The short man jumped and did a cartwheel to the top floor. Hitting his head on the rail, he recovered and cleared his throat. “You brats have gone and done it again!” he yelled, holding up a pile of papers, “This is the largest pile of complaints I’ve ever gotten! Some days I honestly think all you do is create headaches for me!”

This seemed to dampen the mood quite a bit as most of the mages felt disgraced with the guild master yelling at them. Then Makarov grinned. “However,…” He burnt the papers and tossed them aside for Natsu to gobble up. “To hell with the Magic Council!” he cried.

(Play Fairy Tail Theme)

“Listen up! Sometimes, you gotta know when to lay low and just do the job you’re here for. Other times, you don’t have a goddamn choice so you gotta raise all the ruckus that you can! Sure that means crap gets broken, but who cares about that? At the end of the day, stuff like that can just get rebuilt!” Makarov’s speech had lifted the mood considerably.

“To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and focus. It should take over your being and come pouring out of your soul! If all we do is worry about following rules, our magic will never grow. Don’t let those blowhards on the council scare you! Follow the path you believe in!” He held up his hand in a sort of backwards L. “Because that is what makes Fairy Tail Number 1!”

Everyone cheered, holding up their hands in the same gesture. As they were celebrating, the Riders were smiling.

Brock whistled. “Talk about an inspirational speech!”

“Sounds like this place will be a lot of fun!” May giggled.

“The emotions in here are extremely positive. I think we’ll like it here,” Anabel mused pleasantly.

Drew, however, looked at his hands. “Follow the path you believe in, huh?” he murmured, clenching his fists.

A tanned, calloused yet feminine hand covered them. “A path we can all believe in. Sounds fun,” Gabby told him lightly, getting him to look at her.

He looked at his longtime friends and family with a chuckle. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

A short time later, Mira gave them their guild marks. Lucy got hers in pink on her right hand. Drew got his in gold on his right arm. Gabby’s was light brown and on her forearm. Tori’s sky-blue mark was located on the lower part of her right leg. Ash’s was yellow and on his left hand. Misty got hers in blue on the right side of her stomach. Dawn’s was pink on the top part of her left leg under the stocking. May’s got hers in brown on her exposed right shoulder. Anabel got hers in purple on the lower part of her back near her butt. Max got his in white on his neck and Brock got his on his chest in green.

Mira giggled. “There we go, all set. You’re now officially members of Fairy Tail!”

Lucy smiled and immediately showed it to Natsu. “Look Natsu, I got my guild tattoo!”

Natsu only gave her hand a mostly disinterested glance. “Oh…cool, Luigi.”

“IT’S LUCY!”

Natsu waved her off and headed towards the job board. Meanwhile, Drew and his friends looked at their guild stamps.

“Feels like a gang tattoo, though not as intimidating,” Tori pondered, rubbing her leg where the stamp was.

“I certainly feel rebellious,” May giggled, “Especially where some of the tattoos are located,” she added in a whisper in Anabel’s ear. The empath, who was sitting on May’s lap, giggled then shivered as May traced the shape of the tattoo on her lower back.

Mira noticed this and turned to Ash. “Is she always like this?” She waved her hand to the brunette’s hugging.

Ash smiled. “May is very outgoing and affectionate, specially to Anabel and Dawn who are more…withdrawn than her,” he told Mira as May moved to Dawn and nuzzled the Lolita girl. Said girl smiled at the hug and closed her eyes in bliss.

“Why haven’t you sent anyone after my dad!?” a young boy yelled. They turned to see a black-haired boy, about 6 or 7 years old, yelling at Makarov. “He went up to Mt. Hakobe nearly a week ago and he hasn’t come back!”

“Listen Romeo, your dad’s a good enough mage. Why don’t you go home and wait for him there?”

Romeo growled, but the sound of cracking wood stopped all activity. Everyone turned to Natsu whose eyes were shadowed. The pink haired boy stormed out of the guild with Happy in tow.

“What’s going on?” Lucy questioned, “Natsu kinda overreacted there…”

Mira sighed as she cleaned a glass. “Natsu’s father Igneel was the one who taught him his magic, after he found and raised him. A few years ago, Igneel vanished, Natsu’s been looking for him ever since. I think Natsu saw himself in Romeo.”

Lucy looked out the guild doors and, making a decision, chased after the dragon-slayer.

Drew took a sip and sighed. He nudged his head towards the door. “Ash, Brock, go make sure they’re okay.”

The two nodded and with Pikachu in tow, they chased after the blonde.

At Mira’s concerned looks, Drew frowned sadly. “Ash and Brock have some similar issues with their fathers,” he admitted, “Ash never knew his father. My dad helped with that a lot, though. As for Brock, for a long while his parents were out of the picture, he had to raise 9 siblings by himself. In a way, I think Brock and Ash can sympathize with those two as well.”

“They’ll be fine. Whatever Romeo’s dad ran into can’t be too hard right?” Dawn reassured the bartender.

Mira smiled and they began to discuss housing for the new guild members.

Two hours later

Meanwhile, on the way to the mountain, Natsu was groaning as his motion sickness kicked in. “How bad is your sickness if you look like you’re gonna throw up every time?” asked Lucy.

He only groaned in response as the carriage rocked back and forth. Happy floated above him, explaining, “It’s always been this way; we’ve given up trying to figure it out.”

Brock had been examining him as they traveled. “Perhaps it’s an inner ear issue,” he suggested, “When that gets affected, it can cause queasiness. Here.” He held up a pill and a water bottle. “You’re not the only one who gets sick; sometimes the others get sick if their eyes move too much.”

He prodded the boy’s mouth and poured the water in. Natsu opened his eyes as the medicine took effect. “Huh, that feels…,” Natsu groaned as he sat up.

“It’s only temporary, sorry, but it should get you through the trip. Why don’t you relax?” the older boy assured him.

Natsu nodded and then to Lucy’s surprise he put his head on her lap. The blonde blushed but made no move to push the dragon slayer off and started to thread her hand through his hair.

A few minutes later the carriage stopped. “I’m sorry, but the path ahead is impassable. This is as far as we can go.”

The four travelers were confused and opened the carriage door. Instantly ice and snow greeted them and caused everyone to shiver.

“It’s the middle of July, how the heck is it so cold!?” Ash growled, putting Pikachu in his jacket for warmth.

“I don’t know, but we need to find Macao quick!” Brock told them, handing out jackets. The group of four, plus Happy, started climbing.

A half an hour later, they had made some progress up the mountain, but despite having a jacket, Lucy was still feeling cold.

“Oh man…w-w-why does it have to be so cold?” Lucy whimpered, shivering.

Natsu looked back. “You didn’t have to come out here you know?”

“S-s-shut up! I was worried about you. Also, not e-everyone is a fire dragon slayer.” Lucy tried to yell back, but the cold was sapping her strength. Then a light bulb went off in her head and she grabbed one of her silver keys. **“Open, Gate of the Clock: Horologium!”**

She turned the key with a click and a cheerful bell sounded as a magic circle sprouted from the key. Out of the circle came a large grandfather clock with a human face, two arms and small feet. Lucy immediately crawled inside the case and shut the door.

“What’s that supposed to do?” Ash asked.

She said something, but the glass-fronted clock blocked out her voice.

“‘It’s a way to keep me warm and I won’t have to burden you,’ she said,” the clock man spoke instead, using a bored, apathetic tone.

“Can you add one more?” Ash asked as he pulled out Pikachu who was shivering.

“‘Of course,’ she says pleasantly.”

Lucy cracked the door open to let Pikachu in and wrapped it in her blanket.

“Don’t worry, she says. Pikachu will be safe with me, she assures,” the clock man relayed.

Ash wasn’t worried about his longtime friend; he could take of himself. It was Lucy he was worried about, part of the reason he put Pikachu in there. Regardless, they continued up the mountain.

“Question, what would Macao be doing up here in the mountains?” Brock asked.

“Macao was looking to fight off a group of creatures called Vulcans in the area. But he’s a very capable mage; I don’t think some monkeys would get the drop on him. Macao! Where are ya!?”

As he yelled this, a large shadow dropped down. It was a large ape like creature that was nearly ten feet tall. The three mages were about to fight it, but the Vulcan immediately gunned for the clock and picked it up to carry it and the occupants away.

Ash groaned. “Damn it, I think Drew’s luck is rubbing off on me!”

The three chased the Vulcan to a cave that was carved into the mountain. Meanwhile, in the cave, Lucy squeezed Pikachu in fear.

‘ _This can’t_ possibly _get any worse!’_ she thought frantically.

“I’m sorry, but my time is up,” Horologium told her, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“No, wait! Give me an extension!” Lucy cried, panicking as she was left out in the cold. Slowly she turned around, fear in her eyes as the monkey drew closer.

“LUCY!” Natsu’s roared, getting the Vulcan to drop his smirk. He leaped into the cave…only to slip on the ice, hurtle across the room and crash headfirst into the wall.

“Lame!” Lucy protested in dismay.

Ash and Brock were right behind Natsu, but when they hit the ice, Ash pulled out Raikou and planted it in the ice, grabbing Brock as he slid by.

Natsu groaned as he staggered upright, then pounded his fists to regather his wits. “Alright, monkey, where the heck is Macao?”

The Vulcan pointed outside the cave. Natsu followed the finger with his eyes to his right out on a cliff. This distraction allowed the Vulcan kick him over the side of the cliff.

“DAMN YOU MONKEY!” they heard him yell as he tumbled down the mountain.

Lucy gasped in horror. “Natsu!”

Ash immediately sent out an Aura pulse to find the dragon slayer. “He’s fine, just focus on the Vulcan!”

Lucy nodded and grabbed one of the golden keys, this one looking a face with two horns on it. **“Open! Gate of The Golden Bull: Taurus!”**

A bell sounded and out of the resulting magic circle came a humanoid cow wearing a loin cloth and was holding a huge axe.

“Go get him, Taurus!” Lucy ordered, pointing at the hulking ape.

“Will dooo~! But I must say, Miss Lucy, you’ve got a rocking body as always~!”

Ash facepalmed. “He’s a worse pervert than you, Brock…at least you know your boundaries.”

Brock nodded as they observed Taurus hefted his axe over his shoulder, ready to attack. But then Natsu appeared out of nowhere and punched the bipedal bull.

This shocked everyone, none more so than Lucy, who was understandably furious. “Natsu! Taurus is on our side!”

Natsu looked at the prone cow-man. “Uh…Oops?” he mumbled, sweatdropping.

The Vulcan pounded his chest and hefted up Taurus’s dropped axe. It grinned and turned to Natsu, who pounded his fists again. “You wanna go, tough guy!?” he roared, charging in. But then he slipped on the ice again just as the axe crashed down and nearly bisected him. However, he caught the axe inches from his face and struggled to hold it back. Ash and Brock were about to intervene when Natsu had an idea. He tilted his head back and blew fire at the axe. It melted enough so that a few drops of molten metal entered his mouth.

Natsu grinned as an aura of flames formed around him. “Alright, I’m all fired up!” He punched the axe away, his fist glowing. **“FIRE DRAGON’S IRON FIST”**

With one massive punch, the Vulcan slammed into the cave wall, knocking it out.

Natsu grinned and pounded his fist. “That’ll show that monkey not to mess with me!” he boasted proudly.

Lucy, who had sent Taurus back, walked up to Natsu. “That was awesome, Natsu!” she praised him eagerly, “But, wouldn’t swallowing that metal be bad for you?”

Natsu rubbed his head. “Well...fire is fire, no matter where it comes from. So, as long as I think of it like that, it’ll be fine!” he answered, grinning, “Now, let’s find Macao and get out of this place!”

Before they could leave, however, the remaining Vulcan groaned and started glowing. The glowing shrunk until it revealed an older man with black hair, a torn white jacket and black pants.

“Macao!” Natsu cried, running over to him.

Macao groaned and opened his eyes. “Natsu…?” he asked blearily, sitting up, “What the hell’re _you_ doing here?”

“Heard from Romeo you were up here and hadn’t been home in a week,” Natsu replied, “We came to see if you were okay.”

“What the heck happened?” asked Ash.

Macao fell back, grimacing. “Damn Vulcans…I took nineteen of ‘em down, then the leader. I wore it down and I guess I got a little too cocky. That monkey got the jump on me and, well, you saw what happened.” He tried to sit up but hissed in pain.

Brock eased him back down. “Easy there, I’ve got bandages and peroxide. You’ll be alright,” the younger boy assured him.

“You hear that, Macao? We’re gonna get you out of here! Romeo is waiting for ya!” Natsu encouraged.

Macao smiled as Brock checked him for his injuries. “Idiot…what’s with all that sappy, hopeful talk?” he retorted halfheartedly, “I’m not dying or anything!”

Eventually Brock concluded Macao did not have a serious enough injury for him to need to be carried off the mountain. As such, Natsu and Brock both lifted his arms onto their shoulders and began the climb down the mountain.

In Magnolia

Romeo watched the sunset on the guild steps sadly. He had been in a funk all day, only alleviated by the fact Natsu had gone after his dad. Now, though, he just wondered if they were even still alive. He hoped Natsu at least found his dad or…something.

“What’s up, Romeo?” The young boy turned to see Dawn standing over him, her fire pokemon Cyndaquill walking next to her.

“I’m just worried about my dad. I hope they come back soon,” Romeo told her sadly.

The blue haired girl sat down, making sure to adjust her skirt as she did so. “I’m sure Ash and Natsu are on their way back as we speak.”

“Really?” Romeo’s eyes lit up.

Dawn smiled. “Ash is one of those people that’ll go out of his way to make sure others are happy. He’s stubborn like that.”

Romeo returned the smile as Cyndaquil waddled up to the young boy and tried its best to comfort him by letting the boy hug him.

“Oh look, it’s Romeo. Where’s your drunk dad at?”

“Everyone knows that Fairy Tail’s full of drunk deadbeats!”

“Its why I want to be in the Rune Knights; at least I won’t have to worry about being a public menace.”

Romeo’s face fell as three boys across the street started laughing. He was about to run and cry when a boisterous voice stopped the laughter.

“Well I doubt your Rune Knight dad could take on twenty Vulcans and live to tell the tale!” Natsu called out mockingly.

The boys turned to see Natsu grinning up a storm with Brock holding up the tired Macao by his shoulders.

Romeo gasped and started to tear up in joy. “DAD!?” The young boy leaped onto his dad, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. “I can’t believe it, you’re alive!

Macao groaned but hugged his son back. “Heh…Sorry I worried you, Romeo. But thanks to Natsu, I’m back.”

The boys who’d making fun of Romeo were starting to reevaluate the young man. Then one of them started to sniff. “Do you guys smell smoke?” asked the leader. Then it dawned that they were on fire and took off screaming for the canal. The only one to pay attention to the chaos was Ash. He turned to see where it could have come from and saw Dawn grinning at him and Cyndaquil laughing. Ash shook his head, smiling wryly as he watched the reunion of father and son.

Next Day about 9:30AM

The guild was starting to wake up as the morning wore on. Some of the mages were boasting about recent successes while others were busy eating breakfast. The noise abated slightly as the doors opened to reveal Drew and his friends.

Mira noticed them and smiled welcomingly as they entered. “Hey guys! Want some breakfast?”

“Thanks Mira. We certainly worked up an appetite,” May answered eagerly.

They all sat down at their table. About the same time, Lucy showed up at the guild and walked over to her new friends. Mira took their orders and in a few moments their food was served. Lucy noticed that many of them had notebooks out. “What’re you writing there?” she asked.

Tori smiled at her and explained, “We’re writing down our experiences here.”

Lucy nodded and asked to see the other journals.

“Thanks Mira. Is the guild master in? I want to talk to him about something,” Drew asked.

Mira nodded and went to go get him. Meanwhile, Lucy scanned through Tori’s journal. She was wowed at the journeys they’d undertaken. _So many battles, so many adventures, it’s like my reason for coming to Fairy Tail in book form!_ “Wow, you guys have been through a lot!” she gushed as she read Tori’s journal. She perused the recounting of their experiences in the Pokemon world.

“We’ve been through quite a bit, and I know we have more to do before we are done,” Tori admitted, “Drew says that if we don’t keep a record of it all, who knows what’ll happen to our memory?”

Before Lucy could ask what that meant, Makarov arrived, walking over to their table. “You wanted to talk to me, Drew?” he asked, smiling kindly.

Drew finished the food in his mouth. “Yeah. I don’t think we ever showed you what we could do. I was thinking we could face off against some of your guild members and show you what we can do.”

Makarov rubbed his chin. “That sounds like a great idea. Oi, brats!” The guild activity slowed down. “We welcomed our new guild members yesterday, but we don’t know what they can do yet. So, who wants to throw down and have some spars!?”

Half the guild cheered in excitement to see some fights. The other half turned to the new members and were curious at what they would bring and how they would fair against their best.

A few minutes later

Everyone gathered outside in a small enclosed area, many itching for a fight. The Master struggled to get control of his guild members for a few minutes before finally resorting to shouting at them. He also observed instead of standing and being scattered around, the newcomers, including Lucy, were sitting down and relaxing, save for Drew, who was standing with a confident smiled.

“Alright then, who wants to go first, my fellow guild members?” Drew asked with a wave of his arms.

Before anyone could volunteer, Grey stood up, somehow losing his shirt. “I’ll go first. Time to show what a real mage can do.”

“Yeah right, stripper,” Natsu taunted, “You couldn’t even keep your clothes on, stripper! I could beat them in one shot!”

“You wanna go lizard breath?” Gray growled.

“Enough!” Makarov roared shutting them up. “Grey, you can go first. Is there anyone who you would like to face?”

Grey tched. “I can take on anyone. Let’s go!”

Drew shook his head. “Alright.” He scanned over his friends and his eyes landed on the purple haired empath. “Anabel, why don’t you go first?”

The empath nodded and stood up, her friends encouraging her. The two combatants stood across from each other, both looking confident. Grey relaxed his body and watched as Anabel took a deep breath. She turned her body so that her left side faced Gray. In the ice mage’s eyes, the purple haired girl was going to start dancing for him, not fight. She raised her left hand over head so it faced Gray and her right hand was facing away.

Makarov stood in between them. “Ready?”

The two nodded. “Alright! Begin!”

Grey took a deep breath and began his chant. ** “Ice Make-”**

But before he could launch an attack, Anabel used his buildup to get in close. One moment she was standing across from Grey, the next he was coughing up air from an open-handed impact to his chest. Then, using her momentum, she backflipped and kicked him in the chin, making him stagger.

She landed and reset her stance. “You’ll need to be faster than that. I was able to land two clean blows on you before you could form magic,” she lectured him lightly.

Gray growled, slamming a fist into his flat palm. **“Ice Make: Lance!”** he snapped.

This time he actually managed to complete it. A wave of nine arrow-headed ice streams left his hands and sped towards the stationary girl. Anabel remained calm as the attack approached, however. She twisted her body like a snake, letting the first two lances streak overhead, then flipped out the way of the other seven, several coming within inches of from cutting her.

To the audience, many were expecting Grey to at least get in some damage on the dancing girl, if not outright win out. The fact that he couldn’t even touch her showed that there was more to Anabel and her friends than met the eye.

Anabel landed in a one-handed handstand and pulled a metallic bar out of her waistband. It unfolded into a wide bladed ring with spikes around the outer edge. She pushed off the ground, backflipped and hurled it at Grey.

The Ice mage spied the spinning chakram and quickly charged up another Ice Lance to intercept it. His eyes widened when Anabel charged at him with a second folded chakram in hand. Infusing it with Aura to dull the blades, she spun the second chakram and swung it upwards, knocking Grey into the air with a cry. Then she caught the thrown one and began her assault in earnest. She struck at Grey, using the speed of her chakrams to catch him off guard. She complimented this barrage with her legs, using her flexibility to strike at multiple points and make sure Grey couldn’t get an attack in. Anabel backflipped, into the air, giving Grey an opening to fire more ice arrows the girl’s way.

Anabel wasn’t fazed. She held out her hand to summon her chakram and spun it in front of her deflecting all of the ice shards away. She landed and launched towards Grey with a kick to the ice mage’s chest knocking him down.

Gray groaned as he sat up. He felt something colder than his ice magic at his neck. He looked up to see Anabel still smiling, her eyes glowing purple and with one of her chakrams ready to strike again.

“Got ya.” She told him sweetly. When he made no move to dispute it, Anabel removed her weapon and held out her hand to help him up, to which Grey reluctantly took.

The mages were completely stunned. Grey, who was considered one of the best non S-class mages in the guild, had been beaten without magic. Makarov watched his new guild members with renewed interest as Anabel sauntered her way back to high fives and hugs. What she did was nothing short of phenomenal without magic

“Alright, who’s next?” asked Drew as he turned back to the crowd.

Most of the mages were now slightly hesitant to face the newcomers who could beat one of their own without magic. Elfman, on the other hand, pounded his chest. “You guys are babies. Now! Watch how a real man fights!” he roared.

Drew shook his head and glanced at Brock. “How about big guy versus big guy?”

Brock nodded and stepped into the arena. Brock may have been the tallest of his friends but he still lost out to Elfman in height.

The white haired giant grinned cockily. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”

Brock settled into his stance, arms loose and knees bent while leaning forward slightly. “I wouldn’t be so cocky. There’s more to me than a pretty face .”

Makarov began the battle and Elfman wasted no time in summoning some of his magic. His arm glowed and transformed into a golem like arm, flesh disintegrating to be replaced with blocky stones. He charged with a fired-up roar and a cocked fist toward Brock, who looked confident as he tightened his stance. Once he got close, he swung at the shorter man, hoping to at least hit the younger man and get an edge in the fight. That’s why he was surprised when the brown haired man caught his fist.

Elfman looked into the squinted eyes of Brock and noticed that the normally jovial man was now all serious. His thought were cut off as Brock dragged him down and grabbed him by the waist. Then, with strength that belied his size, he picked him up, wrapped his arms around his waist and with a loud grunt, threw himself backward, taking the larger man with him to the ground. The force of the impact nearly knocked the taller man out, followed by him flopping over heavily with a grunt.

“Elfman!” Mira gasped as she ran to her larger brother.

The large man groaned as he held his head, which felt like drums beating on his brain. “What the heck happened…?” he asked groggily.

“Where we come from, that’s called a Suplex,” Brock supplied helpfully, albeit in a solid tone, “Normally it’s done on equally sized opponents. Your charge and your overconfidence allowed me to flip you over. Fortunately, I was holding onto you and mitigated the damage. I don’t think you want to know if I released you,” Brock told the siblings.

Mira looked at him with a hurt expression. He raised his hands. “Sorry, but it was part of my style of fighting.”

She frowned at that. ‘ _I know it was a fair fight, but he still hurt my baby brother…’_

Her brother put his hand on her shoulder, stalling her response. “It’s alright, Nee-san; I was too cocky. I got beat, simple as that. It’s not manly to cry over a loss like that.”

Mira bit her lip, brow furrowed, but nodded and helped Elfman up.

Drew shook his head ruefully. “Sorry it was so quick, but sometimes it happens,” he said, “Anyway, what to do next?”

Ash tugged on his sleeve and whispered into his ear. Drew smiled and nodded at the idea before turning to the other mages. “Does anyone use guns?” he asked, pulling out Brave.

After a couple of moments, two mages stepped forward. The first was a dark haired man that had hair covering one eye. He was wearing a brown cloak over a red shirt and brown pants. The other was a green haired woman with a yellow hat and a blue sleeveless dress. “We do. I’m Alzack and this is Bisca,” the man replied courteously.

“Do you use revolvers?” Drew asked them.

Alzack nodded again, wondering where he was going with this. “Alright,” Ash spoke up with a bright smile, “I’m challenging you to a first-touch contest. Using your bullets or magic, I want you to try to hit me before I reach you.”

Now the mages’ jaws dropped at Ash’s challenge.

“This kid is nuts!”

“Alzack‘s magic is _way_ too fast!”

“Master, you’re seriously gonna allow this?!”

Makarov cleared his throat. “Calm down! Ash and Alzack are quite capable mages. We will move away to avoid the crossfire. If you are ready boys?”

Alzack grinned, hand drifting to his holstered pistol. “Alright then, let’s go hotshot!”

The crowds stepped further back to allow both sides to move. Alzack stood on one side, hand itching to reach for his gun. Ash stood on the other, looking confident.

Lucy watched this with a worried look. “Will he be alright?”

Misty nodded, watching the arena with an unreadable expression. “He’ll be fine. He wouldn’t make this challenge unless he knew he could win.” She turned to look at the blonde. “Ash has seen and been hit by worse. I trust him.”

Lucy nodded with hesitation and turned to see the challenge play out.

Makarov glanced at both mages warily, then gave the signal to begin and jumped away. For a few moments neither moved a muscle, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Alzack whipped out a revolver and fan-fired two shots. The bullets sped towards Ash, only to pass through him, showing that Ash had, in fact, already vanished from his spot.

“Looking for me?” the boy in question asked from the left, making the older man start in surprise. He sprinted towards the gunslinger like a bolt of lightning.

Alzack, normally confident in his shots, frantically fired off more shots, hoping to hit the oncoming mage. Ash sidestepped to the right to avoid two shots, then ducked under another two. As he got closer, Ash saw the muzzle flashes and jumped in the opposite direction. As he got closer, the time between shots would be shorter. As a result, he picked up speed, taking sharp turns from side to side so fast that he left behind more afterimages.

The gunslinger frantically fired, only to hit and dissipate illusion after illusion. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him because he swore there were multiple Ashes. He fired one last shot that went wide, before it was too late. Ash stopped right in front of him and lightly tapped his nose, ending the match.

“Guess that’s game, huh?” Ash asked rhetorically.

Alzack collapsed onto the ground, sweating and pale. Bisca gasped and ran to him, looking over his shaking body and hugging him. Ash walked over and held out his hand to him. “Good try. Guess I’m just a bit faster than a gun,” he said cheerfully.

The cowboy looked at Ash’s hand and smiled, taking it. “Yeah, guess so. How did you dodge the shots that close to me?”

In answer, the younger boy laughed sheepishly. “I’m not the smartest, but I have pretty good instincts. As I got closer, I predicted where your shots were going, but then I had to start predicting _you_. I had to think about what you’d do next rather than where you’d shoot.”

Alzack widened his eyes in amazement. Thanking Ash for the match, he walked back with Bisca to the applause of his guild.

Before Drew could ask who was next, May and Dawn stepped forward. Well, sauntered forward in May’s case. “Those fights seemed a little boring. Sorry about that; Ash is really fast, Brock was smart and Anabel is a really tricky girl to hit. If you guys want another fight, me and Dawn can oblige you,” she taunted with a flirty wink.

May’s smile, combined with Dawn’s giggles and the two’s outfits caused the males to have hearts in their eyes and slight nosebleeds.

Makarov debated on who to send up to face the girls. His best team pair at the moment was Alzack and Bisca, but Alzack had already gone. His grandson’s team was out on a mission and Drew made it clear he wanted to fight Natsu, so he and Grey were out as an option.

He looked over his assembled mages and settled on the young men of Team Shadow Gear. They had some good chemistry and it would help him observe the two lovely ladies in action. “Jet, Droy. Show them what you can do,” he ordered.

The mages agreed and strode confidently into the rings. Jet bounced on the balls his feet, grinning at the two, while Droy clapped his hands and bent his legs. May and Dawn slipped into their stances; Dawn slightly bent her knees and held up her hands in loose fists. May started to move her body in a set rhythm, undulating on the spot, her eyes not diverting from her opponents.

“When you’re ready, begin!” Makarov announced.

Jet wasted no time and charged at the dancing May, thinking his speed would be able to catch the dancing brunette off guard. Which was why he was surprised when she ducked down and struck at both of his legs. In one fluid motion, she kicked him in the chin, then spun and kicked him again, this time in the chest.

Meanwhile, Dawn was cheerfully dodging out of the way of Droy’s magic, which revolved around plants. On his command, two vines shot towards her from the ground in front of him. She pirouetted, letting the botanical spears pass over her easily. “Now now, Droy, you don’t have to pick flowers for little ol’ me,” she taunted with a giggle.

Those words sparked a renewed determination in Droy. “I’ll show you!” He took some seeds out of his pocket and threw them on the ground. “ **Plant Magic: Knuckle Plant!”**

The seeds dug into the earth and the rapidly grew into vines with flowers shaped like fists. They all shot at the blue-haired mage, aimed at her chest . Not even flinching, she charged up Aura in her legs. Then she jumped, landing lightly on each fist and use them as stepping stones, hopping from one to the other as they shot past.

When the plants reached their maximum height, Dawn hopped off and used her parasol to float down. As she drifted, she brought her arm over her waist and pulled out her sword. It was a silver rapier with a revolver-like mechanism built into the guard. She then pointed it at the vines and intoned, **“Ice Aura: Ice Beam!”** The sword glowed a light blue and a cold spray of water sprung from the tip. The spray connected with the vines and slowly froze them solid.

The watchers gaped at her newly revealed skills, especially Grey. He’d never thought to use a weapon to focus his Ice magic. He’d assumed it would just make things unnecessarily complicated.

Dawn said nothing as she floated down onto one of the flowers and slid down it like a slide. Once on the ground, she pointed her hands at the larger mage. A small ball of light formed in her palms, which she then pitched onto the ground. **“Flash!”**

The ball exploded in a bright light, causing Droy to recoil and cover his eyes in pain. Dawn quickly fired an Ice Beam at the ground surreptitiously, coating it in frost. In his blinded disorientation, Droy took a step forward and promptly slipped on the ice, barreling into Jet, who was still attacking May. The brunette watched as the two barreled into each other with with a smile. Dawn landed next to her and giggled at their folly. While the two men struggled to get up, the two girls stood back to back, swords in hand. May’s sword was longer and thinner than Dawn’s, like a sword out of medieval China.

The mages finally staggered to their feet, while Dawn began to spin on her heels and May swiped her sword left to right. “ **Grass Aura: Razor Leaf!”** she yelled. Multiple leaves appeared in a gust of wind from her sword. She held the spinning leaves up and looked at Dawn who was finishing charging up her attack.

Dawn stopped twirling, her Aura reaching the desired level. She thrust her sword down releasing the stored energy. “ **Electric Aura: Discharge!”** A large dome of electricity fanned out from the point of impact. The wave passed through the leaves, leaving them sparkling with energy.

Then May aimed the leaves point-first at the two struggling mages, using her sword as a conductor. The lightning-infused leaves sped at the mages who took the brunt of the attacks and were feeling the effects of the electrical charge. “Time to finish this. **Grass Aura: Stun Spore,”** May intoned. She took a deep breath and blew out a stream of orange and yellow particles. It drifted towards Jet and Droy, whose bodies suddenly locked up and collapsed.

“W-what the hell is this?!” Jet grunted.

“I can’t…move! Muscles are frozen…” Droy groaned.

May smiled. “That was Stun Spore. If it connects, it paralyses an opponent until they’re healed or knocked out. Seeing as we don’t want to hurt you further, I say we win.”

Seeing the two mages in no position to argue, Dawn walked over and held out her hand. **“Refresh!”**

A wave of cool, calming aura washed over Jet and Droy. Whatever pain they were feeling went away, like it never even happened.

“Whoa! That felt great!” Jet cheered.

“I could get used to that! Thank you!” Droy replied.

Dawn giggled, her giggles get the two boys to gush over her. “Anytime.” She walked back to their side and sat down with May, who cuddled her.

“Good job you two,” Ash told them, sitting down between the two. They both smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

Drew smiled at his friends, knowing they did a great job. Then he stepped into the ring, cracking his knuckles. “Alright, I think one more fight should do it. Natsu, you wanted to see what I could do. Let’s go.”

Natsu grinned and pounded his fssts. “Alright! I’m all fired up! Let’s go!

The dragon slayer stepped into the ring and watched Drew set himself up to fight. He bent his knees and brought his right leg behind him. Simultaneously, he shifted his right hand to his side and held his left parallel to his chest. “Whenever you’re ready, Natsu,” Drew told the dragon slayer.

Natsu wasted no time and charged in, fists blazing and roaring hot-bloodedly. Instead of attacking, however, Drew crossed his arms and blocked the attack, barely even budging as his forearms stopped the punch dead. Then he landed a kick on one of Natsu’s shins. The dragon slayer shrugged it off and charged again. This time Drew grabbed Natsu’s leg and slammed it against his knee.

Natsu hissed as he fell back. “What the heck that?!” he demanded, rubbing at the bruise even as he got back up.

“When I fight, I focus on damaging the limbs so they are less effective. I also like overwhelm my opponents. Like _this!”_ Drew reared back and swung a quick hook at Natsu’s face. The quickness caught the dragon slayer off guard and caught him in the jaw. The pink haired mage stumbled back, surprised, before falling on his butt. Taking a moment to clear his head, he looked up and wiped the spit that had been knocked from of his mouth.

“You know how to hit. Finally, a challenge other than the Ice Princess!” Natsu taunted, grinning.

In answer Drew just smiled and reset his stance. Natsu responded by charging again with a cry, igniting his right hand and throwing it at his opponent. Drew met the fist with one of his own and the two matched each other blow for blow.

Lucy was watching with amazement. She had seen Drew fight once, but it was really quick. To see him fight like he was doing now with Natsu seemed unreal.

“First time in a long while that he’s smiled in a spar,” Gabby murmured aloud.

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked the tanned girl.

“Drew spars with all of us to help us improve,” Tori explained, “However, he’s all about making sure that we learn and keep each other safe. This is the first time in a while I’ve seen him fight with a smile on his face.” with a smile. Lucy made a noise of understanding

Back with the fight, Natsu had just gotten out of the hold Drew had put him in and slid away. He kipped up and launched another fist. This time Drew blocked it with his forearm and pushed the older mage off balance. Before Natsu could react, he reared back and slapped the sides of the dragon slayer’s ears.

However, Drew made a small miscalculation. He had struck a Dragon Slayer, who unbeknownst to him had more sensitive hearing. When the palms made contact, Natsu felt the same way he would be on moving vehicles and immediately collapsed almost vomiting.

When Drew saw him collapse, he panicked. “Damn! Natsu, are you alright!?” In answer, Natsu only groaned in pain as he rolled on the ground, holding his ears. Tori and Dawn quickly made their way over to check on him.

Makarov turned to Drew, looking upset. ”What’s the idea with that? That move isn’t one to use on allies, you know,” he admonished.

Drew sighed. “I’m sorry! He came at me and I tried to push him back. I was trying to knock him off balance not make him throw up!

After a few moments of Tori and Dawn healing his ears, Natsu had regained his bearings. “Whoa, what happened?” he asked dazedly, staggering upright. While this was going on, Lucy gave a small sigh of relief at his recovery. While she’d only known the pink-haired boy for a few days, she had grown at least a little attached to the dragon slayer.

“I accidentally took you out by attacking your ears; I didn’t know Dragon Slayers had such sensitive hearing,” Drew explained, scratching his head uncomfortably.

Natsu shook his head, only saying, “That’s alright, you didn’t know. But yeah, being raised by a dragon gives me their sense of smell and hearing.”

“But that means you can’t handle anything other than walking!” Happy chimed in.

Natsu grumbled something about trains being the devil, while Drew chuckled. _Imagine motion sickness being what a Dragon Slayer’s weak against…_ he thought amusedly. Then he turned towards the rest of the guild. “What we tried to show you is that you can’t rely on your magic all the time. Admittedly, you guys have strengths in other area and is useful for a variety of situations. But if you’re in an area where your magic is cut off, you’re pretty much screwed; which we demonstrated here.”

The mages realized that in all of the battles, save for May and Dawn’s, they’d used no magic at all. It was as if they didn’t even need it. Some of the older mages came to another realization: If an enemy took away their magic, then they had very serious issues.

“I don’t want you guys to lose because your opponents can render you useless with a simple spell,” Drew continued, assuring them, “What we want to do is to at least give you some extra skills that could be used without your magic. Heck, you could probably combine the two; there’re hundreds of different styles to choose from, everyone has a style suited for them.

Some of the guild members, like Macao and Grey, were still skeptical. This young mage was offering to teach them his skills, skills that weren’t even magic. They weren’t sure if that would really help them out in the long run. Others found themselves curious. These mages were more for diversifying their skill pool to be better fighters, like Cana and Reedus.

Brock stepped up. “You don’t have to give us an answer right away,” he told them plainly, “We’d need a couple of days to figure out some training exercises for you all. So until then, use what you saw today to learn. A spar is nothing without both sides learning.”

This seemed to convince everyone as they broke apart and headed inside. Suddenly, an explosion caught everyone’s attention.

Makarov stared at the smoke from several blocks away and grimaced. “Damn it, those kaijū are attacking again and none of our best mages are here!” He looked at the newcomers curiously, noticing that they were watching the smoke as well. Instead of panic, they looked like they knew what it was. With a small nod to each other, they took off towards the smoke, confirming his suspicions about their knowledge. “Hm…wonder what that’s about,” he murmured thoughtfully.

Levy noticed this and gasped. “What the? Someone stop them! They’re going to get hurt!” Natsu immediately took off after the group. Lucy watched as they took off and making a split second decision, followed them. Levy watched her guild mates go with worry. “L-Lucy-chan, Natsu! Where are you going?!” The slender mage turned to Makarov, pale with worry. “Master, we’ve got to stop them!”

Makarov watched them go, his face inscrutable. “Levy-chan. If they’re that eager to prove themselves, then we’ll trust in them to beat these kaiju. That’s what Fairy Tail does, isn’t it?” He grinned at her. “In the meantime, we need to get in contact with Erza and Laxus ASAP.”

Levy nodded but was still concerned about their new friends. But she would trust in the master and held hope for her friends.

At the site of the explosion

The explosion was centered near a park, currently occupied by families enjoying the beautiful day. The Kaiju’s attack had scattered those families into running and hiding. This was sight that greeted the Riders. Calmly, they fought through the fleeing crowds to see multiple shadow troopers. They were lead by what appeared to be a dark green humanoid spider that had multiple insect-like arms.

“That stupid Magic Council! How dare they strip my guild of its charter! I’ll show them. With the power of this device I will make them bring it back! I, Twilight Spider will bring them to their knees-!”

“Hey! Venom reject!” Drew called out. The spider creature turned to see 10 young mages coming towards him.

“Who the hell are you?” growled the spider, “Dogs of the Magic Council?”

Misty scoffed. “Yeah, like we would work for the government!”

Meanwhile, Drew crossed his arms. “I don’t know who you are. But we’re here to put you down,” he called out, reaching behind his back.

“Wait,” May requested, holding her arm in front of him. Drew looked at the brunette. “You three already got to show off. Let some of us have a turn,” she told them with a smirk.

Drew looked at May and smiled pulling his hand back from his phone. “Alright, your show.”

The brunette girl smiled and turned to her fellow Aura riders, who nodded as well. As they stepped forward, Lucy arrived on the scene with Natsu in tow, out of breath.

Catching her breath, Lucy watched May, Dawn, Anabel, Max and Brock walk up to the kaijū. She panicked and turned to Drew. “What the heck are they doing? They aren’t seriously going to take them on are they!?” she squawked, waving her arms agitatedly.

Drew just smiled enigmatically. “Now Lucy, when we said the Rider armors provide our abilities, who said we were the only ones with them?”

Lucy was perplexed, until she realized what he was talking about. Then her eyes widened and she turned to see the five friends standing in front of their opponents.

“Fufufu…who do you think you’re fooling? _Nothing_ can beat my kaijū form!” taunted the spider, his extra arms snapping towards them as he gave a chittering laugh.

May smiled and then reached into her back pocket, her friends doing the same. They held aloft a gold buckle each, similar Ash and Misty’s, along with small cards depicting different images. May’s held a green dinosaur-like creature with a bud on its back. Max’s was a purple blob creature. Brock’s was a snake made out of boulders, while Anabel’s was a purple cat with a red jewel on its forehead and Dawn’s was a pink, fox-like creature. They all inserted the cards into the buckles simultaneously. A set of cards wrapped around their waists, forming a belt for each of them.

They adjusted their bodies and arms into different poses, ready to spring into action

“Want to test that?” May grinned, her right hand at eye level.

Spider snarled. “Get them!” he barked, throwing out a commanding, twisted hand. The troopers charged at the humans, who didn’t even flinch at their oncoming opponents.

As one they shouted, **“HENSHIN!”**

**EVOLVE**

May slammed her hand down on the lever on her belt while her raising her left hand in a fist. The lever revealed a green shield with a leaf on it. The shield formed into a large, rectangular barrier that shot out a few feet before her and knocked her opponents back with a pulse. The shield then reversed and fell back onto her. In May’s place, stood a green and brown armored figure. Her hands and boots were a lighter brown while most of the rest of the body was green and had attached light green skirt that resembled leaves. On her back was small butterfly wings. On her waist was a deck of cards and her sword.

Brock flipped his left arm around and used his other to flip the lever. The shield that popped out had a large brown fist, which enveloped him, leaving him clad in armor. His was brown and grey, with thicker plating on his shoulders. His helmet was a darker brown with a rugged exterior and grey eyes. Attached to his back was a large poleaxe.

Max opened his arms and hit the lever on the belt’s side. His shield bore a black seven-pointed star. It returned and enveloped him, revealing a grey and white figure. He wore grey gloves with white colored armor on the wrists He had white stripes running the course of his body. On his back was a wooden staff, while at his waist were two Sais. The last thing that stood out with this armor was it made Max taller.

Anabel turned her arms 180 degrees and moved her right hand to the lever on her belt while closing her left. A purple shield with an open black eye appeared and covered the empath. In her place ,was a purple figure with white striping from her shoulders to her waists. Her helmet had two cat like ears and her eyes were a lighter purple.

Dawn swing her hand down to flip the lever while putting her left hand up to her face. A pink shield with two fairy like wings appeared in front of her. As the shield enveloped her she reappeared as a pink clad figure with matching white gloves, boots and collar and a light pink skirt. On her helmet was two small fox like ears. On her waist was her deck case and her rapier.

“The Dancing Fairy. Kamen Rider Kusa!” May called out, holding her sword so that it pointed to the sky while standing on one leg.

“The Empathic Mind. Kamen Rider Kyokan!” Anabel announced holding one of her chakrams above her head and the other in front of her body.

“The Sparkling Beauty. Kamen Rider Hanabi!” Dawn cried holding up her sword and then thrusting it forward like a fencer.

“The Jet Fighter. Kamen Rider Ace!” Max shouted, spinning and then holding his Sais edges down.

“The Iron Wall. Kamen Rider Onyx!” Brock roared swinging the axe and stomping the ground.

Play Fairy Tail theme

Spider snarled as some of his men were knocked by the shield. “You pesky mages won’t defeat me! ATTACK!”

The group of troopers recovered and charged straight at the riders. The five armored warriors pulled out their weapons and charged into the fray.

Kusa spun and lashed out with her legs in a powerful strike. She came out of her spin and swung her sword Mori no Ken to cut down down the soldiers. Simultaneously, she pulled out a card depicting her Blaziken surrounded by flames and held it to her belt to scan it.

** FIRE SPIN **

Kusa spun her sword like a twister. Flames spread out from her sword and enveloped her opposition. Once she stopped spin, she stretched her leg out and smiled behind her helmet.

She turned to see Spider gearing up to attack her. **“Silk Arrow!”** Five arrow-like strings shot towards her from his tendrils. Kusa blocked the shot with a flourish and moved to engage him.

Hanabi was giggling as she bounced from enemy to enemy, striking each with a thrust to the chest. She made another strike to a troopers head before leaping up and drawing out a card to scan it. 

** ANCIENT POWER **

She held her sword, Tears of Sylveon, out in front of her with one hand, pointed straight down. A glowing orb expanded from the tip, whereupon she whipped her blade back and slung the projectile away. The ball hit the ground and caused it to split open, with her opponents tumbling to their doom. She landed with graceful poise and observed her handiwork with a smile. Turning away, she spotted another group attacking troopers and with a quick jump, leapt back into the fight.

Onyx parried an overhead strike with the handle of his weapon, the Axe of Mortar. Two other troopers tried to strike him from behind, but the offending blades only shattered on his armor.

He turned and bisected the two offenders before pulling out a card depicting his Crobat with light with the air streaming by it and scanned it. **EXTREME SPEED!** In a blur of speed that defied his size, he struck each one with a slash. When he finally skidded to a stop, the troopers collapsed and disintegrated into black dust. Hefting the axe over his shoulder he scanned the area to find more opponents.

Ace was flying over his opposition, leaving a gust of wind in his wake. The wind kicked up his opponents and allowed him to his Sai, Cyclonic Wind to carve through his opponents. He then scanned a card of Ash’s Staraptor flapping his wings, the image of the change Ditto card turning into a copy of the Pokemon. **AIR SLASH! **He made a sharp slashing motion, sending razor-sharp blades of air at the ground and his opponents. He dropped to the ground, watching the troopers being cut open and fall to the ground. He grinned behind his mask as he held up his sais. He turned to see the kaijuu fighting Kusa and went to go help his sister.

Kyokan backflipped over a lance strike, her chakrams spinning wildly as they danced around her opponents. One more flip over a wild sword slash and she landed behind the group, her chakram decapitating the enemy in front of her. She caught the ring and spun it around, holding up a card depicting Metagross firing a beam of light.

** FLASH CANNON **

The floating chakram landed behind her opponents and began to glow a metallic silver. She held the other one in front of her, causing it to glow brightly as well. The glowing intensified and then unleashed on her enemies between the two weapons. Her chakrams returned to her side and bowed. Turning to see Kusa fighting, she cartwheeled towards her friend.

Twilight Spider thrust all of his extra arms at Kusa who blocked each arm with a finesse of warrior. She ducked and then launched her feet to Spider’s legs tripping him up. Spider quickly recovered and took a deep breath. **“Silk Needles!” **he screeched, firing multiple needles at Kusa. The Fairy Rider landed and saw the attack coming, but didn’t have enough time to dodge it.

A pink shield appeared in front of the brown armored rider and deflected the needles away. Kusa didn’t even have to look up to know it’d been Hanabi who’d created the Light Screen. The pink rider quickly went into a flurry of stabs that ended with her slicing upwards, only for Spider to dodge and catch her on the legs. with a silk string. Kusa grunted, struggling to rip free of the string as she was flung into the air while the monster laughed. Fortunately, Ace quickly caught her and brought her back down to the ground. They were quickly reunited with Onyx and Kyokan.

Spider looked around and saw that all of the minions he’d brought had been destroyed. He snarled furiously. “How dare you! I _will_ bring back my guild one way or another!” He charged, claws ready to rip the riders apart.

** THUNDER WAVE **

A bolt of electricity from Ace shocked the spider, bringing him to his knees and leaving him growling impotently. “What…did you do to me?!”

“Yeah, I don’t think that will happen. That Thunder Wave should set up the finale,” Ace drawled. “Who wants to finish him?” he asked, looking to the others.

“I got it!” Kusa offered, holding up Blaziken’s Blaze Kick card. She charged it up and scanned it.

** BLAZE KICK: MAXIMUM ENERGY  **

Her right foot ignited in a brilliant flame. She leaned back on her left leg to build up energy, then took a running start, leaping high into the air and pointing her foot down. Her attack struck true, the power overloading and breaking the device that created the monster in the first place.

Springboarding off the monster, she somersaulted and landed behind him, her foot returning to normal. “Show’s over!” she declared firmly. Behind her, the monster collapsed and exploded into a fireball. As the fire died down, she turned to see the monster had turned back into a human; a middle-aged, heavy-set man dressed like a pimp.

“Who is this, I wonder?” asked Hanabi.

Happy, Natsu and Lucy came running over to see the man. Happy snapped his…fingers? “That’s Banaboster! He used to run the Twilight Ogre guild, before it was forcibly disbanded for lack of legal members!”

Onyx picked up the the green device that fell next to him. “Whoever he got this from must have been the same guy or girl who gave Bora his device,” he pondered.

Before anyone else could comment, a whistle made them look around. It seemed the Rune Knights had finally made an appearance.

Drew, who was still on the sidelines, smiled. “And that’s our cue to leave.” He, Ash, Misty, Tori and Gabby all pulled up their hoods and ducked into an alley.

Kyokan looked at the approaching knights, then at Natsu and Lucy. “Play dumb, you don’t know us! We’ll meet you back at the guild!”

With that, the Riders scaled the nearest building and climbed up to the roof. In no time at all, they were gone without a trace. Natsu and Lucy headed out as well, lest they be caught in the craziness.

A few minutes later, the Riders assumed their human identities, approached their guild and headed in. All activity stopped when they showed up. They had apparently been getting ready to fight the Kaijuu themselves before the group got back.

“What’s going on?” asked Tori.

“We were getting ready to figh. But from your expressions, it’s already been taken care of,” Makarov told them.

“Yeah! You should have seen them. These guys--OOOF!” Natsu was about to start blabbing before Ash drilled him in the head.

“Those Riders that we saw in Hargeon came in to beat those soldier creeps,” May supplied quickly, “We just helped out a bit.”

This satisfied the mages, and thus they went back to what the guild did best, drinking and partying. The group of friends headed to their table and ordered a drink for themselves. Makarov approached them. “I hope the spars were good enough for you,” he said casually.

Ash smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “They were. Just give us a couple of days to come up with some training methods.”

The short man nodded simply. He turned to the guildmates, who were now in their usual party mood. Lucy had gravitated over to Levy, who was laughing at something she’d said. “You were the ones who ended that kaijuu. You’re these…Kamen Riders,” Makarov told them. There was no doubt on his face or in his tone.

The table fell silent at this accusation. “How did you figure that out?” Misty asked finally, breaking the silence.

“Simple. Instead of freaking out, you went towards the smoke, despite looking too weak to take them on. You’re far more experienced than you let on. You also reacted more aggressively when Natsu spoke about the Riders, which told me more than if you’d just let him talk.” He gave them a deadpan look. “Lastly, you just told me.” They sweatdropped at being found out so easily. “Talented fighters, you lot, but your talent for subterfuge needs work.”

Drew finished his sip. “There is a good reason we don’t let anyone know about what we do. We’ll tell you all about it, one day. Until then, all you need to know is that we do things for the common good.”

Makarov remained silent. These new guildies had secrets. He could respect that; most of the guild had secrets of their own. But he would keep an eye on them, as these secrets could be more dangerous than he expected.

Who is the supplier of these mysterious drives? Who are the Riders of this world? What will happen in the future? Find out next time, on Nakama United!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Damn this took a while. Well here’s the latest chapter hope you like it. This chapter is partially betaed. When its done I will update as needed.
> 
> Preview: As the Riders settle into their new guild, they help begin train the mages in what they know. Then Tori and Gabby join in their first official mission for the guild to track down a lost book. But the mansion that its housed has many secrets and one of them could potentially change the mission of the Riders here in Fiore.
> 
> Next Time: Everlue’s Mansion


	4. Secrets of Everlue Manor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Natsu's First offical mission together runs into a snag as Gabby and Tori investigate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOOSH  
> UO: Hello?  
> Ash: (Smiling like a loon and has kiss marks) Hey there.  
> UO: Uh, Ash, where’re your girls?  
> Ash: Let’s just say I got a front row seat to their new outfits and almost got lucky…well, luckier.  
> Drew: Damn, man.  
> (Misty walks in with a spring in her step): Hey Ash, you coming? May still has some outfits to try out. You know how she is with her outfits.  
> Ash: Coming!  
> UO: Save it for after this chapter! Misty, get everyone in here, NOW!  
> Misty: Tch…someone is bossy.  
> UO: Excuse Me? I give you guys enough leeway want me to put you in a 1920’s swimsuit?”  
> Misty: (Wide eyed) NO! Please! Anything but that!  
> UO: Then get the others!  
> (Ash and Misty quickly leave.)  
> Drew: A little harsh  
> UO: Yes. But they know when I want to start a new chapter. Disclaimer now!  
> Drew: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

**OSPREY….SWOOOSH  
UO: Hello?  
Ash: (Smiling like a loon and has kiss marks) Hey there.  
UO: Uh, Ash, where’re your girls?  
Ash: Let’s just say I got a front row seat to their new outfits and almost got lucky…well, luckier.  
Drew: Damn, man.  
(Misty walks in with a spring in her step): Hey Ash, you coming? May still has some outfits to try out. You know how she is with her outfits.  
Ash: Coming!  
UO: Save it for after this chapter! Misty, get everyone in here, NOW!  
Misty: Tch…someone is bossy.  
UO: Excuse Me? I give you guys enough leeway want me to put you in a 1920’s swimsuit?”  
Misty: (Wide eyed) NO! Please! Anything but that!  
UO: Then get the others!  
(Ash and Misty quickly leave.)  
Drew: A little harsh  
UO: Yes. But they know when I want to start a new chapter. Disclaimer now!**

**Drew: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.**

“Dialogue”  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling and Belt Noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 4: The Secrets of Everlue Mansion

July 9 th , X784, Apartment in Magnolia

When we last left our heroes, they had joined the Fairy Tail and taken their first mission to save a man named Macao from Vulcans that had ambushed him. Afterwards, they had sparred with the guild members showing off their magic and their skills before a kaijū attacked the city. Keeping their identities a secret, they dispatched the menace which was revealed to be the former head of a disbanded guild. After the chaos settled down, they proceeded to find apartments for themselves.

In the girls’ apartment, the sun was barely over the horizon when Misty yawned and opened her eyes. She sat up and stretched her arms, revealing a grey t-shirt that went to her thighs. Crawling out of bed she walked up to the window to watch the rising sun for a few minutes.

They had found this place at a really good price; about 90,000 jewels a month, a good rate for six people. It was two floors, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a good sized kitchen downstairs. They’d spent the last day or so making each room unique for their inhabitants. Her bedroom had an ocean theme going with dark blue waves on the walls and light blue bed sheets. She stepped away from the window and went to take her bath.

After showering and dressing in a light blue shirt over a blue bikini top and blue shorts, she sauntered out of her room. She heard plates clattering in the kitchen, indicating Gabby and Tori were up and making breakfast. Misty was often the first one up because she had swim practice or wanted to take a dip in a pool. As such, on some days it was her job to wake the other girls up.

She went to May’s room first and opened the door. Her room was decorated to resemble the woods, with many trees and animals on the walls. Misty walked over to see a brown haired lump wrapped in her bed sheets. The redhead shook her head, knowing what was under there. “May, time to get up,” she said sweetly.

The lump turned over to reveal May’s tired eyes. “Mornin’, Mist,” she yawned. She sat up and stretched her arms, letting sheets drop off her frame and revealing her nude glory. May, as they had discovered, showed no shame in showing off her body in private. While Max was mortified to find his sister was an exhibitionist, the girls and Ash were (un)surprisingly okay with it. It didn’t hurt that May’s body helped with her confidence, with her wide hips and large C-cup breasts.

Misty smiled. “Guess it was a little hot, last night?” she asked teasingly.

May nodded, either ignoring or not noticing the light sarcasm. “Yeah…we should find a pool or a river. I could ‘forget’ my bikini and just swim with my mermaid,” she said to the redhead sweetly.

Misty hummed as she watched the mischief in May’s eyes. “Tempting, but maybe some other day.”

The naked brunette mock-pouted. “Fine. But do I still get a morning kiss?”

Misty shook her head. “I swear, we’re spoiled rotten…” But the redhead obliged. The moment their lips touched, they moaned in bliss. If Misty had less control, she would be joining May in her naked state. Releasing, they caught their breath as they saw the love in each other’s eyes.

“Get dressed and I mean to go out,” the redhead told her. May nodded and Misty left the room to go next door. This was Anabel’s room. Opening the door she saw the empath, dancing in her bra and panties. Her room had a dancing motif to it, with the walls colored purple and decorated with zen posters. Misty wasn’t interested in those, however, as she watched Anabel dance and twirl. After a couple of minutes of her mesmerizing routine, she stopped and took a deep breath. Leaning back, she fell backwards onto Misty who caught her.

“Hey there. I felt you come in,” Anabel greeted softly, smiling, “Enjoy the show?”

“Of course I did. You looked really good,” Misty whispered, laying her head on the empath’s shoulders.

Anabel giggled. “I know. Anyway, is breakfast almost ready?”

Misty nodded and with a kiss on the empath’s lips she headed to Dawn’s room. Opening the door, she came across a room meant for a fairy tale, with pink walls with various animals adorning them. Looking at the bed, she had to sigh in happiness. Dawn was resting on the pillow surrounded by some of her stuffed animals. With her flawless pale skin, kissable lips and dark blue hair, she looked like Snow White. If she didn’t know any better, she would have been looking at a doll. Not that Dawn minded being treated like one, but the way she carried herself, Misty felt incredibly nervous in breaking her like glass.

Misty walked over to the bed and instead of waking her up, observed Dawn as she slept. The way she was breathing, she had to remind herself Dawn wasn’t dead. A few minutes of watching later, Dawn groaned and blinked her eyes open. A cute yawn escaped from her lips as she stretched her arms, revealing a pink nightgown.

“Morning, Buneary,” Misty whispered. Dawn put her arms down and turned her head to see Misty, “Morning!”

“Pleasant dreams?” Misty inquired.

Dawn hummed. “I was in a candy kingdom. You three were my trusted advisors and Ash was my Prince. Oh well, a girl can dream right?”

Misty giggled. “Well…I don’t know about us being retainers but Ash is definitely our prince,” She told the younger girl, holding her hand to Dawn’s cheek. Dawn smiled and nuzzled the hand.

“Breakfast will be ready soon, you better start getting ready,” Misty said tenderly. Dawn nodded and gave a tender kiss to Misty and crawled out of her bed to head to the bathroom. After showering, she came in with a towel wrapped around her slender form. Going through her clothes, she picked up a white bra and panties and slipped them on. Then she picked up her stockings and gloves, pristine from being washed. Sitting at the vanity table, she carefully rolled them up their respective limbs. Looking at the mirror, she looked every bit of a porcelain doll, with pale soft skin and a model like face. If it wasn’t for what they were doing today, she would be dolling herself up. She turned to her closet to pick out an outfit. She settled on a blue corset with dark blue shorts. Unlike her white outfit, this was more practical for moving around.

As she finished dressing, she felt a small ping in her aura and smiled as Anabel sauntered in, wearing a blue version of her dancer outfit.

“Hey Dawn, breakfast is almost ready,” the empath told her.

“Okay,” Dawn replied cheerily. As she moved to the table, she suddenly felt an intangible force drag her body gently towards Anabel, who waved her arms like a puppeteer. Doing a couple of twirls, Dawn eventually stopped in the empath’s arms, giggling. “Was I moving too slow?” she asked.

“Maybe?” Anabel teased.

“Can you finish tying me up?” Dawn asked her. The empath nodded, prompting the blue haired girl to turn to the mirror. Anabel took two of the strings of the corset and pulled it tight against her partner’s body. Other than a grunt, Dawn took the tightness of it well and breathed with practiced ease as the empath finished.

“All set, Buneary,” Anabel whispered, hugging her waist and rubbing her cheek, “How is it that you get more and more adorable every day?”

Dawn just beamed. “Just being myself, I guess.”

A knock on the door broke their mood. “Girls, it’s breakfast time. We can play later,” Misty called out.

The two separated and walked out of Dawn’s room into the kitchen area where the other girls were being served their breakfast. Gabby was dishing out some eggs onto their plates, wearing a brown tank top and blue shorts.

Tori was at the stove finishing up the meals wearing a grey shirt and red skirt. “Eat up, we’re meeting with the boys in about 30 minutes,” she told them, looking at a clock on top of the cabinet.

They ate their meals and headed out after cleaning up. Heading out, they headed down a couple of blocks to a slightly smaller building. Gabby approached the door and knocked on it. A couple of moments and a small crash later the door opened to reveal Drew at the door, in his black shirt and blue shorts.

“Hey girls, just finishing up getting ready, come on in,” Drew told them as he let them inside.

The interior of the boys’ apartment was to put it mildly a typical boy’s dorm. Posters of video games, sports and pokémon adorned the walls. It had one less bedroom than the girl’s dorms but at 85,000 jewels this place was a steal.

Ash walked out of the kitchen and smiled as he wiped his hands. “Hey girls, nice dreams?”

Misty smiled and sauntered over to her boyfriend. “Yeah, we did. Shame you weren’t there physically,” she replied, hugging Ash. The black haired boy turned and with a chuckle, kissed the redhead. Misty moaned into the kiss which broke a few moments later.

Max gagged as he came down the stairs and saw his sister kissing Ash. “A little _less_ sweetness for breakfast, please!”

May broke her kiss and mock-scowled at her brother. “You’re just jealous Angie isn’t here.”

The young boy blushed and looked away as Ash kissed his other girlfriends. Drew watched his brother in arms kiss his girls. “You guys finalize a training regimen?”

Gabby nodded and pulled out a couple of pieces of paper. “Yep. Do you have yours?”

Drew walked over to the kitchen table and grabbed a sheet of paper. “Just put the final touches in this morning. Come on, let’s head to the guild.”

The group walked out onto the streets and stretched their legs. Ash looked up and grinned. “What do you say we race to the guild? Like we raced to school.”

Drew chuckled. “Oh, you’re gonna lose,” He told him as he got into a runner’s stance.

Misty shook her head. “Boys.” she scoffed, getting into a runner’s stance like everyone else.

“Rules?” asked Brock.

“Anything goes, just get to the guild first,” Ash told them.

Seeing everyone ready, Ash held up his hand and counted down. “3…2…1…GO!” The ten took off, Magnolia their playground.

At the Same time on Strawberry Street

The visitors from Earth were not the only ones to get a new apartment. One Lucy Heartfillia had just gotten a new apartment herself. At 70,000 jewels, a one bedroom apartment was a bargain and she fell in love with it at once.

“I love everything about this apartment!” Lucy squealed to herself, luxuriating in her bath, “From the bath, to all the floor space, to the amazing closet~! It even this adorable retro fireplace and stove! But what I love the most about it is---“ Lucy froze in horror. The reason why was that Natsu and Happy were _in her apartment,_ eating her food and lounging about like they owned the place.

“Hiya, Lucy!” Natsu waved.

“MY ROOOM!” Lucy shrieked. She then kicked them both into the wall, still hugging her towel around herself. “GET OUT OF MY BEDROOM YOU JERKS!”

Natsu stood up, rubbing his cheek sorely. “Aw geez, Lucy! All I wanted to do is come over and check out your new pad.”

“Aye!” Happy cried, his left eye swollen.

“Well what you call checking out, I call barging in! And I’m pretty sure the police will call it Breaking and Entering!” Lucy snarled.

“Oh come on, we were just trying to be friendly,” Natsu whined.

“This is a serious invasion of my privacy!” she growled.

“Nice place you got here,” Happy said cheerfully as he scratched the surface.

“Let’s try to keep it that way!” Lucy panicked.

Natsu noticed a stack of papers on Lucy’s desk and picked them up to get a closer look. “Wonder what these are…?”

Lucy gasped and mule kicked him again, snatching the papers from him in an instant. “N-NOTHING!”

Natsu recovered with a lump on his head, groaning at the pain. “Geez, you’d kick a guy in the face over some pieces of paper?”

Lucy was giving no quarter, however. “Yeah, I would! Especially if they broke into my house uninvited! Now go home!”

“No way, your place is too awesome!”

Lucy started to cry. “I hate boys!” Realizing that she was still in a towel, she kicked Natsu out of her room so she could get dressed. She was still rightfully pissed when she came into the kitchen in her red shirt and blue jeans. But, being a kind host, she at least made the two intruders some tea.

Sitting at the table, she shot them a stern look, resting her cheek in her right hand.

“Look I just moved in and I am not ready to have visitors. So please finish your tea and get out.”

Natsu pouted, which if Lucy weren’t so mad at him, she might even find cute. “So cold-hearted.”

“Ice cold,” Happy parroted.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the blue feline. “Watch it, cat.”

Natsu perked up with an idea forming in his head. “I know. Why don’t you show me those cool little key guys you have?”

“They’re called Celestial Spirits and they’re not toys,” she retorted sharply.

Happy piped up with a surprisingly intelligent question. “How many spirits do you have contracts with?”

Lucy immediately brightened up and held up her keys, indicating each one. “I’ve got six. Not to brag, but I’ve got a couple different ones.” She held up several silver keys. “These silver ones are those you can find in any shop. I have Horologium the Clock, which you saw; Crux the Southern Cross and Lyra the Harp.” Then she held up her golden keys. “These, on the otherhand, are ultra-rare. They open the Gates to the Zodiac. There’s Taurus the Bull, Aquarius the Water-bearer and Cancer the Crab.”

“Giant Crab legs!” Natsu and Happy exclaimed in unison, drooling as they imagined the many different crab dishes they could eat.

Lucy looked at them with a deadpan. Until she met Drew and his friends, she had never seen people with such huge appetites. But then she saw Ash, Drew, May and Max eat quite a bit; the boys she understood, where May put all of that food is a mystery. Granted they probably burned off all of the food they ate. But with Natsu, food seems to be the only thing on his mind.

As she contemplated this thought, she snapped her fingers. “Oh, right, I haven’t made a contract with my new spirit. You two wanna watch?”

Happy turned to Natsu, craning in to whisper in his ear, “I hope it’s not a blood pact!”

“Better watch our butts with Lucy around,” he whispered back.

“I can hear you two! Now pay attention!” she snapped at them. Taking a deep breath, Lucy thrust her key out in front of her. “I call upon thee, in the World of the Celestial Spirits! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the Gates. **Open: Gate of Canis Minor! Come Forth, Nikola!”**

A bell sounded and light formed from where Lucy turned her key. The light slowly died down to reveal…a snowman-like creature, complete with a carrot for a nose. It landed on its hind legs and started to twitch.

“Punnn~~!”

Natsu and Happy gasped at the sight of him. “Nice try,” they both said in unison, looking unimpressed.

“Shut up! I meant to do that!” Lucy snapped irritably. She looked at the dog. A moment later she was hugging the dog spirit close to her face. “Aw, your so cute!” She gushed.

Natsu was not convinced. “You think so Lucy?”

Lucy nodded. “It doesn’t take much to summon these guys out. Most wizards keep them as pets. Now then let’s work out our contract,” She said as he pulled out a piece of paper to write out her contract.

“You know I am not sure about this whole pet thing,” Happy whispered.

“With a weird master like Loony here, I’m not surprised,” Natsu whispered back.

“I can still hear you two!” she snapped, “And my name is Lucy!” Lucy knelt down to talk to the dog spirit. “Now then, for our contract. Are you available on Monday?”

The dog spirit shook his head and Lucy moved onto the next day. Natsu watched with a bored look as Lucy talked with her spirit. Once finished, Natsu spoke. “So that’s it huh?”

“Yep. It might not seem like a lot to you, but a celestial wizard’s oath is their most important skill. A bond between Wizard and Spirit is nothing to be taken lightly. That’s why I make every attempt to keep my promises,” Lucy told her guild mate. She then looked at the dog spirit with a thoughtful expression. “Hm…now, what to call you….?”

“Isn’t it Nikola?” pointed out Happy.

“No, that’s the species name.” Lucy thought for a moment, then perked up. “OH! I know!” She knelt down and held out her arms. “Come here, Plue!”

The now named Plue tottered over to Lucy allowing Lucy to scoop him up.

“Plue, huh?” the two boys parroted.

“I think it’s the cutest name! Isn’t that right Plue?” she gushed.

“Pu~n~”

“You sure he’s cool with that?”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Lucy asked back

“So even though he’s the little dog, he doesn’t bark?” asked Happy.

“You’re a cat and you don’t meow,” Lucy pointed out reasonably. She broke off as Natsu gave her a hard stare, which creeped her out with her eyes boring into her. After a few moments, Natsu pulled back and grinned. “Alright! You’ll be a member of Team Natsu!”

“Team?” Lucy asked.

“That’s right, a lot of mages at our guild form teams to take on tougher missions and split the reward for it. I am pretty sure that despite never being in a guild, Drew and his friends have some sort of team structure as well,” Happy told her.

Lucy hummed. “A team huh? Alright, sounds awesome!”

Natsu let out a whoop and grabbed Lucy’s hands. “We’ll be the best team ever!”

Lucy beamed. “Y-you got it!” Subconsciously, she blushed at the contact.

“Alright! Let’s go get a mission!” Happy called out, flying through the window. As he flew, he didn’t notice a quick-moving figure until he was sent crashing into the outer wall of the apartment

“SORRY!” a male voice called out. Lucy and Natsu ran out the door and looked to their left to see Ash running up a wall and grabbing onto the window ledge.

“Heads up!” another voice called out. They turned to see Gabby flipping off the bridge in front of the apartment and landing on the stairwell. Then she jumped off it and onto a barge that’d just passed by. After that, she hopped across the tops of a couple of stationary boats and back onto dry land before running off.

Natsu and Lucy watched as other figures raced across the rooftops. They spotted Anabel and May leaping around on the other side of the river, navigating them with practiced ease. Looking above them they saw Drew and Max jumping onto Lucy’s roof and then onto the next one.

They were so distracted by the athleticism they didn’t see Dawn come behind them and run over Natsu. This caused him to fall onto Lucy, who fell with a yelp. “SORRY GUYS!” Dawn shouted.

Lucy recovered her wits enough to see Natsu on top of her, his hands squeezing her chest reflexively. She blushed, partially in anger partially in embarrassment. “GET OFF ME YOU PERVERT!”

She shoved him up and kicked him in the stomach and then stormed off to the guild. Natsu ended up in the river and he sputtered as broke the surface. Happy, who saw the two interact, giggled. “They liiiike each other!” he teased.

With the Runners (Start playing Smash Mouth’s All Star)

Ash was seemingly in the lead; he hadn’t seen the others in a while, at least. As a track star, he had the advantage in speed and endurance. He jumped, swung around a lamp-post and vaulted over some boxes, not even breaking stride. He reached the edge of the canal and approached a more residential area. As he was about to make a turn when a figure jumped out of the canal. The figure was revealed to be Misty who had used her swimming prowess to swim through the canal and catch up and pass Ash.

“Hey no fair!” Ash called out as he rushed to catch up to the redhead, whose leap got her in front of him.

“You said anything goes, you didn’t say we had to be on land!” Misty taunted as she ran by. She sprinted up a wall and climbed onto the roof while Ash growled. He chased after the redhead, up onto the roof.

Max and Drew were already on the roofs and spotted the guild’s distinct towers. They approached what appeared to be a marketplace, with the various stalls created a large gap between buildings. They both stopped, trying to figure out how to cross. “Well this stinks,” Drew grumbled.

Max grinned. “What are you talking about? Watch this!” he boasted. He ran back to get a running start, then leaped across the gap, using a gust of wind to propel him further, until he reached the other side. He landed with a roll and kept running. “Seeya at the guild!” the young boy called out.

“Damn it!” Drew growled frustratedly, “Why didn’t I think of that first?!” He ran back to get a running start as Gabby showed up.

“What are you…?” she asked him. He ignored her, ran by, leaped forward and fired two fireballs behind him to use as boosters. He landed on the other side in a crouch and ran to catch up with Max. “God damn it, not everyone has the ability to jump like that!” she yelled after him. She looked down to see several umbrellas scattered throughout the market. Gathering her wits, she took a deep breath and then leaped onto the closest one. She then hopped across the umbrellas and grabbed the ledge of the roof of the other hoisting herself and continued the race.

May and Anabel were nearing the guild, crossing the roofs with practiced ease. They both landed with a roll and spotted the guild. Before May could run, she felt herself stop and leave the ground. She turned to see Anabel’s eyes glowing and her hand outstretched.

“No fair!” May pouted.

“Sorry love, all’s fair in war!” Anabel called out, sticking out her tongue at the brunette girl.

“ **Vine Whip!”**

Then she yelped and faceplanted from May’s retaliatory grass attack wrapping around her ankles. The momentary interruption allowed May to break free and she landed on the ground. As the brunette ran by, she took an extra second to shake her butt at Anabel. Said girl was rolling her eyes at the very provocative gesture as the vines disappeared. She stood up, wiped off the dirt and then proceeded to jog towards the guild.

(End Song)

At the guild itself, Ash and Misty had arrived and were in one of their arguments about who won.

“You cheated, you used the canals!” Ash pointed out.

“No, I followed the rules, you just can’t believe a swimmer beat a runner!” Misty retorted.

“I still say I won,” Ash replied stubbornly.

“No, I did!”

“I did!”

“I did!

It was to this scene that the others arrived a few minutes later. One look at the arguing couple and they sighed, as if it were a regular occurrence.

Lucy also happened to come upon this sight and panicked at the argument. “Guys? Are you going to stop them!?” she asked frantically.

Gabby rubbed her eyes. “Don’t worry, they’ll stop in a few seconds and then they’ll start rotting your teeth.”

As she spoke, Ash suddenly snuck in a kiss that stopped Misty in her tracks. No matter how often she did it, something about Ash’s kisses made her giddy as a schoolgirl and the boy knew it. The couple separated and the redhead giggled, “Fine, we’ll call it a draw.”

They turned to see that their friends had been watching. “Guess we got an audience?” Ash asked cheekily, only to get slapped on the shoulder.

“Really? Ugh…you’re lucky you’re cute,” Misty sighed. Nonetheless, she returned the raven haired boy’s hug.

“Alright, enough PDA, let’s go inside,” Drew said, opening the door. Master Makarov was near the door waiting for them.

“Ah, about time you guys showed up. You said everyone should be here by about 9AM, and you just got here.”

Drew checked his watch and showed it just turned nine. “Well now, this works out for everyone. Is everyone appropriately dressed? That means the girls have to have their chest covered and jeans, no skirts. Guys, you should be in shorts and t-shirts. Your clothes should be loose enough to allow movement. Also, Mira do you, have the barrel of water I asked for?”

Mira nodded, though frowning quizzically. “Got it right here. Though I could make something else.

“That’s fine for today, Mira. We can always show you what to make next time. Alright, first thing we are going to do is jog to the training ground. So if you would follow us we can get started.” At this, Drew turned around and his friends followed suit. The guild followed suit and they turned right to head to the outskirts of town.

As they left Magnolia, Drew took a look back to see some of the guild members starting to falter. “Brock, Tori, Max, slow down and check on the stragglers,” he ordered.

The three nodded and fell back to check on those struggling. There were three that stood out. The first was Levy, who looked about ready to collapse. Max looked at the smaller girl. “You alright?”

Levy looked at Max with a tired expression. “Yeah. I’m normally able to keep up with Jet and Droy. But that’s over smaller distances. Longer distances…I’m sorry I can’t keep up,” she panted.

“Don’t be, we’re almost there. I’ll stay with you,” Max assured her, patting her shoulder.

Levy nodded, looking grateful as they slowed their pace.

Meanwhile, a bit further back, Wakaba was starting to breathe heavily. Brock actually stopped and went to help him. “Are you alright?” he asked the older man.

Wakaba wheezed. “No…guess I’m getting older.”

“Or it could be your smoking habit,” Brock pointed out neutrally, “The nicotine starts building up in your lungs and then you have complications when you're older.”

Wakaba looked down. “It’s part of my magic…sometimes I guess it gets to be a little much,” He said remorsely.

Brock was at least sympathetic. “Look I understand your situation but you’re inadvertently putting people at risk, you and Macao. People can change, a lot eventually give up the habit.

At Wakaba’s questioning look, he looked towards the head of the group. “Your smoking is probably giving these kids secondhand smoke, which can lead to problems. And those that already do can make it worse if they are exposed liked this.” He pointed to Drew. “Drew has asthma, a lung condition that can be controlled with medicine. If he’s exposed to certain…triggers, his breathing gets constricted and, in some cases, can’t physically function. Worse case scenario, he has to go to the hospital.”

Wakaba looked at Brock in terror. “Are you saying that our smoking could be affecting our brats?” he shouted. “Look they may be destructive, but to think I would hurt our brats is insane! I didn’t think we were hurting them!”

Brock smiled sympathetically. “I’m sure you didn’t know. Hopefully we can kick some of your habits, or at least make it so they don’t impact everyone.”

Wakaba nodded and with rejuvenated energy sped up to catch the group.

While Wakaba was talking to Brock, further up the pack, Cana had stopped and leaned against a tree holding her head. “You guys are sadists! Why wake me up just to make me go out like this with a hangover?” she complained.

Tori was unsympathetic she scowled at the older woman, “That’s what you get for drinking all day. Your head is telling you that you’re too young to be drinking like this.” She sighed. “I should have told Drew to restrict the drinking for all of you.”

Cana glanced at her fellow brunette with an impish smile. “Ah, what’s a little alcohol to liven things up?”

“At our age, a _lot_ of trouble. I’m surprised your liver is still functioning!” Tori growled.

The older girl grinned. “So you’ve never had a drop? Boy, the adults in your country are pretty strict, huh?”

Tori growled at Cana’s ignorance. “Where we’re from, the drinking age is 21. As in, we can’t buy alcohol until that age and if you're caught buying them you’re looking at fines and other charges! Heck, you could be charged with murder if it got that far!”

Cana stared at the paler girl, wide-eyed. “Damn, your country must be really strict, like the magic council.”

Tori sighed. “I guess. Alcohol has some health benefits from centuries ago. However, we are a lot more sanitary nowadays, so it becomes more of a public nuisance. Especially, when kids get their hand on it.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter; drinking the amount you do will kill you long before any fights do.”

Cana reluctantly nodded as she moved sluggishly. Tori ran alongside her, in case she felt ill again.

After a few more minutes of running they approached a clearing in the woods. It was fairly large, big enough for the twenty or so guild members that showed up. As soon as they stopped, most of the guild collapsed to catch their breath. The notable exceptions were Natsu, Grey and surprisingly Lucy, though she was more winded than the boys.

Ash turned to the group while they took the opportunity to their breath. “Alright, we’ll give you a few minutes to rest and then we’re gonna do some stretching.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were rested enough to do warm-ups. The mages watched in curiosity as their new members led them through stretches of their legs, arms and for some reason their necks.

Once done, Drew clapped his hands. “Okay, now we’re gonna show you what we can teach you, and then we will split up into different groups. Eventually, you’ll do individual training. We’re giving you the tools to learn, but it’s up to you to learn how to use it,” he told them. He motioned everyone to sit down as his friends approached him. “Martial Arts can be categorized into many different forms, depending on what area of the world they come from.”

“There are over a thousand possible arts and they can be broken down into several different types. For example, Karate focuses on striking the opponent,” Ash told them enthusiastically, as he swung at Misty who gently countered him.

“Another type is grappling arts, which revolve around grabbing and wearing down opponents, like wrestling. They focus on wearing down people through grabs and throws,” Brock explained gruffly, holding Max in a loose hold. The younger boy struggled in his grip, protesting indignantly.

“The third type can combine the two. Some can look like they are dancing, like Capoeira.” May grinned. She demonstrated her art by going into a handstand and spinning around like a top. “Then there are those used for actual combat like Boxing, which uses their fists to attack, and Savate, which focuses on the feet, for actual competitions,” Dawn told them, showing both stances.

“And then there are those that promote health and spirituality. Tai Chi, Misty’s style, and Aikido, my style, do this to make themselves healthy, in body and mind,” Tori said gently went through her katas.

“We set up the groups based on your personalities and what could complement your magic. We are teaching you some of the basics, and we will give you some books on the various arts we have. You're more than happy to go after different styles; in fact we want to encourage it,” Gabby explained.

After the explanation, the guild members were split into five groups. Natsu and Droy gravitated towards Brock and Max. Levy and Cana found themselves standing next to Tori and Misty. Lucy went towards Drew and Ash. Jet went towards May and Anabel and Grey would up with Dawn and Gabby.

The next hour consisted of punches, yelps of pain and bodies hitting the ground. The guild quickly learned that hitting things through force and fighting them with skill were two different things. Though there were some standouts. Natsu confidently swung at Brock, hoping to get close, only for the dark skinned teen to grab him and plant him in the ground again. He moaned in pain and glanced over to the side see Grey sparring with Dawn. He had to suppress a snicker as Grey got tripped again as he tried to attack the pink clad girl. Wiping off his trousers, he tried again to bring Brock down.

Lucy went through a basic kata of punches and kicks, releasing the stress that Natsu and Happy gave her this morning. Drew noticed this and walked to her. “Something buggin’ ya Lucy?”

The blonde finished her kata and huffed. “Yeah, Natsu and Happy decided to break into my house this morning while I was changing. God he’s _such_ an idiot. I feel so violated…” her shoulders sagged as she hugged herself tightly, shivering.

Drew shook his head, looking frustrated. “I’ll definitely talk to him. But I am glad you’re not trying to take it out on anyone. If you want to, I’ll go a few rounds with ya.”

Lucy nodded thankfully and the two set up to spar, with Drew going into his Tae Kwon Do stance and Lucy still in her basic stance.

Over with Anabel and May, the empath was showing Vijeeter some of her dances. The man’s magic was focused around dancing and the variety of movements associated with it., so she was showing him some new techniques from her style. Anabel finished with teaching Vijeeter and was moving to help Jet, when she felt an incredible pain in her right leg. The moment she felt it, she gasped and grabbed it, her eyes clenched in pain.

May who was showing one of her katas, heard the gasp and turned to see Anabel in pain.

“Anabel!” she called out, getting the attention of the others. Brock and Tori immediately rushed to where she was while the other trainers stopped their practice.

“Anabel are you alright?” Brock asked in concern.

“My leg. It cramped up, it hurts!” Anabel hissed, while May got behind her to raise her head.

“It’ll be alright, just relax and close your eyes,” Tori told her.

She nodded and closed her eyes, Brock massaging her hamstring. He then stretched her leg out getting her to hiss of pain, then sigh in pleasure.

“Alright, you should be good. Let’s get some water in ya,” Brock told her.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re finishing up here,” Drew spoke up, dusting off his hands, “We’re moving back to the guild. Keep yourself hydrated and keep yourself off the leg.”

The grateful guild started their journey back to the guild. Anabel attempted to walk but Ash knelt down and put her on his back. Grateful for the assist, she climbed on and secured her hold on the black haired male. They began their trip back with May and Misty flanking them and Dawn trailing behind them.

Lucy was one of the last to leave and scurried up next to Drew. “What happened to Anabel?”

“Her leg cramped up,” explained Gabby, “It was too hot and she didn’t have enough fluids in her system. Fortunately, it’s a pretty quick fix and she would be walking by now. But I guess she didn’t want to walk back.”

Lucy nodded in understanding while walking back to the guild. An hour later, she was back at the guild after cleaning herself up at home.

She was about to sit down for some lunch when Natsu ran up to her with a flier. “Look Lucy, I picked out a job for us!” he cried jubilantly, holding up a poster eagerly. Lucy grabbed it to read what was written on it.

_‘Find and Destroy Book.’_

_‘Location: Shirotsume Town.’_

_‘Reward: 200,000 Jewels.’_

_‘Note: The man is seeking blonde maids.’_

Lucy read the last part and crumpled the paper in her clenched fist. “Why you!?” she screeched, a vein bulging in her temple.

“A Celestial Mage never breaks their promises!” Natsu mocked, looking suspiciously catlike for a Dragon Slayer.

Lucy growled. “Fine. Let’s go!” she snarled, stomping off, dragon slayer and flying cat following after her.

“O-oi, wait a minute, you three,” called Makarov suddenly, standing up as they rushed out, “That one’s-!” But the Team was already out of earshot and Makarov groaned.

A short while later, Levy, Jet and Droy arrived and headed towards the job board. Levy furrowed her brow as she searched for a particular poster. “Hey Master, where’s that Shirotsume job?”

“Ah, that job? Natsu and Lucy just took it. That boy’s so impatient, we didn’t get to update the reward,” Makarov explained with a sigh, “Now it’s 2 Million Jewels.”

The three gasped. “2 Million?!”

When Drew heard this, he narrowed his eyes. “If the reward was just upped, then the job must be bigger than we thought,” he concluded, quickly turning to see who could go with them, “Gabby, Tori. Go run them down and tell them about the increased reward. I suggest you back them up.”

The two nodded and grabbed their gear and ran to catch up to them. Drew rubbed at his hair agitatedly, scowling. “Something about this mission is rubbing me the wrong way; almost like there’s more to this story.”

Most people in this situation would pass it off as paranoia, but Drew’s fellow riders were used to his bouts of suspicion and were concerned about what could happen.

An hour and a half later

Natsu, Lucy, Gabby and Tori had arrived in Shirotsume Town. Natsu complained he was hungry and wanted to eat. So Tori and Gabby brought him to a local restaurant where the pink haired dragon slayer started to stuff himself. Lucy, however, said she needed something before the mission and would meet them later.

About twenty minutes after that, as the two girls watched mortified at Natsu’s atrocious table manners, something they would fix, Lucy arrived and walked up to their table. “So how do I look?” she asked with a giggle, getting them to turn and regard her. Natsu choked on his food, while the girls’ smiles brightened at her appearance. Lucy was wearing a wearing a white apron over a tight black vest and a white short sleeved shirt that hugged her sizable bust, emphasized by her crossing her arms underneath. Her pure white stockings came up to her thighs, showing off the curves of her long legs. Short heeled shoes that brought out said legs completed the outfit. Her blonde hair was done up with a white headband and tied off into two ponytails. In short, she was like a fantasy come to life. Truly a maid that any young man would want to attend to them.

Natsu rubbed his head, laughing sheepishly at the sight. “Oh, by the way? That maid thing was a joke,” he revealed easily.

Lucy puffed up her cheeks, scowling. “You could have told me that earlier!” she yelled at the dragon slayer.

Gabby, on the other hand, was more appreciative. “Can I take your picture?” she asked, pulling out a camera.

Lucy beamed and actually posed for some of the photographs. She started small, with a normal pose, then held up a cloth and posed as if she was getting ready to clean. Others were decidedly a bit more sensual such as bending over and winking and actually acting like a maid, cleaning the counter. Some of the patrons noticed this impromptu photo shoot and asked for her autograph. Lucy blushed at the attention but obliged, happily signing them, especially for the kids. When the buzz died down, Gabby looked at her camera. “These are amazing. Ever thought of being a model?” Gabby asked.

“L-like Mira? No way, I could never be _that_ pretty!” Lucy stuttered, blushing a bright red.

“Shame, you’d be good at it,” Gabby sighed, “Alright Natsu, you done stuffing your face?” she asked. He looked up, swallowing his food, and nodded. They left after paying for their meals. They proceeded towards Kaby Melon’s house. It was a modest, two-story building with a wooden exterior, a blue roof and a wide front yard.

“So, you’re Mr. Melon,” Tori began “We heard about the last-minute increase in reward. Is there any reason why that happened?”

The middle-aged grey-haired man sighed. “I don’t care how it’s destroyed. That book, Daybreak, deserves to be erased from history…Duke Everlue has it locked away in his mansion. Just, just _destroy_ it and I’ll pay any price. Please…” He looked particularly beleaguered, as if something weighed heavily on his heart.

“Is there something else you’re not telling us Mr. Melon?” Gabby pressed.

“N-No! Just nervous about the Duke. If he finds out I hired mages to steal the book, I could be in huge trouble.

Tori and Gabby watched his reaction closely, not entirely buying the story he was sprouting. Figuring he had his reasons, they dropped the subject and headed towards the Everlue Manor. It was huge, consisting of three floors and a large garden. The building was made of stone and it clearly showed the wealth of Duke Everlue.

“So how should we split this job? I was thinking, 60/30/9/1, with Lucy getting the one percent!” Happy exclaimed proudly.

Gabby grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck. “How about, you get _none,_ Lucy gets 50, we get 30 and Natsu gets 20?” she growled irritably.

“Hey! Why does Lucy get more?!” Happy whined, seemingly unable to read the mood he was causing.

“Because _I’m_ the one putting myself at risk you stupid cat!” Lucy screamed in outrage.

They got near the border of the property and Lucy made her way inside with the others watching nearby. She approached the door and knocked on it. A few moments later, a tall, rotund, yet absurdly muscular maid answered the door. “You must be here for master’s maid job opening,” the woman intoned, fixing the younger girl with a cold face that wasn’t helped by her . Lucy gulped and nodded.

“What a new maid? Let me see her!” A middle aged, balding man in a tailored suit walked up the door. Lucy assumed that this portly rat like man was Duke Everlue. He took one look at Lucy and scoffed, “No, no, you won’t do. You’re too ugly. Go away.”

At the callous dismissal, Lucy’s world came crumbling down. “WHAT!? _You’re_ calling _me_ ugly!? I’m a hundred times prettier than that _gorilla!!!!”_ she shrieked, utterly red in the face.

Everlue waved her off with a disdainful and snapped his fingers. Four more maids, all equally large showed up. “These maids are the epitome of beauty. You’re just a tramp pretending to be a maid.” Before Lucy could protest, the first maid stepped forward and slammed the ground in front of her using her large legs. scaring the blonde. Then the rich slammed the door in her face. Lucy let out a primal scream and stomped back to where her friends stood.

Happy floated above Lucy, rubbing at his chin. “Well, he’s not wrong. You’re not very pretty,” he opined cheerily.

Lucy gave him a murderous glare, but before she could say anything, the blue cat got a one-way ticket into the tree thanks to Gabby.

“You have no right to judge people on their looks you damn cat!” the blonde snarled angrily. Then she turned to the older girl, who looked more than a little despondent, putting her hands on her shoulders comfortingly. “Lucy, you look great. Don’t let that lecher and a rat with wings tell you you’re ugly,” she complimented her gently, “They just have no taste.”

“Really? Y-you think so?” asked Lucy, looking a little dewy-eyed.

“Of course!”

“Rat with wings? I’m a cat!” Happy protested indignantly.

“Only a rat would call someone ugly just to rub it in! So I suggest you read the mood and shut up,” Gabby snapped. She turned to Natsu, glowering darkly. “Control your cat or I will _skin_ him.”

Natsu gulped at the scary look the tanned girl gave him, but nodded.

Satisfied, she looked back at the mansion. “Looks like we’ll need to sneak in. But we need a distraction,” she mumbled, before turning to Tori, “You think you can pull off a lawyer act?”

“I’ll try my best. Just don’t get caught!” the brunette reminded her.

Gabby cast a disparaging glance at Natsu and Happy, who were both goofing off. Natsu had his scarf wrapped around his head and his hands were clasped together in a weird pose. “Easier said than done.”

A few minutes later Tori, dressed in a grey blouse and skirt with her hair in a bun, along with Lucy, back in her normal clothes, approached the door of the Everlue mansion and knocked.

“Yes?” the large maid answered the door. “

“Is Duke Everlue in?” she asked formally.

The fat man walked up to the door. “Yes? What do you…you!” he barked, spotting Lucy, “I thought I told you to go away! Get”

Lucy started to tear up, as planned (though it wasn’t entirely fake). “That’s him, that’s the man who wouldn’t hire me because I…I’M _ugly!”_ she cried.

Tori turned to the Duke, fixing him with a disapproving look. “I’m here on behalf of my client to serve you an intent to sue,” she told him blandly

“You’re suing me you little tramp? On what grounds!?” he asked incredulously.

“On grounds for discrimination. You’re denying my client the right to work for you because of how she looks. If you do not comply with this lawsuit, I _will_ get the authorities involved,” Tori stated factually, thrusting the papers in his face.

Everlue started to sweat. “N-now now, let’s not be too hasty. Let’s step into my parlor,” he reluctantly said. Meanwhile in his head, he panicked. _If the knights get involved and find what I have, I’m ruined!_

The two girls smiled and entered the mansion. Tori noticed the slight panic in the fat man’s eyes, her brow furrowing slightly in suspicion. She figured something was up but kept silent. _What would he be afraid of? He can’t seriously be expecting to have the book stolen, so what…?_ As they entered, she discreetly fingered the collapsed staff in her pocket.

While the two girls were distracting the Duke, Gabby, Natsu and Happy stumbled upon a window near the side of the mansion that faced the woods. A little nudging with her sword and the window popped open. The three snuck into manor quietly. Gabby turned to Natsu only to see him acting like an idiot.

“We must be like a ninja!” Natsu whispered, his scarf acting like a face mask.

“Nin-nin!” Happy grinned holding his hands like a gun.

“Will you two shut up?” Gabby hissed irritably. But unfortunately, her attempts to be quiet only attracted the other four maids.

The maids, upon hearing the noise, snapped their heads up and saw the intruders. Without any hesitation, they leaped up and landed with surprising ease on the railing.

Before Gabby could try and knock out the maids, Happy appeared with a random skull mask on his head. The mask scared the maids away, save the pink haired maid. She rushed at Natsu with the intent to crush him, her swarthy face set in the same stony indifference as before. However, Natsu dodged to his and sent an uppercut into the maid’s chin knocking her out

Gabby sweatdropped at the scene. “Okay…that was different,” she muttered. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, they quickly made for the library, where she presumed the book was located.

In the hallway, leading to a large golden statue of himself, the Duke heard the commotion from the other room. He walked out to where it was and saw his maids running scared and his head maid completely knocked.

“Oh no! My maids!” Everlue gasped. He growled turned to the two women who brought in. “You! What did you do to my beauties?!”

Before they could answer, Natsu, being the hothead he was, dropped down in front of the Duke, grinning like a loon. The two women could only facepalm at the scene. Everlue’s face twitched. The girls thought he was as going to have an aneurysm; they could have sworn they even heard steam.

“What the hell are _you_ lot doing here? No, no, doesn’t matter; I won’t let you take anything! Vanish Brothers, to me!”

Two figures materialized at Everlue’s command, brazenly standing back to back in the middle of the hall. The smaller man wore a white Chinese dress, his head half shaven and in a ponytail. On his back was a large frying pan. The other was twice as large as his brother, with curly hair and a large blue sweatshirt and pants.

“You Southern Wolves cost me a lot of money, so you’d better do your job right!” the duke ordered, shaking a fist at the two.

“Yes sir! These mages won’t know what hit them!” the older one exclaimed, his face split in an excited grin.

“Time to crush some puny fairies…”

Natsu grinned and pounded his fists in anticipation. “Alright! I can take on both of you!” he declared assuredly.

The younger brother smirked. “Heh, you think your Fire Magic is all that…we’re gonna clip your wings, little fairy.”

“Do you know why you can’t beat us?” asked the elder, while his brother slung his frying pan into position, “It’s because you puny mages have a weakness!”

“What? A weakness worse than motion sickness!?” Natsu gasped, paling at the implications.

The brothers almost facefaulted. “Are you mocking us?” barked the younger brother, “No! Mages train only in their mental strengths! They do not train in pure power like _we_ do. And thus we have the advantage!”

The shorter brother swung his pan at Natsu, while the taller brother leaped into the air. Natsu followed the taller brother, only to be drilled by the oversized cooking utensil.

“Look towards Heaven, we strike from the Earth!”

Natsu recovered his wits and followed the one on the ground, only to be clocked on the head by the skyward brother.

“Look towards the Earth and we strike from the Heavens!”

“That is why we are the Vanish Brothers. While our opponents focused on one of us, the other can come down and crush them. If they focus on his attacker, they are at the mercy of the man he took his eyes off of. It is our Heaven and Earth Thunder Annihilation Technique!” The shorter one proclaimed, swinging with gusto, “There aren’t many that have survived our combination attack!”

When the smoke cleared, Natsu stood there looking bored to the shock of the brothers. “Guess I’m one of the few huh? My Turn! **Fire Dragon’s Roar!”** Natsu exhaled sharply a scorching red flame erupting outward towards the brothers.

The shorter brother grinned and held up his pan. “Fire won’t work on us!” He held it up to block the fire. **“Flame Cooking!”** Instead of blocking the flames, the pan absorbed them with ease, the fire swirling steadily against the curved surface. “See, this pan can absorb your flames, double their strength and _send them right back at you.”_ He twirled around and fired a beam of fire back at Natsu, who…just looked bored. “Now he’s a char-broiled fairy,” chortled the man confidently.

“Goodbye,” the taller one mocked, turning away.

To the brother’s horror, the flames didn’t cook Natsu. Instead he ate them like a hungry dragon, the blast spiralling down into his mouth as he inhaled, until all of it was gone. This caused the brothers to panic as Natsu grinned. He rolled his shoulders, striding towards his opponents as an aura of magic flared around him. “Well, I don’t know what you guys are talkin’ about, but let’s try this again,” he drawled. He spread his arms and fire _surged_ outwards, scorching the walls as they took on the shapes of giant wings. **“Fire Dragon’s Wing Attack**! **”** Natsu charged, his wings of flame filling the entire hallway as he bore down on the two brothers. The attack washed over the two brothers, smothering their cries of shock and dismay in raw heat. The attack spread out and engulfed the hallway in a massive fireball, before finally stopping at the Duke’s statue, which crumbled fell to the floor burned to a crisp.

Natsu took a sheepish look at the charred brothers’ bodies. “Oh man. Did I overdo it again?” he mumbled to himself, scratching his chin.

Meanwhile, while Natsu dealt with the Vanish Brothers, Tori had grabbed Lucy and caught up to Gabby into the library.

“Daybreak should be around here,” Lucy pondered. Almost immediately she spotted a book on a pedestal. The cover depicted a rising sun, with the word ‘Daybreak’ written above it in blocky lettering. “That’s it!” she cried jubilantly, running over and grabbing it, “Two million jewels, here we come!”

“Great, let’s burn it!” Gabby exclaimed quickly, holding up a lighter with a grin.

However, Lucy took a closer look and gasped. “Wait, hold on! This is by Kemu Zealon! I’ve read every line of his books!”

“Who?” asked Tori.

“Zealon was an amazing wizard and an incredible novelist! This must be an unpublished novel!” Lucy gushed.

“Lucy, I don’t care if he’s _Stephen King,_ we have a mission to destroy it,” Gabby growled.

“No! I need to read this; there’s got to be more to this if the client wants it destroyed!” the other girl protested, panicking.

“Well, well. What do we have here?” inquired an unwelcome, oily voice. Everlue suddenly burst through the floor and landed in front of the girls, grinning unnaturally wide. “I knew you wizards were after my collection! Who knew it was just that stupid book, though?”

Lucy smiled. “Well, this works out great. Since you think this is stupid, can I keep it?” she asked.

“No, you ugly bimbo!” Everlue snapped.

The blonde deflated slightly. “Then let me read it first?” she asked plaintively. Then she sat down without waiting for an answer, to shock of everyone else.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” moaned Tori, “Lucy, this is no time to be reading a book that we should have destroyed two minutes ago!”

Everlue growled. “I’ve had enough of this! Troopers, come to my aid and destroy these ugly wenches!” He yelled snapping his fingers. Multiple figures that seemed to absorb the light around them appeared at his command. These figures turned into armored fighters that looked ready to kill. Then the fat man reached into his pocket “I was hoping to use this on someone less ugly, but you bimbos leave me know choice!” To the girls’ shock, he pulled out a familiar looking device. The object was colored brown, with an M shaped to look like claws on its side. Without much fanfare, he jammed it into his fat hand, causing his rotund body to bubble and change. It grew fur all over his body and his bulged out in muscles. His ratty-looking face turned more disturbing as his nose elongated and had a star shape in front of him.

 **“Now then, I paid good money for this and these men. They’ll be used to wipe out you three ugly women!”** He rasped.

Lucy took a step back at the sight of Everlue’s new form. Just then, the house shook as Natsu’s explosion wrecked the house.

The mole that was Everlue turned to see his mansion in ruins. “MY MANSION!” He turned to the girls, face twisted in apoplectic rage. “You ugly wenches will rue this day! I, Money Mole, will see to that! **Mud Shower!** ” He took a deep breath and vomited a large stream of mud, which rolled towards the girls, growing larger as it came.

Lucy watched in horror as the attack approached with wide eyes. Before she could scream, Tori jumped in front of her. She whipped out the Rod of Aquarius and slammed the base against the ground. **“Neptune Shield!”** she cried, a blue magic circle flaring briefly from the point of impact. A large dome of water formed around the group, a glowing blue bubble that didn’t so much as budge against the tide of mud and turned it aside.

Lucy gasped in shock as the shield surrounded her, the light of the water easing her panic slightly. She turned to stare at Tori and Gabby looking quite serious.

“Lucy, Happy! Get out of here! We’ll hold them off!” yelled Gabby, reaching into her pockets.

“What are you, nuts?! You don’t even…have…what?” Lucy trailed off as she took in the devices in their hands. Tori’s looked like a large camera, while Gabby’s was a strange red object. They placed them on their waists, belts coming out of the buckle and forming around them. The two girls reached into their pockets and pulled out two objects. Tori had a playing card, while Gabby grasped a Driver of her own.

 **“W-Where did you get that?”** Everlue demanded, pointing at the drive with a large claw, **“How could you afford that!? It cost me a fortune to get this and you both have one!”**

Gabby smiled darkly. “That’s because these are my personal Drives.” She pressed a button.

**ORION**

She inserted the Drive into the slot in the belt, causing it to pulse. Then, she turned to the side and held up her arms, like holding a bow, with her right hand imitating its pulling motion. Tori opened up her belt, then raised her card across her chest with her right hand, her left near the buckle.

“Now let’s show you the difference in our power!” Tori grinned.

HENSHIN

**KAMEN RIDE: SIRIUS**

Tori swiped the card to the buckle while using her left to close it from the right. Multiple cards formed and then converged on her. Where she stood was now a blue and grey armored warrior. The armor was form-fitting, with a darker blue around the chest and with an attached sky-blue skirt. On her feet were sky blue knee high, heeled boots. Her eyes were an ice blue on helmet that looked like a canines. On her head were a pair of dog’s ears. On her waist was her staff and a spell book.

**ORION**

Gabby swung and slammed the driver down, so that it lay horizontally along the buckle. The belt glowed and consumed the dark blonde. When the glow died down, a golden-brown suit garbed her. The suit bore armor around the chest area, with a leather skirt around her waist and light brown heeled boots of similar length to Tori’s. Attached to her waist were two bronze colored short swords.

“The Forest Hunter! Kamen Rider Orion!” Gabby called, twirling her short swords. Then she combined them by the pommel to form a large bow, the Bow of Sagittarius.

“The Guiding Dog! Kamen Rider Sirius!” Tori announced, spinning her staff and planting it in the ground.

**“Grrr…I don’t care what clothes you change into! I will _destroy_ your ugliness! Troopers! Get me that book!”**

The troopers charged at the two girls, neither of whom flinched.

Instead, Gabby parried an axe strike over her head with the shaft of the bow. She twisted, deflecting the blow to the side, then rapidly strung her bow and fired an energy arrow into her opponent’s heart. Then she kicked another up into the air and shot another projectile after it.

Whirling around, she saw Sirius blocking five other troopers with her staff. She pulled the bowstring and channeled energy into its string. The energy flowed between her fingers and condensed into three arrows, all equally deadly. **“Triple Shot!”** She fired off the arrows striking three in the neck. She quickly split the bow into her two short swords and stabbed the two remaining in the neck. The whole thing took four seconds, Sirius not even flinching as Orion stopped in front of her.

“Thanks for the assist!” Sirius offered gratefully. Then she conjured up a large water ball with a cry of, **“Water Geyser!”** With a flick of her staff, she fired the ball at the four remaining troopers, catching them up in a deluge of water and crushed them while also damaging the library.

“No problem,” Orion replied. She looked around, suddenly aware that their true opponent was gone. “Now where’d that rat-face get to?”

Sirius spotted another hole in the ground and pointed it out. “Looks like he escaped; c’mon, let’s find him and Lucy!”

Orion nodded, jumping down into the hole with Sirius into sewer below. They looked around and then felt the ground rumble underneath them.. They looked to where the rumble had come from and headed towards it.

Meanwhile, Lucy had run into the tunnels under the mansion. Finding a seemingly secluded pathway, she sat down at the base of a wall and began reading the book. She donned a pair of Wind-Reader Glasses, a magical device that allowed for high-speed reading to quickly read and comprehend the material into her brain. The more she read, the more she was convinced Daybreak had a secret to it.

She found something in the cover and grinned. “I _knew_ there was a secret in this book. Kemu was brilliant in hiding it!”

 **“A secret eh?”** a voice hissed from behind her. The wall behind her broke down and the blonde found her arms bound. **“I knew that Kemu wrote something about me. I paid him to write about me and instead he wrote that piece of garbage to make me look bad!”** Money Mole hissed.

“Like he’d need to _make_ you look bad!” Lucy barked, “You’re a creep that can’t appreciate what _real_ beauty is!”

The mole monster growled. “After I destroy your friends, you’re going in the same cellar as Kemu so I can destroy your ugly face!”

Before Lucy could scream, Happy came out of nowhere with a battlecry, slamming into the monster’s arm with a rapid headbutt, freeing her. Recovering, Money Mole turned his gaze to the cat, glaring murderously, only to be struck by multiple arrows. Lucy turned to see Orion and Sirius running up to her and Happy.

“Tori, Gabby! You’re alright!?” Lucy gasped.

“It takes a lot more than to knock us down. Also, when we are like this, we are Orion and Sirius,” Orion told her.

Money Mole fell to the ground, stunned from the blow. As he regathered his wits, glowering at the riders, he snarled. “Damn it, you ugly people are such a pain! It’s time I was rid of you!” He reached into his side and pulled out a golden key that Lucy recognized as a Celestial Spirit key. **“Open,”** he declared in that whiney rasp, **“Gate of the Maiden: Virgo**!”

A familiar bell sounded, making the girls turn to the duke as the signature magic circle flared from the key in his grasp. The being that emerged from the circle...was the muscle-bound, pink haired, gorilla-like maid that Natsu had faced earlier. The three girls gasped in disbelief. Orion and Sirius were surprised that one of the large maids they had faced was one of the celestial spirits. Lucy, on the other hand, gawked at the fact that _Natsu was hanging off the woman’s shoulders._ “H-hold on! Humans can’t pass through the gate! Natsu, how the heck did you come here on Virgo?!” she screamed.

Natsu grinned, giving her a peace-sign. “I’m just that awesome!” he crowed proudly

“That’s not how it works!” she snapped, “You would have to go through two gates! One to go back to the spirit world and then another to get back here!”

“ **You…show some fear, damnit!”** Money Mole, his eyes bloodshot with anger at being ignored, thrust his finger at the girls. **“Destroy them!”** he screeched at Virgo.

“Yes, master,” Virgo grunted. The large maid stomped towards the Riders, her brawny arms outstretched.

Sirius reacted by jabbing the tip of her staff at the ground in front of her, intoning **“Arctic Freeze!”** Ice cold water sprayed from the tip of the staff, freezing the water solid. Virgo not able to stop her momentum slipped and crashed into the wall behind the Riders, who jumped out of the way. The ice also spread to Money Mole and encased him, trapping the transformed duke.

Lucy growled at the transformed Duke, putting two and two together as his servant righted herself. The pinkette gave no indication that she’d been harmed, her expression as cold as before. “How dare you use a Celestial Spirit like this!? I’ll take that key off your ugly body!”

As Lucy berated the fat man, Orion pulled out her Orion drive, turning to the monster herself. “Duke Everlue, I hope you made peace with yourself!” she declared, dropping the Drive into the slot on her right hip.

**ORION MAXIMUM DRIVE**

She reformed the bow and pulled the string back, the arrow growing larger and glowing brighter as she did so. The rider set her arm and pointed at Money Mole, who was struggling to break free of the ice. **“Hunter’s Great Arrow!”** Orion cried out, letting the string loose. The arrow shot at Money mole in a blink of an eye, striking the Kaiju in the neck with pinpoint accuracy. The energy of the arrow overloaded his body and exploded, breaking the device in his hand. A few moments later, the smoke died down revealing the unconscious form of the old duke. “The hunt…is over.”

Powering down, the two girls walked over to Everlue. Spying the key, Tori grabbed and tossed it over to Lucy. “I think you can use this better than the rat,” she told her.

Lucy nodded and happily added it to her key ring. Virgo had long since disappeared back to the Celestial Plane after Everlue was defeated, leaving a large hole in the wall.

“Hey Guys!” Happy hovered over to them, “Check that out!” He pointed at the hole. The mages followed Happy’s direction to see a dark room. Gabby noticed a switch to her right flipping it on revealing a storage room full of boxes. Many of them were closed and some were very large. Happy floated over to a box curious at their contents. “I wonder what’s inside?”

Gabby walked over and pulled out her knife to pop open in the case. Peering inside, she gasped.

“No! You’ve _got_ to be kidding me!” She gasped.

Tori walked over to the case and mirrored her friend putting her hand to her mouth.

Puzzled, Happy climbed over the edge of the crate to peer down into it. The box was filled with a number of metallic cylinders and some needle-like objects. “What’re these? Why’re you so spooked?” asked the cat, looking back up at the girls quizzically.

Gabby turned to Natsu. “Get that fat man in here!” she ordered, fury in her eyes.

Natsu gulped and ran to obey, returning moments later with the unconscious rich man. Once in the storage room, Tori woke him up with a blast of water.

The Duke sputtered, sitting up hurriedly. “W…what?” he gasped. Then he took a proper look and saw that they were in the room he had under the mansion, paling at the implications that could befall him.

“Where did you get these?” Gabby growled, kicking him in the stomach.

He answered quickly. “I-I-I got them from some people wh-who would make me rich!” he stuttered fearfully, “A-All I had to do was move some of these boxes between locations!”

“Do you know what kind of destruction these can cause?” she yelled, grabbing the fat man’s collar, “One bullet fired from these things can kill anyone!” she screamed gasp in fear. “This place…needs to be _destroyed._ Tori, you find a grenade?”

“A whole box of them,” her friend replied, pulling a fist-sized, green object out of a box, “Set these off and this place will come crashing down.”

Gabby nodded, then directed an evil look at the fat man. “I’m half-tempted to leave you here. But I was taught to not do that, so instead, I want your safe combination; you’re going to prison almost penniless.”

At this, the Duke fainted again, Natsu reluctantly catching him again. Gabby photographed the cases, including the guns and the grenades. This was so she could show them to Drew and the others when they got back. Then they trudged up to his mansion to locate his safe, which was behind the picture of him surrounded by his maids, whom they made sure to evacuate. Inside that safe were stacks of Jewels that nearly filled the safe with various other gems. Lucy estimated that there had to be at least fifty million Jewels in it, with the gems to be determined later. After splitting the money and leaving enough for Kaby, minus the payment he owed, Gabby had the others leave the mansion so she could detonate the vault.

She took one last look at the storage room. “There may be more than this, but our enemies are clearly here. We _really_ need to be ready,” she murmured to herself. Gabby looked at the grenade in her hand, then pulled the pin and threw into the room. She bolted for the exit, knowing how short the fuse was.

*KABOOOOOM*

The Grenade blew igniting the other grenades setting off a chain reaction. The ground collapsed underneath the ammunition, and water filled the gap, making any non-destroyed ammunition worthless. Gabby escaped the underground with smoke following her and didn’t stop running, dashing past her friends who followed her.

A few minutes later, the Rune Knights showed up to investigate the destruction of the mansion and the mysterious explosion after the local citizens reported it. By that time, however, the group was already gone, like they never were there.

An hour later, they returned Kaby’s house, where Lucy handed the man the book they’d obtained.

“Here Kaby, I brought the book back,” Lucy told him.

Kaby slowly took the book in hand. “Thank you, but why didn’t you destroy it? My father’s shame should have been purged from the world, to cleanse this family!”

“Huh?” muttered Natsu, “His father? Who…?”

Ignoring him, Lucy smiled. “That’s the thing. Your father was amazing wizard; his last book wasn’t about Duke Everlue.” At this, Lucy waved her hands and broke the spell on the book. Light shone out of the book, particularly the title as before their eyes, the lettering started to rearrange itself. Instead of “Daybreak,” it now read “Dear Kaby.”

“Your father’s last book wasn’t about that pompous man,” the blonde girl told him gently, “It was a letter to you, his son. He must’ve been thinking of his family in Duke Everlue’s servitude.”

Kaby shook as he held the book in almost muted shock. “Oh…Father! I was such an idiot! Thank you!” he cried to the mages, “Thank you for giving me my father back!”

Lucy smiled, feeling good about her deed.

Then Gabby stepped up, holding a bag of money. “It might not be much, but we have some money from Duke Everlue to give to you.” She handed him the bag. “Four million Jewels. This should get you back on your feet.”

Kaby and his wife were grateful and thanked the mages as they left the house.

Natsu put his arms behind his head nonchalantly as he walked. “Why’d you give him that money?” he asked, “It wasn’t his! For that matter, why take the money in the first place?”

Gabby shrugged. “Better in his hands than who he was dealing with. He’s a small fry in a bigger ocean.”

Satisfied with the answer, he turned to Lucy. “Why were you so caught up on that book?”

Lucy looked away with a small blush. “Kemu Zealon inspired me to be an author. Those papers you handled were part of a book I’m writing. Please don’t judge me!”

The dragonslayer grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You think that’s the strangest thing I’ve seen? You’re such a weirdo.”

Lucy puffed up her cheeks, but the effect was diminished by her blush to the amusement of the other two girls. They began their journey back to Magnolia unaware of the dangers that lied ahead

**END OF CHAPTER**

**UO: Well this didn’t take too long writing. Beta reading is another matter. Thank you Kurogane 7 and NorthSouthGorem.**

**Kuro: Nah, all the applause should go to Osprey…this story belongs to him after all. In any case, do review would you kindly?**

**UO: Seriously, review. There is a distinct lack of reviews for the amount of work we put in.**

**Kuro: There’s not too many reviews? I find this disturbing…**

**NS: Just make sure they have some damn substance to them, or at least constructive. Like that Rebelblade fella. He shows that he reads the thing.**

**UO: Yeah don’t want to get on NS’s bad side. He scares me more than Erza. Rebelblade is a guy A. Is halfway around the world, B. Actually wants to know what I got in store like my pals here. So it doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to read and review. I can assure you its good.**

**Preview:**

**As Team Natsu returns to the guild, they encounter a new much stronger mage that doesn’t leave a favorable impression on a couple of the Riders. Then the team with Drew, Ash and Misty in tow investigate an artifact that could have devastating consequences on Fiore. Will a new Guardian turn the tide?**

**Next time: The Fourth Guardian, Rise Draco**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Well this didn’t take too long writing. Beta reading is another matter. Thank you Kurogane 7 and NorthSouthGorem.
> 
> Kuro: Nah, all the applause should go to Osprey…this story belongs to him after all. In any case, do review would you kindly?
> 
> UO: Seriously, review. There is a distinct lack of reviews for the amount of work we put in.
> 
> Kuro: There’s not too many reviews? I find this disturbing…
> 
> NS: Just make sure they have some damn substance to them, or at least constructive. Like that Rebelblade fella. He shows that he reads the thing.
> 
> UO: Yeah don’t want to get on NS’s bad side. He scares me more than Erza. Rebelblade is a guy A. Is halfway around the world, B. Actually wants to know what I got in store like my pals here. So it doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to read and review. I can assure you its good.
> 
> Preview:
> 
> As Team Natsu returns to the guild, they encounter a new much stronger mage that doesn’t leave a favorable impression on a couple of the Riders. Then the team with Drew, Ash and Misty in tow investigate an artifact that could have devastating consequences on Fiore. Will a new Guardian turn the tide?
> 
> Next time: The Fourth Guardian, Rise Draco


	5. Fifth Guardian! Rise Draco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Mission with a Newly formed team reveals a threat for the Guild Masters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOSH  
> UO: Sorry guys! (Looks at set) Uh, guys? Where are you? Wait a minute (Pokes the wall and it collapses revealing a destroyed set. The only thing spared was the Nintendo Wii which doesn't have a scratch)  
> Drew: Uh yeah, I was trying to get to you but you were busy and I somehow got a concussion.  
> UO: Wh…what the hell happened?!  
> Ash: Blame Natsu and Grey for starting it and Erza for escalating it. Can we please figure out her demanding nature? Because she's starting to scare my Pokemon. Especially the stubborn ones.  
> UO: Trust me, I am going to bring her down a peg or two. (Turns to audience) And it's not Bashing. Erza's attitude would grate on anyone not used to it. Breaking that would make her a nicer person. Besides my co-writer won't let me bash without a good reason.  
> NS: You're damn right I won't.  
> UO: Trust me, what I plan for Erza is not bashing, but rather showing that she's not invincible. Another redhead was touted as invincible….and, well, for fans of a certain franchise, it's a hard pill to swallow, just like its creator dying.  
> NS: *Whispers* RIP Pyrrha and Monty.  
> Erza: NATSU! GREY! Where the hell are you?  
> Ash: Permission to shock her?  
> UO: Not yet. ERZA! GET OVER HERE!  
> Erza: Yes UO?  
> UO: What the hell did you do?  
> Erza: I was making sure they stayed in line.  
> UO: Destroying my studio is staying in line? You know what, I don't care, do the disclaimer, your punishment will be in story.  
> Erza: What about those two? (Points to Natsu and Grey who looked ready to fight again)  
> UO: They've been punished enough. DISCLAIMER NOW!  
> Erza: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokémon, Fairy Tail or Kamen Rider. He makes no money and only owns the plot.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy._  
 ****Attacks  
Yelling and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 5: Lullaby

When we last left our heroes, Team Natsu, along with Gabby and Tori, had infiltrated the Everlue mansion as part of their first mission. During the infiltration, the obese man tried to destroy them with a power he had obtained from a mysterious benefactor: a Driver. Also, Gabby and Tori were horrified to find weapons that they knew were from Earth but did not tell Lucy and Natsu the full extent of the destruction they could cause. Instead, they destroyed the storage and left with most of Everlue's money.

Now they are traveling through the forest to get back to Magnolia as soon as possible. The quickest route was through the swamps outside of had grown tired from the day's walking and called out Horologium to take shelter in the clock. Gabby had volunteered to carry the clock on her back.

"'I'm sorry you had to carry me,' she apologizes," the clock spirit reported.

"It's fine. You were tired and I get it, you don't like the mud," Gabby told the blond reassuringly. She was the more outdoorsy type compared to Drew or Tori, so it was no big deal for her to walk through the knee-high water. It wasn't unheard of her to come back with mud-stained clothes or covered in dirt.

"It's because Lucy is lazy…" Happy tried to snark, "EEP!" only for an arrow to land between his leg. Gabby growled as she separated her bow and retrieved the arrow.

"Gabby, what the heck?! Happy doesn't mean anything by it!" Natsu complained.

"I don't care! Happy has been annoying me the whole mission," she snapped back.

Tori was in the trees, scouting for a place to rest for the night. She spotted a clearing without water and pointed towards it. "I see some dry land up ahead! Let's stop there."

Gabby nodded and trudged on. Soon the party reached the spotted clearing, a dry patch of grass surrounded by oaks. The blonde girl climbed out of the swamp and laid down the clock containing Lucy, who gladly clambered out as he vanished. Gabby took a look at her legs, seeing them caked in green and brown debris and shrugged. "Not the worst mess I've slogged through. Tori, you mind?"

Tori nodded and summoned some water and brought to the huntress's legs. In no time at all, the mud was gone. "All gone. Now, let's set up camp!" she announced cheerfully.

Before they could start their search for firewood, a rustling in the bushes caught their attention. Gabby flipped her sword into her hand and stalked into the brush. With one quick motion, she pounced into the bushes, resulting in a loud yelp as Gabby pulled her prisoner into view. Her efforts revealed Grey, sans his shirt.

"Ice Princess, the hell are you doing here?" growled Natsu.

"Looking for you, dumbass!" Grey responded.

Before they could start attacking each other, Gabby kicked the ground and the vibrations knocked the two off balance and onto the ground. "Seriously," she sighed aggravatedly, "you guys have to fight everywhere?"

Grey scoffed. "We don't fight everywhere…" he trailed off when he saw the tanned girl's look.

"You've started five fights in two days, so excuse the pun but… _chill out."_

The tone sent shivers down Natsu and Grey's spines.

The pink-haired boy grumbled and sat down, shooting his rival an annoyed glance. "So, Stripper, what're you doing here?"

Grey panicked about his clothes and quickly grabbed them. Then he glared at the Dragon Slayer, even as he struggled back into his outfit, "I just came to warn you. Erza's on her way back and she is not happy with happened in Hargeon."

Natsu and Happy sat straight up spines shivering at the implication. "E-Erza's back?! We need to hide!"

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Who's this Erza person?"

Seeing as Natsu was too scared to answer, Happy answered. "She's the strongest woman in the guild! She can beat Natsu and Grey easily!"

"That strong, huh?" Tori pondered. "

"She can rip open mountains and destroy ships with her bare hands!" Natsu panicked.

While Lucy's imagination ran wild, Tori just sweatdropped. Erza couldn't have sparked _this_ much fear in them. She put it in the back of her mind as they went back to gathering firewood for the camp.

A couple of hours later, with some food in their bellies, the group settled down for bed. Lucy laid against one of the trees and wrapped her arms around herself; she hadn't been expecting to sleep outside tonight and as a result, wasn't dressed for the cool air. Seeing this, Gabby walked over and gave her her cloak.

"Thanks, but don't you need it?" asked the busty blonde curiously, drawing it about herself.

"Appreciate the concern but I'm good," Gabby responded, not looking back as she walked over to Tori, who wrapped her cloak around her long time friend. The tanned girl snuggled into her shoulder in gratitude.

The group settled into silence. Tori and Gabby were watching the stars, looking for constellations were.

"Is Orion up this time of year?" Gabby asked after a few moments.

"Maybe not till later, it's not midnight yet. Though it could be the trees," Tori said thinking aloud.

"We can't see it right now, it's too low," Lucy chimed in. She looked back up at the stars. "So many different constellations. Zodiac, legendary figures, it's all so amazing.

"Is there a dragon star thing?" Natsu asked in wonder.

"Yeah, Draco the Dragon, though we can't see it. It's close to Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, and Polaris. When we have some downtime, Drew can point out the different constellations," Gabby energetically said. She then looked up and said offhand, "Hard to believe that those stars are suns."

At this, the mages gasped. "WHAT!?"

"Hm? Yeah, all of those stars are suns, like the one we wake up to," she explained, "They're too far away to affect us though," she assured them at their fearful looks.

"Tch, you're all crazy," Grey declared, "I'm going to sleep!" He turned away, mumbling about crazy girls.

Lucy shook her head, sighing. "I believe you. With your technology, I bet you know a lot more than we do. Anyway, we should go to bed. I guess with these boys scared, they'll need all of the energy they can get."

The girls agreed and slowly drifted off to sleep along with Happy. The last member of the group was wide awake, though. Natsu watched the sky, looking back on what happened in the last week or so. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something that he'd kept even from Happy. It was a dark brown gem that glistened in the moonlight. The day he was told about a dragon sighting in Hargeon, he had the urge to find it and take it with him. Considering what had happened, he considered it a lucky gem.

He glanced over to Lucy, who was peacefully slumbering with Gabby's cloak as a blanket. The moonlight made her hair shine. Natsu blushed at how pretty she looked sleeping; he couldn't say it aloud, but she _was_ beautiful. He looked back at the gem, then put it around his neck. The moon shined off the gem and he suddenly felt tired. He didn't even fight off the fatigue as he closed his eyes.

A Mysterious Castle (Play Hyrule Castle theme from Zelda Wind Waker)

Natsu blinked his eyes open, looking around…then sat up as he realized he wasn't in the swamp anymore. Rather, he was sitting a very fancy castle hallway. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him, because most of his vision was colored grey with some color seeping in.

"Where am I? Happy? Luce? Stripper? Where are you?" he called out worriedly.

"Your friends are fine, Natsu Dragneel," a mystical voice spoke from behind him. He snapped his head around to find the source and his eyes widened at the ethereal beauty approaching him.

Now Natsu didn't normally pay attention to women, but he would be stupid to not notice the various gorgeous ladies in the guild; Erza and Mira especially had grown to be the envy of women everywhere. The woman in front of him, while not as big in the chest area, was nonetheless equal in their looks.

"Pretty," he said said aloud. Then he gulped and laughed sheepishly. "Uh...hehe sorry."

The girl giggled. "It's fine. In my time, I was considered one of the most beautiful women in my country.

Natsu snapped out of his daze, asking, "Who…who are you, anyway? Where am I? What am I doing here?"

The woman's features brightened and curtseyed. "My apologies, my name is Tsukihime, princess to a fallen kingdom. As to where, we are in what remains of my Castle, inside what was known as the Kingdom. As for what you are doing here, it's to awaken you to your true destiny."

Tsuki turned and motioned him to follow. Natsu still had questions. "What destiny?"

"I take it Drew hasn't told you the story of our Kingdom? That is fair, he must have been waiting for the right moment. Please let me tell you a story," Tsuki responded.

For the next fifteen minutes, Tsuki told Natsu about the Kingdom. About its glory, its strength and its eventual downfall. She also told him the prophecy about the future Guardians.

Natsu then asked the question that'd been bugging him. "What does it have to do with me?"

Here they stopped in front of a painting. "It is because you are one of the chosen Guardians. Through the Earth Citrine you now hold."

Natsu looked at the painting and was surprised at what he saw. It looked like him, but a lot older looking. His hair was smoother, with a color closer to red and his muscles were just as defined if not more than him. His outfit was like a prince's outfit. It was a brown suit with metal chain mesh covering it. On his feet were dark brown boots that came up to his knees. He had a scarf that was similar to his own and had a long brown cloak. On his shoulder was a large axe.

"That's…me?" Natsu asked in wonder.

"Yes. Or rather your ancestor. Your gem is proof that you are the Prince of the Earth Element. But you can't do it on your own." She directed him to another painting where his ancestor was sitting on a throne surrounded by six other figures. On his lap was a beautiful blonde woman in a silver and white dress that reminded him of Lucy. To his right, stood two men, one with bright blue hair in a red suit and pants, with what looked like a lance on his back. The other had short black hair a fedora and a long mustache. On his back was a massive sword.

There were also three other women. One was a black haired woman with a bow on her head, wearing a black vest over a white shirt, purple pants and heeled boots. The second was a dark-skinned woman with green hair similar to Bisca, a white crop top and tan pants. The last one made Natsu stop. It was a red haired woman with green eyes. Her outfit consisted of bronze colored armor with an attached skirt, a tiara and knee high boots. She reminded him of Erza, but with a much kinder smile.

"These were the knights and Princess of your ancestors. Your job is to find these descendants and help Drew and Ash and their friends destroy this darkness once and for all."

Natsu grinned. "No sweat! I'm all fired up!"

Tsuki giggled at his enthusiasm. "I'm glad. Come, let me grant you the tools to help on your mission," She said motioning him to follow her. The stopped at a large marble door. On the door were ten weird drawings, of which three were glowing.

"Show your gem to pass through the door," Tsuki intoned as if in a trance.

Natsu took that to mean his necklace. He pulled it out and held it up. A picture on the bottom lit up and the door opened. Tsuki and Natsu walked down the stairs to a chamber. Three spots were glowing and the he could have sworn he saw Drew, Ash and Misty in those spots.

Tsuki motioned him forward. "Ten Elements, ten Gems, ten Guardians. Present your gem and accept your destiny!"

Natsu nodded and with his usual vigor and enthusiasm stepped into the center light.

(Play Pulling the Sword)

Natsu raised his gem above his head. The beam brightened and filled the room. After a few seconds the light died down revealing Natsu with his belt. It was of a silver metal that appeared to be indestructible. In the middle was a yellow and black hand. On the side was a set of rings that he didn't know what they were or did.

(Play Zelda's Lullaby)

"So…what do I do with them?" Natsu asked Tsuki.

"When the time comes, you will know," she intoned mysteriously as her image started to fade.

"Wait! Will I see you again?" Natsu called out to her.

Tsuki smiled. "Do not worry, you will meet me again. But not until you awaken your powers," she called to him. Before he could ask, the light blinded him and forced him to close his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he found he was back in the forest. He looked around to find everyone still asleep. He felt around his body and found the belt he had received in the dream. "It wasn't a dream? Awesome," he whispered to himself, grinning.

"What's awesome, Natsu?" Happy's sleepy voice asked, breaking his focus.

"Nothing buddy, just excited to see Erza. I can't wait to fight 'er!"

Happy said nothing as the rest of the camp woke up and in no time were on their way back to the guild.

End Song

Two Days later (Episode 5)

Lucy stared at the request board, looking for a nice job. She hoped it was less dangerous than the previous one. Having no luck, she groaned. "Oh man, are there any good jobs? Seriously rent is due!" she said aloud.

"Don't you have money left over from the Everlue job?" inquired Gabby.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to have some leftover money for clothes, food, and whatever Natsu and Happy destroy." Lucy narrowed her eyes at the two. Natsu and Happy were laying face down on the table complaining about not having enough to eat.

"True. OH! I almost forgot. Drew, me and Tori need to show you something," Gabby exclaimed.

Said boy was playing Max in Chess while Levy was watching. "Just a minute." He moved his rook to a spot a couple of spaces away from Max's King. "Checkmate."

Max swore as Drew got up to let Levy play. Gabby and Tori pulled him to the side while Lucy went to talk to Mira.

"So what do you have?" Drew asked as Gabby pulled out her camera.

"We found something underneath the mansion," she said, flipping through the pictures.

As he watched, Drew's face morphed into a frown. At the end of the slide show, he rubbed his face. "Are you sure you destroyed them?" he asked grimly.

"Yeah. Took a grenade and blew the whole thing up."

He nodded, expression clearing. "Good. Just our luck…dealing with grenades, rifles, and god knows what else. There has to be someone from _outside_ supplying them; I don't think this world can create those things yet."

Before they could ponder this further, Loke burst through the doors out of breath. "This is baaaaaad! Erza's on her way here!"

This stunned the guild into shock. Those about to start up fighting froze in terror. The guild began to murmur in fear. Some out-and-out screamed.

"You mean the same Erza that Natsu mentioned before?" Lucy asked aloud.

"Is Erza that strong?" Dawn asked Mira.

"Yes," the white-haired girl confirmed cheerfully, "She's one of our best mages. The strongest female mage we have."

"This type of reaction? She's either really strong and intimidating," May pondered, crossing her arms under her bust.

The sound of footsteps grew louder as the guild's whispers got more frantic.

"Th-that's Erza alright!"

"Those're her footsteps!"

"Oh man, we're dead!"

Lucy gulped as her imagination ran wild. "She must be a powerful wizard. Scary!"

The footsteps got closer to the guild and then entered, revealing a red haired woman whose mere presence frightened the entire guild. On her shoulder was a gargantuan, ornately-decorated tusk that she had slung over a shoulder with one hand. For clothing, she wore a metal breastplate for her top half, with metal greaves and the guild emblem on the plated armor. Underneath she wore a blue skirt and brown, knee-high boots.

"I have returned. Is master back yet?" the woman asked. Her voice was loud and stern, commanding in its tone. Her steely gray eyes surveyed the guild-hall like a hawk's as if searching for troublemakers.

Lucy's first thought at seeing her was, ' _So pretty!'_

Mira smiled warmly and waved. "Welcome back, Erza! Sorry, but Master's at a big conference right now."

"I see," Erza replied with nonchalance. She then placed the tusk down causing the guild to shake to its foundations.

"Erza-san…what _is_ that thing?" a random guild member inquired nervously, pointing to the horn-like object.

She glanced at the man. "Oh, this. It's a horn from the monster I slew. The town dressed it up and gave it to me as a present." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that a problem?"

The man, scared out of his wits, shook his head rapidly.

Erza looked at the rest of the guild with a calculating glare. "Listen up! While I was on the road, I heard about what kind of trouble Fairy Tail has been up to. The guild master may not care, but I do!"

She directed her scowl at Cana. "Cana, you need to control your drinking." Not even turning to look, she spoke again. "Vijeeter, take your dancing outside. Wakaba, that better not be cigarette butts." She turned to the request board, where a larger mage stood. "Nab, stop standing around and do some work." She then turned to Macao. "Macao…" The older mage gulped. Erza sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "You cause so much trouble, I don't know where to begin."

Lucy was stunned at how quickly Erza took command. "Wow, she's laying into them," she mumbled.

"That's Erza for you!" Happy chimed in, digging into a fish that Mira had given him.

"Still, she looks mature. Why are people so scared of her?" the blonde mused further.

"Excuse me?" The guild was stunned into silence that someone spoke against Erza. They all turned to Drew who was walking over. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, once you tell me your name," Erza replied, nodding.

"Drew Smith. Now then, are you the guild master?" he asked blithely, "Because you shouldn't be giving orders like that. Also, you should be a little nicer. Like this." He turned to Cana. "Cana, I know we talked about this: please try to limit or eliminate that habit." Cana looked ashamed but nodded as Tori rubbed her shoulder.

He turned to Vijeeter. "Vijeeter, why not ask Anabel if she's available to train with you." Next was Wakaba. "Wakaba, I know I asked you to take your smoking outside, mainly for my health. Can you try to remember that for the future?" The brown-haired man nodded and walked out to finish his smoke.

He turned to Nab. "Nab, if you have a job in mind, please pick it. Otherwise, let someone else have a chance." The bigger man nodded and stepped away.

Drew turned to Erza. "There, much better and they listened."

Erza narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to the younger boy. "Listen, I don't know what you are doing but let's get one thing is not responsible for ordering my guild members around." In her quest to fix this slight, she had gotten too close to Drew and inadvertently poked him in the shoulder You are in no position to tell me —owowow, let go!".

Drew responded reflexively, grabbing Erza's wrist and twisting sharply enough to make her cry out. The fact that he could hurt her through the metal greaves shocked everyone. "Don't touch me!" he growled, letting go only to stomp off.

Lucy was surprised; such a violent reaction seemed out of character for the fire user. Concerned about the uncommonly aggressive behavior, she turned to Misty, who had frowned at the exchange. "What's the deal?" she asked, "He's fine with all of you hugging him; why not her?"

The ginger girl sighed. "Drew…has a small issue with people touching him," she explained as best she could, "Erza violated that and he reacted on impulse."

Lucy watched Drew stomp back to Tori and Gabby. His expression pulled a 180 as he sat down, confusing the blonde further.

Erza shook her hand to get the feeling back and looked over at Drew, frowning. She was about to storm over when she met Ash, Brock, and Max had their weapons ready to engage her.

"Please don't push it. Just walk away," Ash told her firmly, but not belligerently.

Erza looked at the three new boys in the guild. _Looks like they all know each other… I'll need to talk to them later. Sticking by your friends is all well and good, but they can't just behave so rudely without an explanation and not expect consequences!_ Deciding to drop her anger for the moment, she looked around. "Where're Natsu and Grey?"

She found them hugging each other like old buddies. "We're good, Erza!" Natsu stuttered, sweating heavily even as he grinned widely.

"Yeah, we're the best of friends!" Grey said through the gritted teeth of his smile.

"Good, it's okay for friends to fight sometimes. But none of that now. I need your help."

Natsu and Gray gasped in surprise that Erza of all people wanted their continued. "Meet me at the train station tomorrow, we leave early.

Natsu and Gray looked at each other with a frown. The same thought went through their minds.

_I have to team up…_

… _with him?'_

Mira gasped. "Erza, Grey, Natsu." Lucy looked at the white-haired beauty in confusion, only to see that her eyes were wide and for once she seemed taken aback. "I don't believe it, but…we may be looking at the strongest team in Fairy Tail!"

Lucy widened her eyes at the implications. Before she could comment, Drew stepped up. "Do you mind if we add a couple more people?" he asked, to the surprise of the guild. He motioned Ash and Misty to come forward, "I'm sure we could provide some backup."

Erza nodded a little wary of the boy who squeezed her wrist before. "Very well. But I need your names?"

"As I said, I'm Drew Smith."

"Ash Ketchum."

"Misty Waterflower."

Erza nodded. "Good, I will see you all there," She said as she walked away, presumably to get ready for tomorrow.

May turned to a shocked Mira. "You said they may be the strongest team? With Ash, Drew and Misty, they are the strongest team," she replied with a smile/

Mira watched the three mages grab their stuff and walk out. "Are they that strong?" she asked the brunette.

May grinned. "If they tried, I think they could beat Erza," she said confidently.

Mira slowly realized what the brunette meant and watched the doors, wondering how strong these new guild members were.

Next Day, Magnolia Station

The next day, everyone save Erza was already at the train station. Natsu was growling at Grey. "Why do I have to be on the same mission with you, slanty eyes?"

"I could ask the same about you lizard breath!" Grey responded harshly, glaring right back. They proceeded to butt heads.

Lucy, sitting on one of the benches, sighed, with Plue sitting on her lap. "Oh, man do they have to fight every time they see each other?"

"Don't know, but they seriously need to relax. Speaking of relaxing, Oi Natsu!" Drew called out.

The two were ignoring him. Before he could call again, the two were drenched. Drew glanced to the side to see Misty holding her hand out. Seeing the two calmed down, she went back to resting against Ash's shoulder. Lucy had to smile. Misty, despite being a water user had fire in her heart. To see her go from what she just did to being calm and relaxed amused her to no end.

She turned back to Drew, who walked over to Natsu. "Now that you've cooled off, here." Drew pulled out a tube of what was presumably medicine. "It's a Dramamine. Motion sickness medicine." Natsu looked at the tube as Drew popped out a circular tablet with some curiosity. "It'll make you sleepy, so it's best to take it now."

The dragon slayer nodded and, with some hesitation, took the pill and popped it into his mouth.

"Good you are all here," Erza's voice rang out.

Lucy's features brightened and turn to greet her. "Oh, Erza…Wha?" Her body froze, mind having to reboot at the sight of the scarlet haired woman. She somehow was pulling an entire cart full trunks, armors and weapons behind her.

Drew looked at the wagon with a raised eyebrow. "You sure you need all of that? We're only going over a couple of towns over."

"Nonsense, it is for every eventuality. Plus this is lighter than what I normally carry," Erza responded.

Shaking the shock off from finding out this was a light load to Erza, Drew rubbed his head. "Look, just find the train we have to go on, I'll get my friends." He said as he walked over to Ash and Misty.

Erza sighed and turned to the blonde who was still in a state of shock. "May I ask who you are?"

Lucy snapped out of her shock. "Oh, uh, I'm Lucy," she stammered, "N-Nice to meet you, Ms. Erza."

The redheaded woman smiled for the first time since Lucy had met her. "Now Lucy, you don't have to be shy around me. We're guildmates." As she spoke, she glanced over at Grey and Natsu, who were butting heads. When she turned her gaze towards them, the two suddenly were hugging each other. "Anyway, do you know why we're here?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I haven't heard anything. Sounds like it's going to be tough if you need help."

Erza nodded. "I want to get on the train before detailing the mission, but I can say it involves a Dark Guild.

Lucy paled with worry. Mira had explained to her about the guild system and how their jobs were distributed. Legal guilds operated with the blessing of the council and were divided into several conferences. Master Makarov was in fact at a guild master's conference a few towns over. Then there were the dark guilds, ones that opposed the Magic council and dealt in criminal activities. There could have been all sorts of mages in those types of guilds

"A dark guild? Are you sure we can handle it?" Lucy asked.

"Of course, I would not have invited you all if you weren't up to the task."

It was at that moment Drew, Misty and Ash walked up to them. "Are we all set, Ms. Scarlet?" Ash asked.

Erza watched the three with a critical eye. "Yes, we are, though I don't know what you all can do."

Ash crossed his arms, scowling at her tone. "Trust us, we've dealt with worse." Pikachu, who was riding on Ash's shoulder, sparked its cheeks and confidently spoke its name.

She looked at them for a few seconds, contemplating their actions. Then she turned in a huff and walked away. "Very well. Come, we can discuss our mission on the train."

She led the group of seven onto the train and within moments, the train started to move

The group occupied an entire row of the train. Natsu was sleeping peacefully against the window, the side effects of the medicine starting to kick in. Erza took a look at Natsu, brow furrowed in concern. "That's strange he's normally moaning and nearly throwing up," Erza asked with some concern.

"Yeah, it's the medicine. Dramamine, the drug we gave him, helps with motion sickness. Unfortunately, it causes people to fall asleep. It's designed for long trips," Misty explained.

Erza nodded at the girl's explanation and cleared her throat. "Right. So, let me fill you in on this mission. It involves the dark guild Eisenwald." Seeing that she had their attention, she continued, "On my way home, I stopped a bar about a day's travel from Magnolia. I overheard several patrons discussing the name Erigor. Erigor the guild master and Ace of Eisenwald. Further investigation revealed that they'd come into possession of a deadly item called Lullaby."

Grey and Lucy gasped while Drew, Ash, and Misty all frowned. "Is this Lullaby supposed to be dangerous?" asked Misty.

"Yes," Erza confirmed concisely, "According to what I've read, Lullaby is an item created by the dark mage Zeref. Anyone within the hearing range has their life force stolen; it's a mass death-curse."

"A Lullaby of Doom, huh? That sounds bad. Makes Sing seem harmless, huh Ash?" Drew asked his friend in Erza nodded though slightly confused at what Drew said. "Yes. I had hoped to take on this guild by myself. But the numbers they had made rethink that idea. That's why I recruited all of you. Anyway, we will get off at the next town and try to investigate their next move."

A few minutes later, the train pulled into the Onibus Town station. As they climbed off the train, Erza began giving out orders.

"Lucy, Grey talk to the townsfolk. Ash, Misty, talk to the train conductors. I will talk to the guards. Drew, take Natsu and see if you can sniff out potential leads."

Drew sighed. "Fine, come on Natsu." When he heard nothing, he looked behind them. "Natsu?" But the dragon slayer was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked frantically looking around.

"You don't think?" Misty asked looking back at the train.

"He's still on the train?" Ash finished, eyes widening when the whistle blew, signaling departure.

"Damn it, we didn't wake him up!" Drew yelped sprinted back onto the train. "Drew where are you going?" Erza demanded.

"To get Natsu back!" he called out, "Meet you at the next station!" He hopped on the moving train.

The train pulled out of the station as the group watched on in shock.

"Wh-what're we going to do?" Lucy asked Erza nervously.

"We're going to catch up to that train," Ash answered, "Come on, we need something fast!"

Erza glanced over on the side and spotted a vehicle. "Over there," she said, pointing out the carriage, "It's a magic-powered vehicle designed for off-road transportation.. We'll catch up in no time!"

The group squeezed into the car, while Erza attached what appeared to be a pump to her wrist. In an instant, the car sprung to life. Erza gunned the accelerator and flew down the road to catch up to the train.

On the train, Drew was searching for the wayward Dragon Slayer. He spotted him still leaning against the window, asleep. "Natsu!" He shook the mage's shoulders.

Natsu groaned as the shaking slowly woke him up. "Huh?! D-Drew? Where am I? Where are the others?" He asked, trying to regain his mental bearings.

"Everyone got off the train, but we forgot to wake you up. We'll meet them at the next station," Drew assured him.

"That is _if_ you can make it there," a snide voice called out to them. They turned to the source of the voice. The person was a black-haired man in a white jacket and black jeans, with scars on his face. He spotted the guild symbol on their arms and grinned. "Well, what do you know? Two little flies from Fairy Tail."

The two guild members jumped out of their seats. Drew glanced at Natsu. "You think you can fight?" he asked quietly.

"My stomach's still off, but I can fight," the other boy whispered.

The younger mage nodded and got into a fighting stance. Their opponent grinned. "You think you flies can win. My name is Kageyama, the right hand of Eisenwald. Here, have a taste of my magic! **Shadow Pulse!"**

A dark beam shot fired from his hand and towards the two Fairy Tail mages. Drew quickly drew Leonind and blocked it. Natsu ignited his flames ready to counter-attack but Drew stopped him.

"Natsu, we can't fight here. We will get people hurt," he hissed.

"Then what do we do?" Natsu growled.

Drew glanced at the window to their left. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Natsu looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Uh…yeah, I guess so?"u had

Drew nodded. "Alright." He wrapped his right arm around the dragon slayer and pointed his left at Kageyama. **"Pyro Bullet!"** he cried. A small ball of fire shot from his palm, whooshing through the air. Kageyama leaped to avoid the attack but then Drew fired another bullet at the wall of the train and broke through. "Seeya!" he called over the sudden roar of the wind. Then he turned and fired a third shot backward to propel himself and Natsu out the hole, the vacuum carrying them into the open air.

As they spun through space, they sped towards the ground using their momentum. Drew reached out in an attempt to grab something and found another hand. He glanced up to see Ash holding onto him. Their momentum caused him to slam into the vehicle. The impact nearly caused him to lose his grip. He was briefly dragged onto the ground and quickly used some fire manipulation to propel him above the car and landed on the roof. Natsu by contrast collided with Grey, knocking both down. Drew let out a breath. "Let's not do that again soon. Ow!" He hissed, rubbing his shoulder. Misty was quick on the draw and conjured some water to heal his shoulder.

Natsu groaned as he sat up. Lucy from inside the carriage called out to Natsu. "Natsu are you alright?!"

The mage looked at the blonde. "I'm fine, where's Happy?"

"Inside with me," Lucy assured him. Happy's 'aye' confirmed it.

Grey rubbed his head, complaining, "Damnit lizard-breath, watch where you're landing!"

"What was that, droopy-eyes!?"

"Both of you shut up!" Erza ordered harshly, making them both clam up. "Drew, was there anything on the train?"

Drew sat up, his healing complete. "Yeah. I saw some sort of wood carving with skulls on it. Was that Lullaby?"

"Yes," she confirmed impatiently, "But you should have destroyed it when it had the chance!"

"Well, sorry. I was more concerned about the _passengers on the train_ and the guy holding it didn't look like a pushover. I'd rather fight another day than put people at risk."

She frowned, unable to reply, but accepted the explanation readily. "Very well. We'll need to catch up to the train, post-haste." So saying, the four-wheeler sped up.

Lucy rubbed her chin in thought. "I wonder why they would need a train to carry out their plans," she mused aloud

Drew, who had climbed inside, sighed. "Eisenwald is after something important. Trains would be a discreet way to carry out their plans. But they aren't targeting the trains themselves, otherwise, they would've used it at the train station, with a lot of people around."

She turned to look at him, brow furrowed with concern. "How do you know about that? Have you seen something like this before?"

He winced and looked away. "More times then I care to count."

Her worry deepened. "Was it that bad?"

"Yeah. They were," he murmured. Then he perked up. "Erza! Where was the Guild Master's meeting?"

"Clover Town, why?" Erza replied.

He turned to the roof to yell at Ash and Misty. "Please tell me one of you took a train timetable when we left Magnolia?"

Ash grinned. "Always be prepared." The Aura user gave the pamphlet to his Pikachu, which the mouse gave to Drew.

He quickly scanned the table and pointed at a time. "The end of the line is Clover Town! They're targeting the guild masters!"

The whole group of mages was shocked and looked at the quickly vanishing train. Erza pumped more magic into the four-wheeler to catch the train.

On the Train

Kageyama approached a black-caped figure, who lowered a hood on his approach to reveal a silver-haired man. He had grey eyes, a white scarf, and black pants and a large scythe strapped to his back.

"Erigor-sama, I have Lullaby here with me," Kageyama told his guild master. Erigor walked up to and slapped him. Kageyama rubbed his cheek looking at his guild master with a hurt expression.

"You were sloppy, letting those flies see Lullaby. No matter, we'll stick to the plan. Here," Erigor tossed him a black drive with the word SHADOW in silver lettering. "I was able to acquire two of them. One for me, one for you." The man held up a brown drive of his own, WEASEL written across it. "Now then, let us crush those puny flies at Oshibana Town. Then we will move onto the guild masters!" Erigor boasted as he laughed maniacally.

Oshibana Town

The group finally reached the town's station after speeding alongside the tracks. They climbed out of the car and noticed the crowd gathering in front. Impatient, Erza approached the nearest official.

"What's going on here?" she asked in a stern voice.

The official stuttered at Erza's response. Not pleased at not getting an immediate answer, Erza headbutted him and knocked him out, moving on to the next one. Lucy's jaw dropped at Erza's actions.

Drew, Ash, and Misty all groaned and of following Erza's example, they decided to do some actual questioning of the turned to one of the officers. "Can you please tell us what happened?"

The officer relaxed a bit seeing that they wouldn't attack him. "It-it's Eisenwald! They came off the train and took over the station! The Army was just sent in, but we haven't heard from them yet!"

The three nodded. Grabbing Erza's attention from another hapless guard, they passed by them to enter the sight that greeted them made them gasp in shock. The army platoon that had been summoned were completely wiped out, moaning in agony and covered in various bloody wounds.

Lucy was the first to snap out of her shock. "Wha…What happened?"

Erza shook her head, bending down to examine the injured soldiers. "It appears they fought the entire guild here but were overwhelmed."

Ash and Misty were checking on them. "Looks like they are all unconscious. That's reassuring," the boy said.

Misty took another look at the downed soldiers. "These scars. They were made multiple blades. Would they have something like that?"

"I don't know, but we must be careful," Erza told them. As a precaution, Drew, Misty, and Ash drew their weapons and followed behind Erza. A few moments later, they were in some sort of waiting room.

"So, you pathetic flies are here too. And look what we have here: the Titania herself," A snide voice called out. As the voice spoke, the wind began to pick up, swirling about the hall. When it died down, the mages spotted what they assumed to be the Eisenwald guild master. As he appeared, multiple shadowy figures appeared.

"Erigor, the Shinigami of Eisenwald…! Why are you going to such lengths to take innocent lives?"

Erigor laughed at Erza's question. "Why!? I'll tell you why! You guild flies are why! You're all in your guild halls protected by the very magic council that excommunicates us! Lullaby is our answer to righting these wrongs! By broadcasting it, I can destroy the very fabric of the guilds themselves: the guild Masters!"

Lucy was shocked. "Y-you're insane! Hurting innocent people won't get you your rights back!"

Drew pulled out his sword and slammed it point first into the ground, his face twisted in a dark glower. The sudden act made Natsu and the other mages flinch in shock."You don't realize what you're about to do…If you think that'll get you what you want, then you've got another thing coming! Sure, you can kill the guild masters at the conference, but what about the other guilds? You will be hunted down like the scum you are. That is if your plans even get close to the masters."

The boy's strident words made some of the opposing mages hesitate, glancing uneasily among themselves. Erigor snarled, however, his grip on his scythe tightening. "I don't want rights," he retorted spitefully, "I want _power!_ And thanks to this," he held up a drive, that everyone save Erza and Grey recognized, "I will lead the new age of the Dark Guilds! Too bad you won't be alive to see it."

He held the drive to his wrist and a mysterious slot appeared. He put it in his wrist and his bod began to metamorphosis. Dark fur replaced skin and blades grew out of his shoulder. His face became rat-like and grew large ears. Once completed, he looked like a rabid animal straight from hell. "In this form, I am Kamaitachi! But you can call me…your executioner!" he screeched, swinging his scythe back, **"Sickle Wind!"** With a cry, he slashed at the air, sending out multiple crescent-shaped blades of wind. Their target was Lucy, who looked scared out of her wits behind the group. That was, until Natsu jumped in and took the blow, but not knocking him down

Seeing the dragon slayer, Kamaitachi frowned. "That…No matter. You Fairy flies have fallen into my trap," he told them as he started to float and fly out of the room.

"Grey, Natsu Go after him! Make sure he can't leave! With the two of you working together nothing can stop you" Erza ordered. The two were about to argue but a glare silenced them and they sprinted after Erigor.

"Misty, stay here and help Erza!" Drew told the redhead. "Ash, let's go!"

"Right, come on Pikachu!"

The boys left the room, leaving the girls to stand against the large group in front of them. Erza turned to Misty and Lucy. '"Can you two fight?"

Lucy nodded and pulled out a key, this one for Cancer. **"Open Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"** A bell sounded and a tall figure popped out of the magic circle the key conjured up. It was a dark-skinned man with brown hair, a blue shirt, and grey pants. Out of his back were six crab legs and in his hands were scissors.

"Another battle, ebi? I am ready to cut down the competition, Ebi," he spoke in a quiet, deep tone.

Lucy looked at the other girls and had to laugh sheepishly. "Sorry, best I got at the moment."

Misty smirked as she removed her cloak, revealing her red bikini top and blue short shorts. "My only question is, can you keep up?" she asked her fellow redhead. She then spun her trident extended it. The mages were overcome with lust at the sight of Misty's body in such little clothing.

"Very well, let us take care of these scum," Erza told her holding out her hand. A magic circle appeared, followed by a sword handle, which she grabbed and pulled, leaving her with a weapon of her own. It was silver, about half the size of the scarlet haired woman and the guard had two white wings jutting out

"What do you think you flies are gonna do to us?" One man yelled as they charged towards the girls.

Erza smirked and with one swing, dozens of the mages were sent flying from one sword slash.

Misty used that distraction to run in towards another group. **"Aqua Jet!"** she yelled, going into a spin. Water jetted out behind her as she tore through the ranks like a bullet. At the end of her dash, she planted her foot on the ground and _pushed,_ _redirecting her velocity upwards_. She spun Lugia over her head until it became a blur, then pointed the three-pronged head towards the floor, intoning, **"Ice Shard!"** Multiple shards of ice of various sizes coalesced out of the air, all along and around her trident, then fired at attacking group, piercing numerous mages and Shadow Troopers, dispersing the latter. She landed and held up her hand, forming a large ball of water. **"Water Pulse!"**

The water crashed into troopers and slammed the mages into the walls, knocking them out.

Meanwhile, Erza made quick work of the ones attacking her, sending another wave flying with a swing of her blade. She dismissed her silver longsword and summoned a large lance that towered over her She swung it like a baseball bat, sending mages and troopers alike careening through the air; they couldn't even get near her. Then, summoning a pair of twin swords, she hacked through her opponents like butter.

Lucy watched in awe. "She's so fast with her weapons…how can she even switch so fast!?"

"It's her magic, Re-Quip!" Happy chimed in, "It's sorta like your celestial spirit magic. She can store weapons and armor in a magical subspace, then swap them out at will."

"That's amazing!" Lucy murmured, watching in awe.

Then some of the Eisenwald mages noticed Lucy and charged at her. Lucy turned to her spirit and pointed at them, with some hesitation. "Take them out with Style!"

Cancer was quick on the draw and with a few snips of his surprisingly sharp blades, he cut through both weapons and hair leaving them bald.

"My hair!"

"I look like a Kappa!"

Happy wasn't focusing on the fight, his focus was on the crab man. "Wow! Nice going crab man! You can't go wrong with crabs!

Cancer smiled. "Nice cut-ebi!"

Eventually, the mages collapsed in sheer shock. Misty landed next to Lucy. "Great job Lucy!"

The blonde rubbed her head bashfully. "That was no big deal!"

Erza smiled. "That was good. But still," she turned to regard the remaining mages and troopers, "There are so many, even after we've taken down soldiers and these shadow beasts… That means I have to take them all out at once!" A red magic circle formed underneath her and her body glowed, her armor being stripped off of her.

The Eisenwald guild members were lusting over Erza seemingly stripping, while Lucy watched in wonder. Happy spoke up. "Magic swordsmen can re-equip their weapons on the fly, but Erza goes one step further; she can combine that with magic armors she's acquired, giving her many different abilities. Her brand of magic is called 'The Knight.'"

Erza's body reappeared, clad in a particularly intimidating set of armor. Her top consisted of a metal bra that exposed her deep cleavage and left the tops of her generous breasts bare. Her legs were covered by an ankle-length skirt, under which were a set of metal leggings. Her arms were encased in a similar material that partially exposed her shoulders. On her back were two wings that looked like angel's wings. Finally, her hair was tied up by a hairband that left enough to cover her right eye.

" **Requip: Heaven's Wheel!"**

Lucy watched in awe at the transformation, while Misty raised an eyebrow. "Impressive," was all she said, while planting Lugia point up on the ground next to her.

Erza said nothing as she floated in the air. Multiple swords flashed into existence and began to revolve behind her back, forming twin rings of gleaming metal. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. "Dance, my swords! **CIRCLE SWORD!"** The blades shot in every direction, unerringly striking down all but two of the remaining mages, who were frozen to the ground. Then one of them charged at Erza, intent on taking her head off with his ax. A quick slash and he was out.

"T-there is no doubt about it!" the man left standing stammered in fear, "It's her! The Titania, 'Queen of the Fairies,' Erza Scarlet!"

Lucy's eyes sparkled. "Oh wow! I could fall for her!"

Deciding to run away, the remaining mage scrambled towards the other side of the train station.

Erza turned to the blonde girl. "Can you go after him?"

Lucy gulped and attempted to argue, but a glare from the redhead shut her up and sent her on her way. Erza sighed and dropped to a knee, panting. "Guess that Magic Mobile took more out of me than I thought..."

"Should've let Drew or Ash take over. They could have gotten us the rest of the way," Misty told her matter-of-factly.

"It's fine," Erza brushed off the criticism brusquely, "Come, we need to go after Erigor." She strode towards the entrance.

Following behind her, the younger redhead conjured up water from the melted ice and held it out to her. "I may not be Dawn when it comes to healing, but I can at least get rid of your fatigue."

The redheaded woman nodded and accepted the cooling water as they slowly went to the entrance.

In the bowels of the station

The boys were sprinting through the station. Natsu and Grey were arguing.

"I don't know why Erza sent you with me, Droopy-eyes, but I could have beaten these guys myself!" Natsu grumbled.

"I could say the say the same thing, lizard-breath!" Grey snapped.

"What'd you say?" Natsu growled.

"You heard me!"

"Both of you shut up!" Drew ordered snapping them out of their argument, "I want these guys found and stopped before anyone else gets hurt!" he yelled, "If you guys don't get along, then who knows what they could do."

Both of the mages seemed to register this and reluctantly pulled away. Natsu though looked at Drew. "Why are you so adamant about this?"

Drew looked away. "I…we've seen stuff like this before. And many innocent lives were taken. "

Natsu and Grey widened their eyes as Drew was brought into his memories.

_In Drew's mind_

" _If you're just joining us…yes, that is the North Tower of the World Trade Center! We're getting word that it was a plane that crashed into the tower!"_

_(Bzzt)_

" _A second plane has crashed into the South Tower…"_

" _We just got word that the Pentagon has been hit with some sort of explosive!"_

" _Four trains just exploded here in Madrid!"_

" _The South Tower has just collapsed. Oh my god!"_

" _Drew!"_

In the waking world

Drew snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Ash. "You alright?" He asked his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just some…bad memories."

Knowing which memories he was talking about, Ash dropped the subject. He looked up and saw a sign pointing towards an 'Old-line' and a 'New Line.' "Guess we need to split up," he commented.

"Right. Ash go with Natsu. Grey come with me," Drew ordered. He started going in the direction of the new line before he stopped. "These monsters need to be stopped. They put innocent lives at risk with this Lullaby, they need to be brought to justice. Good luck, you two," He told them as he and Grey took off.

Natsu and Ash headed down the other hallway. "Ash, what the hell is Drew so fired up for?" asked the pink-haired boy, "I mean, I get that Lullaby's bad, but…"

"It's not Lullaby itself, but what Eisenwald is doing. Where he came from, there was a massive attack on his homeland, near where he lived. It scared him, Tori and Gabby badly," Ash glumly replied.

For once, Natsu stayed silent as they searched for the Eisenwald mages.

Grey and Drew ran through the hallway they were assigned to, looking around the thin hallway/ They eventually came to the broadcast room.

"You think Lullaby is in there?" asked Grey.

"Probably," Ash replied, "If they want to broadcast it to kill people, this would be the best place to do it." They opened the door.

"Well, well. It's the Fairy Flies again!. The two mages were on their guard as a man in a bumblebee shirt descended from the ceiling. "I can't believe you guys chased me."

"Well, our hunch is correct," Drew said holding Leonid up.

"You fairy flies won't be going anywhere!" He yelled sending multiple metallic straps at the two. Drew though was smiling.

CLANG

In a blink of an eye, the straps were slashed clean through getting their opponent to freeze. This left him open for an attack from Grey. **"Ice-Make: Knuckle!"** he yelled, slamming the ground. Five icy beams fired upward from the point of impact, forming into a multitude of sharp, armored fists that smashed into and threw their opponent into the next room.

They approached the wall, glaring through the hole they'd made. "What are you doing here?" Drew demanded, "Why are you targeting the guild masters?"

The downed mage growled. "It doesn't matter…The Wind Wall should be complete by now."

"What Wind Wall?" asked Grey.

"Erigor's Wind Wall. It's to trap you Fairies so that the Shinigami can unleash Lullaby on the Guild Master's conference."

The two realized what this meant. They had to let the others know.

With Erza and Misty

The two had gotten to the roof of the train station, Misty having recovered her cloak. She demanded the station officials to giver a megaphone and went to the balcony.

"Listen up, Citizens of Oshibana Station! A Dark Guild has taken over the station and plans to use powerful magic. Please leave the area immediately!"

Erza's words seemed to resonate with the crowd because they panicked and fled the station grounds.

Misty sighed. "You think that was wise? Sending them into a panic?"

"It was better to make sure no one was killed," Erza replied. The wind started to pick up. They turned and their eyes widened as they saw a large tornado pick up and grow around the station.

Kamaitachi chuckled sinisterly. "Well, flies, I hope you're comfortable here because you're not going anywhere anytime soon!" He swung his scythe and the tornado grew even larger. "By the time you escape, the guild masters will all be dead! KYAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UO: Done, within a good time. I was asked by my beta Northsouthgorem to shorten the chapters and I obliged. As a result, Natsu's rider form will be revealed next chapter.  
> Kuro: And he's right.  
> UO: It was under 9K when I started to beta.  
> NS: Yeah, this was MUCH more manageable, errors/substandard writing notwithstanding.  
> Preview: With Erigor ready to unleash Lullaby, Team Natsu and the Riders must break free from their bindings. Will a new power help them stop Lullaby? Find out next time.  
> Next Time: The Fourth Guardian, Rise Draco.


	6. The Fourth Guardian, Rise Draco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Dire threat awakens a new Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOOSH  
> UO: Hey guys. (Sees the set destroyed and people moaning.) Damn it! What the hell?  
> Drew: Thank god you're here boss. Some of the mages got into the beer cabinets  
> UO: Oh god! Are they as bad as the OVA?  
> Drew: Yes.  
> NS: *perks up*  
> *They approach the group, where the girls are drunk off their asses.  
> UO: You guys seriously crossed the line. If anyone finds out you guys were drinking, I'm screwed.  
> Erza: SHUT UP! MORE BOOZE!  
> Lucy: Natsu~! Where’s my kitty cat~?  
> Levy: HAHAHAHA  
> UO: Where the heck are Ash and the others?  
> Ash: Hey guys we were just moving everyone to sleep off the hangovers  
> UO: Thanks. You guys are awesome. Uh where are the other guys?  
> Misty: Hiding. Not that I blame them, all of the girls were targeted them specifically. Who knows why?  
> UO: Right. One of you do the disclaimer  
> Misty: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling and Belt Noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 6: The Fourth Guardian, Rise Draco

When we last left Team Natsu, they were on the trail of the Dark Guild Eisenwald, who had obtained the dark artifact Lullaby in Oshibana Town. They planned to use the deadly music to kill the guild masters at the conference they were holding in Clover Town. Before they could pursue, they were trapped by Erigor's, Eisenwald's Ace's, spell Wind Wall which was powered by the Weasel drive he now possessed. Erza and Misty who had fought the majority of the guild off watched as he flew off towards the guild master's conference.

Erza sliced the Wind Wall with her sword several times trying to find a way through the wall. Misty even summoned ice in an effort to slow down the wind enough to break through. She growled as the ice pelted her skin.

Erza growled. "No use! We need to find another way out," She stomped over to the fallen Eisenwald members and lifted them up like a sack of potatoes in her impatience for answers.

Misty ran over and grabbed her shoulder. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Interrogating them for answers!" she replied gruffly.

"You do _not_ interrogate them by beating up already downed enemies like that!" Misty snapped.. Erza reluctantly dropped the member she was holding.

Drew and Grey caught up to them. "What's going on?" demanded Drew.

"Erigor used a spell to trap us in here,” Misty explained, “We’ll need to find a way to either remove the Wall or break through. Erza and I tried to hack our way through, but the winds are like a tornado."

He grunted with worry and looked at the wind outside. "Or a hurricane, considering we’re in the eye. We need to regroup with the others."

Grey spoke up. "Hold on. Who was the guy with Lullaby on the train?"

The sword-wielder narrowed his eyes and scanned the floor. "He's not here! Misty, was Erigor alone?"

At Misty's nod, he realized that Kageyama was still at the station. "We need to find them and the others."

"It’s possible that Kageyama could reverse the spell...Grey, Drew go find him now!"

Before Grey could protest, Erza shot him a look that brokered no argument. He immediately took off in a panic. Drew glared back at the knight, unintimidated by her look. Then he turned and went to catch up.

"You think that was a little harsh?" Misty asked.

"If I don't keep them in line they won't get anything done," was Erza’s only reply.

Misty shook her head, sighing. _‘If this is her way of keeping others in line, there’ll be issues. Especially May and Gabby,’_ she thought. But she said nothing, only falling behind the older woman while they looked for another way out.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Happy were searching through the station looking for one of Kageyama's guild mates.

"Oh man, where the heck is this guy? Actually where the heck are we?" Lucy complained.

"Aye!" Happy replied.

"Maybe we should head back to Erza," she suggested, thinking. Happy froze and panicked. The blonde gulped at Happy’s squeaking. "What's with the reaction?"

"E-Erza ordered us to go after him. Y-you must be brave to disobey her direct orders! I hope you survive what she has planned for you!"

Lucy gulped. "M-maybe I was a little too hasty," she stuttered, quickly returning to her searching.

Happy giggled and quietly murmured, “Lucy is gullible sometimes.” His laughter was cut short when he slammed into a hanging beam and crashed into the floor. He recovered with a groan, shaking his head, then flew after the blonde girl.

On the other side of the station, Natsu through the wall with reckless abandon, much to Ash’s shock and surprise. “Seriously, calm down Natsu!" Ash groaned, Pikachu agreeing with his partner. “And I thought what happened Hargeon was a one time thing…”

"No way! We're finding this guy! The best way is to go in a straight line!" Natsu barked, punching through another wall.

Ash sighed. Then he perked up as he detected something in his Aura. He held up his hand towards the wall. **"Thunderbolt!"**

Natsu yelped and ducked under the resulting electrical blast. “What the hell was that for?!” he barked, whirling around, only to stop when he heard a moan of pain. He turned to see a dark-furred, dog-like kaijuu, with a face like a Doberman’s . “Damn you Fairy pests! I almost had you!" snarled the monster.

Natsu pounded his fists, face twisted in a grimace himself. "Another one of those kaijuu freaks, huh? Alright, let's go!"

"I'm Shadow Ripper, you pesky fly! **Shadow Spike!"** With a roar, the kaijuu fired multiple dark needles from his hand.

Ash swore and held out his hand, shouting, **"Vine Whip!"** Two vines fired out of his wrists and wrapped around Natsu and pulled him out of the way. Pikachu leaped off his shoulder and transformed into his card while Ash pulled out his belt.

The Kaiju growled and swung his arms with a cry of, **"Shadow Whip!"** Shadowy tendrils shot out of the walls and launched themselves at the two boys. Ash quickly swiped his card through his belt and flipped the lever.

HENSHIN

**EVOLVE**

The shield expanded from the belt and deflected the attack. Then it slid back onto Ash, transforming him into Aura once more.

"Grr… little light show won't stop me, you know!" Ripper called out.

"We'll see about that!" Aura replied holding up a card showing Pikachu using Thunder. He swiped it over his belt.

**THUNDER**

The large bolt sped towards Ripper. The Kaijuu smiled and sank into the wall dodging the piercing blow. Aura growled and glanced over to Natsu. "Can you sniff him out?"

Natsu grinned and started sniffing. "On the right!"

Aura swiped a card through his belt. this one depicting his Sceptile firing off several bullet like projectiles.

**BULLET SEED**

Several fast moving projectiles struck the indicated wall, cracking it and causing it to fall down.

"Damn, he's a tricky one,” muttered Natsu, sniffing again, “Above us!"

Aura fired another set of bullets at the ceiling. Parts of the ceiling fell on both of them distracting both of them. Ripper used the distraction to get behind Aura.

"Look out!" Natsu cried out.

"You’re mine!" Ripper snarled, lashing out his arm to strike the armored warrior with his claws. But to his surprise, it was caught by Aura, who wasn’t even looking at his opponent. "What!?"

Aura grinned behind his mask. "To be honest, I didn't need Natsu's nose. I could sense you with my Aura. The way you were using your energy, it was like a flare. Now then…" Aura turned and twisted Rippers arm, while hold up his right. **"Force Palm!"**

Ripper was blasted into the wall, giving a cry of pain at the impact. Even as he slumped to the ground, dazed, Aura held up two cards in his hand. One was his Sceptile with glowing arms and the other Pikachu with his tail glowing. He poured more aura into the cards, then swiped them over the belt.

**IRON TAIL: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**LEAF BLADE: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: IRON BLADE**

Lighting crackled along the blade as Ripper stood up shakily. Aura charged and in one fluid motion bisected him, destroying the drive powering his opponent. He turned and sheathed Raikou. "Game over." Ripper roared and exploded in a dark fireball.. The smoke revealed Kageyama knocked out.

"Well that takes care of that," Aura said with satisfaction, powering down, "Alright, let's get back to the others…Oh, hey guys!"

Drew and Grey had showed up, the former smiling at his friend. "Taking care of business?" he asked.

"Yep, not even a close fight," Ash declared, pounding Drew's fist in greeting. As they separated, Drew glanced around, only for his eyes to widen; he fired off an attack over Ash’s shoulder, striking a spiky haired man emerging from the opposite wall. The angle of attack suggested to Drew that neither he nor Ash were the target, but possibly Kageyama, based on how the man’s back was towards them. The attacker fell to the ground, singed but still conscious.

The boy stalked over to him, a fireball still flickering in his hand with a stony look on his face. "Who are you? And what do you think you’re doing?"

The man groaned. "M-my name is Karacka…I was under orders to eliminate Kageyama! Please, d-don't hurt me!"

Natsu snarled, pounding his fists. "You bastard! You’d hurt your own guild mate?! I oughta kick your ass for that!" he roared.

Drew held him back. "No,” he told him firmly, “We need them to dispel the barrier. Grab Kage and let's go."

The pink-haired boy nodded reluctantly and grabbed Karacka, while Ash took Kageyama. A few minutes later, they returned to the lobby to discuss their next step. Ash looked at the swirling wind with more than a little trepidation. "Wow, when you said it was a hurricane, you weren't kidding,” he muttered to Drew, “Any ideas?"

"The first way would be to wait it out, but that would meant the masters would be in serious trouble." Drew then pointed to the sky. "Second would be to climb the tower and then fly out of the eye. But with seven people, I don't think our fliers can get over that."

Misty looked up, then down. "What about digging underground? Ash, do you have Gible?"

Ash grinned. But then his face morphed into confusion, before he facepalmed. "Gah, no…I didn't think to bring him." At Grey and Erza's looks, he explained, "Gible is one of my…summons if you will."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "There’s more that you're not telling us."

"When this mission is over, we’ll tell you everything. Heck, we'll tell the whole guild if we have to," Drew snapped. He looked at his friends, who looked like they were punched in the gut at their blatant breaking of their code. “The guild master already knows, so we should’ve seen this coming."

Natsu stared at Lucy, his brow creasing in thought. "Summons…? Lucy, what about summoning us through your Celestial Keys?"

Lucy shook her head. "They don't work like that. You're essentially asking me to send you to one world and then have them send you to another. That's a lot of magic and only celestial spirits could use their gates and only through their contracted mage."

Happy leaped up in excitement. "What about your new spirit? Can't she dig holes?"

Lucy gasped. "You're right Happy, Virgo could drill through the ground!" She pulled out her newest key. "I call upon thee, in the World of the Celestial Spirits! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the Gates… **Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"**

The familiar bell sounded and Virgo rose from the resulting magic circle. Her appearance was drastically different from when they first saw her. Instead of the gargantuan, brutish appearance she’d born before, she was now slightly shorter than Lucy; her eyes still held a vacant stare, but the cold distaste was now absent. She was younger now and dressed in a standard maid outfit, that fit her comfortably. Compared to when they first met the spirit, she was actually quite pretty.

"You summoned me, mistress?" Virgo asked coolly, hands clasped before her.

The group froze in surprise the 180 transformation the spirit pulled. Lucy moreso as she thought Virgo would still be that ape like maid now that she was out of Everlue’s control.

Natsu grinned energetically. "Wow Marco, you really slimmed down!

The pink-haired girl only bowed her head submissively. "I'm Virgo. My apologies for causing trouble previously, mistress."

Said mistress was currently more focused on something else. "Slimmed down…? More like a different person!"

"A different person? Seriously? I thought this is what Virgo was supposed to be like? Without the maid part," Drew wondered.

Virgo kept her even gaze focused solely on Lucy. "I'm a devoted celestial spirit. I can take whatever form my master desires.”

"Well I think your other form was more powerful!" Natsu opined.

"Is that so?" With a blast of smoke, she transformed back into her ape-like body freaking everyone out. "Then I'll use this form.

Lucy waved her arms. "No, go back to the other one! And don't listen to him, _I’m_ your master!" At the command, Virgo glowed returned to her original form and height. "Look, can we save the contract for later? We’re in a rush here!?"

"Of course mistress!" Virgo replied.

Lucy waved it off. "I don't like to be called mistress."

“What about Queen, or Milady?" asked the maid, glancing at the whip by the blonde’s hip, “Or would you prefer Momma?”

"No!"

"What about Princess?"

Lucy put her hand to her cheeks, blushing and averting her eyes. "Th-that's fine, I guess…" Off to the side Grey and Natsu were thinking the same thing. ' _How is she a princess?'_

Virgo nodded. "Very well." Her eyes glowed causing a brown circle to appear underneath her. In a flash, a huge hole appeared as she dug through the platform.

"Nice job Lucy." Erza said hugging the blonde to her armored chest causing her to gasp for air.

"Alright let's go guys!" Ash called out leaping into the hole.

"Wait!" Natsu called out. He had Kageyama slung over his shoulder. "Leaving him here to die leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Erza smiled. "Very well, come on!"

A few moments later, they were on the other side of the Wind Wall. But even outside the eye, the wind was considerable. "This wind is insane!" Lucy called out, trying to keep her skirt down.

"Princess, your underwear is showing!" Virgo deadpanned loudly, holding down Lucy’s skirt. However, in the process that left her long skirt to billow freely in the gale, directly in Grey’s view.

“Huh. Pink.”

"Erza, where’s the 4-wheeler?" Misty shouted.

"It doesn't matter," Kageyama moaned, "You’re too late! Erigor should be there soon."

"We'll see about that," Drew retorted, pulling out a red and white ball. "Let's ride, Flygon!" A green serpentine dragon with with red bug like eyes and a spiked tail appeared in a white flash with a cry.

Ash saw Flygon and thinking of the same idea, pulled out the card with his flying type. "Staraptor, I choose you!" A large black and brown bird flashed next to them to them looking ready for a fight.

Both boys climbed onto their mounts, while Misty joined Ash on Staraptor.

Lucy looked around, suddenly noticing that their party was minus one. "Hey, where's Natsu?"

Everyone glanced around and saw no sign of either him or Happy. "That idiot! He went after Erigor!" Drew groaned, "Flygon, Double Time!"

"Staraptor, max speed! Let's go!"

The three took off at their pokemon’s max speed. Those on the ground immediately went to the 4-wheeler to chase them.

Kamaitachi was flying along the canyon, following the only tracks into Clover Town.

"Just a little more and you old geezers are history," the weasel hissed as he approached the town. He heard a shout and looked behind him, only to see Natsu flying at him and holding onto Happy, both with angry faces.

"This is Happy at Max Speed!" Natsu shouted. They closed the distance in a pink and blue blur and before Kamaitachi could react, Natsu headbutted him in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. Both groups crashed into the train tracks below, the wind mage from losing control of his magic and Happy from running out of power.

Natsu landed and caught the blue cat, who looked like very tired. "N-Natsu, I'm so tired…” he croaked, “I can't go on."

"You did great, Happy! Now I can kick this guy's butt," Natsu told his buddy firmly, grinning bracingly.

Weasel snarled at him. "You're that pathetic Fairy Tail member from before! What the hell are you doing out here?"

Natsu responded by igniting his fists, turning to fix his opponent with a dark glare. "I'm here to beat you, ya breezy bastard!

With Erza, Grey and Lucy

The three mages, plus Kageyama, sped along the train tracks in silence.

Kageyama spoke up after a few moments. "...Why did you bring me?” he asked dully, “You should have left me to die.”

Lucy was having none of it. "Hey, don't be like that. The town was evacuated, so we’re taking you to a doctor in Clover Town. Show some gratitude!"

"No,” the man grunted, “We’re enemies. Why are you helping me?" he asked the blonde directly. After some silence, Kageyama spoke again, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Ah, so I'm your hostage in hopes of cutting a deal with Erigor. Forget it; I already failed and Erigor sent Karacka to kill me He's as cold as they come.”

Lucy sighed at his depressing demeanor. Then Grey cut in harshly, "If you want to die, we’ll be more than happy to help you with that." Ignoring the blonde’s protest, he continued, "The world isn't all about life and death. There’re things to life that make it worth having. Like family, or even a guild- a _real_ guild, that could support you, whatever the cause.

Those words seemed to strike a chord with Kageyama; he fell silent and looked away, suddenly unable to look any of them in the eye. Then the vehicle hit a bump causing them to rise out of their seats and get scattered around. Lucy had the unfortunate luck of landing on Kageyama’s face.

"Geez, could your butt be any bigger?" he snarked at Lucy.

Lucy shrieked in shock and embarrassment. "Sexual harassment! Grey, kill him!"

But the ice mage only shook his head and said, "Don't make my advice go to waste." He looked outside. "Erza, you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. But one look at her and it was easy to tell that she was on her last legs, with bags under her eyes.

' _My vision is…fading. I must’ve…used more magic that I thought. Natsu…stop Erigor!"_

With Natsu

"Bring it on! I'll destroy you and that stupid flute!" Natsu boasted.

Weasel tsked. "So, you beat the Wind Wall! I'll just have to destroy you here! **Burst Gust!"** He fired a large blast of wind from his palm. The dragon slayer propelled himself, using his flames like boosters to shoot into the air and drilled his best punch into the monster’s stomach. His punch had little effect on the kaijuu. Weasel struck back only for his scythe to be deflected away.

"No way. He uses fire magic to jump and attack? And his strength. It's unreal! What type of mage is he?"

Natsu growled as he watched his opponent fly. "Damn it! Your flying, that's not fair! Get Down here and fight me!"

Weasel snarled. "Don't get cocky fly! **Storm Bringer!"** He roared and swung his scythe, sending out a screeching wave of air. It twisted together, swirling and sucking in the atmosphere to form a distinctive funnel on the tracks and stretching into the sky. The winds were so strong that Natsu was lifted off the ground and sent flying helplessly.

Happy saw this from where he lay on the ground and panicked. "Natsu!" he cried. The cat tried to summon his wings, but the magic would not respond. "I'm sorry…I don't have enough magic.” As he watched, the tornado grew even larger, carrying Natsu to the top and spitting him out. Happy gasped in muted horror as his friend fell into the canyon below..

Weasel laughed. "So ends a pathetic fly. I highly doubt your magic can save you from oblivion." He heard a bird cawing and looked up to see two flying creatures flying at high speed towards him. The two landed and Drew, Misty and Ash jumped off Flygon and Staraptor respectively. Misty walked over to Happy to check on him while the boys got ready to fight.

"Finally caught up to you, Erigor," Drew announced seriously, pulling out Leonid.

Weasel sneered. "Well now, more flies to squash. When I'm done with you, you'll be joining your friend!"

Drew gasped and ran to the side of the bridge, looking over the side to spot Happy. "Happy, what happened?!"

"He…he used a huge wind spell and Natsu got blown off! I'm sorry!" the cat cried out, looking despondent.

"It’ll be alright. Just relax, alright Happy?" Misty assured him, settling Happy on the ground. The red head's eyes hardened and she joined the two boys reaching into her shorts for her belt.

At the same time, with Natsu falling

Natsu struggled to figure out a way to arrest his fall. "Oh crap, this isn't good! What do I do?" Even as he spoke, his body crashed into several rock pillars, forming several bumps on his head. "Ow…" he moaned, cradling his pounding skull. Flashes of his friends past through his mind. "Gramps, Erza, Stripper, Lucy…” He blearily opened his eyes and reached out his hand.

His heart started to beat. "No…I can't die here!" Another heartbeat, this time seeming to resonate throughout the canyon. The Earth Citrine around his neck started to glow. "If I fall here…then I’ll let everyone down! I won't die here! I am a Fairy Tail Mage and _I won't let down my family!"_

As he roared out those words, he started to glow. His body slowed to a halt. Then he started to rise, drifting up and out of the canyon.

On the tracks, Drew, Misty and Ash were getting primed to fight Kamaitachi.

"You think you can beat me? I already beat your friend you puny flies. He's dead as you soon will be!"

Before the mages could respond, a light started to pulse from each of them; a blue light for Misty, a yellow light for Ash and a red one for Drew.

They all looked down at their own gems. "What's going on?" asked Ash.

"Our gems, they're glowing!" Misty gasped in surprise.

"The only reason they glow…is if another Guardian has awoken their powers!" Drew realized. A quick glance over to his right revealed a light glowing beneath the clouds.

Weasel snarled. "What's with the light show? What are you flies doing?"

Drew turned to regard the kaijuu and smirked. "That light show means you didn't do a very good job living up to your nickname."

As he said this a ball of light shot up from the canyon floor and droppedin front of them. The light died down to reveal Natsu, grinning like a madman. He stood up, showing that he now bore several rings on a lanyard on his right hip and a buckle shaped like a hand in the middle of his waist.

The dragon slayer grinned, his gem glowing brightly. "I'm back for round two, you bastard! This time I got some new tricks up my sleeve!" He took two rings from his waist, one matching the hand on his waist, the other with what looked like a red gem. He slid the first ring onto his right middle finger and held it over his waist.

**DRIVER ON! PLEASE~!**

A metallic belt formed around his waist, with the same black and red hand in the middle, with two levers on either side. He flipped one of the levers so that that the hand faced his right.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN~!**

The belt kept repeating the phrase Natsu held up his left hand and flipped down a visor on the ring. Natsu clenched his fist and shouted out a word that sounded familiar to him.

“HENSHIN!”

He waved his ringed hand over the belt.

**FLAME! PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI! (** **火** **)**

The dragon slayer held up his hand as a red magic circle appeared on his left. The circle passed over him, leaving him in skin tight armor. His legs and arms were in clad in a dark brown material while his chest was covered in red. His helmet was a brownish red that looked reptilian, much like the ring he’d used and on his back was a dark brown cape.

Natsu grinned and pointed at Weasel. "The Draconic Prince of the Earth, Kamen Rider Draco, is ready to kick your ass! It's Showtime!"

Those who witnessed his transformation had multiple reactions. For the three Guardians, their reaction was one of pride and acknowledgement.

"So Natsu’s one of us now!" Ash gasped in amazement, Pikachu squeaking in agreement.

"A dragon name for a dragon slayer. How fitting," Misty grinned.

"Well now we have four Guardians. Great! Now we have to tell the guild. But for now, Natsu this is your show," Drew thought aloud.

As Natsu was transforming, his friends had showed up. Upon seeing them, their reactions were varied. Lucy's eyes were wide in wonder. "Natsu…” she breathed, “You're a Kamen Rider! That’s so cool!"

Grey frowned. "What with this power flame brain's got?” ' _And for that matter why are Drew, Misty and Ash so calm about his transformation?'_ He thought.

Erza though narrowed her eyes. ' _This power…where did it come from?'_ She turned her head to regard the three mages. ' _They aren't surprised to see him in that armor. I want answers from them! soon'_

Weasel snarled. "I don't care if you changed your clothes, you're going to be clipped Fairies one way or another."

Draco grinned and pressed the lever to flip it to his left.. He placed a ring on his right hand and held it to the belt.

**CONNECT! Please~!**

The ring summoned a brown magic circle, which the rider reached into. He withdrew a large axe that easily reached his shoulders; the two blades combined were as big as his head. The handle was about the length of his arm and to Drew's eyes had some very familiar mechanisms.

"Huh? I wonder what I could do with this?" Draco wondered aloud.

"Try channeling your magic through it!" Drew called out.

Draco did what he was told and saw his fire surround the axe. "Nice!" He flipped it around and charged forward. **"Fire Dragon's Axe Strike!"** he roared. His axe glowing with his fire, he powered his way towards Kamaitachi, using his his flames to propel him through Erigor’s wind spell.

 **"Storm Wall!"** the Kaijuu yelled, summoning a wide wall of slicing wind in front of him, only to panic when the Rider blasted through the fast winds. Draco drilled into Kamaitachi’s stomach, the strike forcing him to the ground. "Gh-hah!” he gasped, “You're…stronger than I thought. I guess I should stop holding back!" He held up his hand and the wind began to pick up. **"Storm Mail!"** The wind created a set of armor around him, blocking Draco's line of sight.

The Kamen Rider planted his axe and pounded his fists, igniting them. **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"** He threw a punch, only to be met with the Weasel's own fist. After a few moments, his fist fizzled out to his shock.

Kamaitachi threw back his rodent-like head and laughed. "As I thought…your armor can't overpower my wind! Kyaakyakya~!"

Draco landed and pounded the tracks in frustration. "Damn it! This armor’s supposed to give me power, so why can't I beat him?!" As he roared, his magic flared wildly, making the tracks beneath him glow and deform.

Weasel looked worried as the heat increased, inadvertently taking a step back. "Flames powered by emotion?” he muttered, suddenly uneasy, “I've heard of a magic like that…but could this kid really have it?" He then noticed his wind being pulled towards Natsu and sucked into his tower of flames. "What!? My wind!”

Ash and Drew, the closest to the battle, felt the heat of Natsu’s rage the most. "Damn it Natsu need to calm down!" Drew told Ash.

Ash squinted at Draco. Then he had an idea from observing storms on Earth. "Wait a minute, hot air causes updrafts. Wind goes towards areas of low pressure. He needs to increase the heat!"

"Question is how?" Drew responded.

"Natsu!" Happy called out. Draco whipped to fix the cat with a heated glare, his armor still steaming somewhat and his shoulders trembling slightly with fury. "Give up,” the cat told him bluntly, “Grey and Erza will defeat them."

Instantly, the flames stopped. Everyone on the bridge looked at Happy, stunned that the feline would say something so provocative at such a time. Drew looked ready to kill the cat and Misty didn’t seem far behind. Fortunately for Happy, both murderous rampages stopped dead as the temperature suddenly _spiked._

"THE FUCK YOU SAY?" Draco bellowed, throwing his head back and _howling_ with rage. The flames burst back into existence, now so hot that even those far away effected by the heat. The Storm Mail that surrounded Kamaitachi was sucked into the flames, boosting the flames intensity.

"No, my Storm Mail!" he shouted.

Draco paid no attention to his opponent’s despair. He formed a large column of flames in his hand and charged towards his opponent. **“Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"** the Kamen Rider cried, swinging the tall flames and striking Kamaitachi in the stomach. There was a great flash and an explosion of heat and sound.

“GYAAAAAAAARGH!” With a boom, the sword of fire blasted the Kaiju into the air, its body sparking like mad and looking like it got run over by a tank.

"Finale Time!" Draco shouted, flipping the hand on his belt twice and pulling out another ring. He placed it on his finger and held it to his waist.

**VERY NICE! FINISH STRIKE!**

He grabbed his axe and swung it around, his magic making the bronze axe glow. Then he tossed it high into the air, higher than his stunned opponent. He then leaped up into the air to catch it, doing a front flip in the process. **"Fire Dragon's Heavenly Cleave!" **He brought his axe down and slashed through Kamaitachi, destroying the drive in his neck. Draco landed with a flourish, his axe over his shoulders. "Heh, guess I was too much for ya!" He looked behind him and saw Erigor knocked out and embedded in the tracks.

"Natsu!" Happy called out. He flew over to the dragon slayer, landing next to him and waving his paws excitedly, "You were so awesome!"

"I was. But, I thought I heard someone say that Erza and Grey could handle it better," Draco growled.

The cat looked away and played the dumb cat role. "Cats have short memories, so I dunno what you're talking about."

Draco grunted disbelievingly, decided to leave it be as the others approached him.

"That was amazing, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed in awe.

"Yes. Your power was truly magnificent, to let you take down Erigor," Erza praised him.

Grey scoffed, but admitted, "Yeah, all that bluster was good for something.

Draco laughed good heartedly. "Thanks guys!" Then he turned to the other three. "So, I guess I’m one of you now, huh?"

"You'll get used to it,” Ash told him, nodding, “But suffice to say, this is a great opportunity."

"That said, do you know how to power down?" Misty asked. When Draco shook his head they went about trying to power him down,

Drew looked over at Erigor with a frown. He strode over to the downed mage, fixing him with a hostile glare "Erigor…the power you crave and the freedom you desire comes with a price. And today, your price is what freedom you had _and_ your power.” He turned to look out across the canyon. “I've seen people like you kill for less, innocent people even. All for what? Because they think they can _scare_ people into compliance.” His fist clenched tightly. “Four years ago I watched, helpless, while my country was attacked by those who hated our freedom. But when you attack a country, you don't divide them, you unite them. You _give them something to hate._ Your plans were always going to fail, whether it was because of us or someone else. Let this be a lesson: people will find a way to win, no matter how much you beat them down.”

While Drew lectured Erigor, Kageyama looked on in shock. "I-Impossible! Erigor lost? He never loses!" he stuttered out, "Who…are these people?" He glanced behind his fallen guild master, only to notice the Lullaby flute lying forgotten on the ground. With the others more concerned about this armored mage, he made a split-second decision.

Drew finally found Draco's deactivation switch, bringing Natsu back to the fore. "Not bad for your first battle as a Rider. Any questions?"

"I got the basics from this girl, Tsuki,” Natsu told him, “She seemed to know a lot."

"Ah, that sister of mine. She always knows what to say," Drew said fondly. At the others’ looks, Drew rubbed his head sheepishly. "Tsuki is my... adopted sister. She’s the one that gave us our belts. If there’s one person we all answer to, it’s her. I promise once we get back to the guild we will reveal everything."

Erza nodded accepting that proposal. "Very well. Now let us go on to Clover Town and tell the guild masters what happened. We can ask them what to do with the flute."

Lucy smiled. "Can't believe we did so well on our first mission as a team."

Before they could start walking, the four-wheeler behind them took off and jumped over them. They spotted Kageyama grinning like a madman as he used his shadow magic to grab the flute.

"You let your guard done you flies! Lullaby is mine!" he yelled out, laughing maniacally.

Everyone watched him drive away in shock. Natsu recovered first. "That jerk! How dare he do this to us?!"

"And after we saved him, too!" Lucy growled.

Drew facepalmed. "I knew that was going to happen because Lucy decided to open her mouth. Never assume it's over, ‘cause now we have two problems. Firstly, Kageyama has the flute and he's going to use it when he gets to the town."

"What's the second?" asked Grey.

At that moment, Natsu started to look unsteady on his feet. Then he fell onto the tracks, Lucy and Happy started to panic before rushing to rouse him. Drew sighed and rubbed his eyes not even looking as he pointed his thumb at collapsed dragon slayer. "That. First time users of the Rider belts get overwhelmed by the power influx and typically get knocked out afterwards. We need to go now!"

They ran over to Flygon and Staraptor, who had remained. Ash had Erza and Grey on his bird, while Lucy grabbed Natsu and helped him onto the green dragon. Misty also rode with them in an effort to get his energy back and make him ready for any fight. The two flying Pokémon flew towards the town, hoping to reach it in time.

Clover Town, Guild Master's Conference Hall: 8PM

Kageyama trudged through the woods, Lullaby clenched in his hands. He stopped in front of a red two story building where he knew where the guild masters were staying.

"Heh, they should be able to hear it from here! Finally, it’s time to end these old geezers." He grinned. He was about to start playing when he heard some giggling. Panicking, he turned to see a short man with the Fairy Tail emblem on his shirt reading Sorcerer's weekly.

"Hehehe, these girls are so beautiful! Wizards today are amazing inside and out! Glamor shots are the best!" Makarov gushed, before gaping in realization, "No no no! There’s no time for this! The others are waiting!" He turned and yelped, seeing the younger mage. He tried to explain himself. "Th-this is for research! Nothing more!”

Kageyama forced a smile. "You don't need to make excuses." At the same time, he also thought, ‘ _This is Master Makarov of Fairy Tail! How do I keep running into those flies? Wait a minute; I could use this to my advantage!'_

Then Makarov saw Kageyama's condition. "What are you doing wandering out here all bandaged up?"

The shadow mage only shrugged. "Oh, er, I only came out here to play my flute. They don't allow them in the hospital. Would you like to hear a song?"

Makarov looked at him with a mild frown. "Very well, One song,” the old man said, walking over to a stump.

Kageyama nodded and brought the flute to his mouth, grinning all the while. _'We win.'_

But, just before he could blow, the words of his guild members and guild master drifted through his head.

' _Legitimate guilds are nothing but a joke!'_

' _For people with so little skill, they act so big!'_

' _This is revenge for the rest of the magic world that imprisoned us in darkness and took away our lives!'_

Then those thoughts were overwhelmed by those of the Fairy Tail mages he encountered.

' _That won't give you your rights back!'_

' _You should live a little in the light not just darkness!'_

' _You would kill your own guild mate?'_

Kageyama hesitated.

Above them, Team Natsu reached a ridge overlooking where Makarov stood. "There he is!" Ash called out.

"Gramps/Master!" Team Natsu cried out.

"Shh!" hissed an effeminate bald man in a blue dress and wings. His appearance freaked everyone out especially Grey and Natsu. "Don't be so hasty. It’s about to get good!" Then he noticed Natsu and Grey. "Oh my! You two are so cute! You’re just my type~"

Lucy looked to Erza, confusion gracing her features. "Who’s that?"

"That’s Bob, guild master of Blue Pegasus," Erza told her. Lucy looked shocked that such a weird and effeminate man was a guild master.

Master Bob noticed the redhead and gushed. "Oh Erza, you've grown so beautiful!"

Meanwhile, Drew had set up on the ridge and pulled out Brave. Placing his arm under the gun to steady it, he lined up the crosshairs to hit Lullaby. "You got the shot?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, but I’ve also got a chance to hit Makarov in the head. Can’t risk it!" he replied shortly. He moved his arm around and then settled into a position and pulled the hammer back. "Alright I just need one second on the head of that flute."

"Why would you do that?" A laid back voice asked. They glanced to see a blonde man with a wizard's hat, glasses and a dog collar.

Lucy recognized him quickly. "Master Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus!" she gasped

Goldmine grinned. "Just be quiet and watch. It's getting good!"

On the ground, Makarov stared into Kageyama's soul. "Well?"

The shadow mage continued to struggle to bring the flute to his lips. After a few moments, Makarov sighed. "Nothing will change."

Kageyama froze and stared at the short man in confusion.

(Play Fairy Tail theme)

"Weakness is weakness, nothing will change that. By nature, humans are weak creatures. But it’s not really bad. People's insecurities are why guilds exist. Why comrades exist." Images of the last couple of weeks flashed through Makarov’s mind. "They come together and move forward together, in life and in everything. If you're clumsy, you will run into more obstacles and take the find the strength to stand on your own. You will be able to smile and live to the fullest. You don't need a special flute to prove that."

The wind blew through the clearing for a few moments. Then Kageyama, his grip tightening on the flute, hurled it to the ground. "I give up!" he cried, face screwed up in anguish.

The observers sighed in relief, none more so than Drew, who reset the hammer and put his gun away.

Everyone ran up to him, shouting for joy. Erza was the first one to get there and hugged Makarov to her chest, choking him. "Your words were so amazing Master!"

The mages were so distracted by conversing with Makarov that they forgot all about the flute. Suddenly, a dark mist seeped from the abandoned instrument and began to rise above the trees. The mages saw the mist expand and started to move away as the mist started to thicken and coalesce.

"I can no longer hold myself back!” a sinister voice cried out, “I'll devour you all!" The mist finished growing and taking shape revealing a seventy foot, tree-like monster with three eyes and a trio of large, curved horns.

"It's huge!" Lucy gasped.

"What the heck is that?!" asked Ash incredulously.

"It’s Lullaby, given a true form,” Goldmine answered, gazing upon the monstrosity with a mix of awe and dread, “This is living magic! There’s no doubt about it, this is an object of the ancient dark mage, Zeref!"

"Zeref? Who’s that?" Misty demanded backing away

"The darkest mage to have ever graced this world,” Bob replied this time, his flamboyant mannerisms absent, “There are a host of other magical items in this world and now a creation of his has taken form.”

The monster lowered itself to the ground. "Now, who should I devour first?" it asked darkly.

Drew sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a megazord right about now!"

Ash glanced at him with a smirk. "Well, what about some power armor?"

Drew shrugged. "That’ll work," he said, throwing off his cloak and pulling out his phone.

Erza turned to the others barked out an order. "Grey, Natsu go help evacuate the others! Lucy, help them.”

"No," Drew told her, stopping her in her tracks. "Natsu, you stay; Grey, Lucy go take care of the guild masters." At Erza's frown, he smiled. "One Rider is good, but four? That would be plenty.”

Natsu widened his eyes. "Really?" He looked at Ash and Misty, who nodded along with Drew. "Alright then, I'm fired up!" he yelled, pulling out his rings. Instead of the red ring, he grabbed a yellow ring further down the belt. Ash and Misty threw off their cloaks and pulled out their belts.

Lullaby roared and turned to see an army approaching from the west. He opened his mouth fired a large beam at a mountain in the distance. The blast hit the mountain and exploded, disintegrating it. Even from so far away, the shockwave scared the army into retreating. He then turned back to the mages, three eyes narrowing. "In that case, I'll just devour you all!" he roared. The residual magic from the blast shaped themselves into a group of several shadowy figures that hissed in hunger.

Drew grinned. "Sounds like a party. Ready, guys?"

Ash and Misty smiled. Natsu and Erza nodded. Drew grinned and then spun his phone. Then he pressed the Leo button.

**STANDBY: LEO**

Ash and Misty inserted their cards, getting into their stances. Natsu meanwhile activated his belt,

**DRIVER ON! Please~!**

Then flipped it to its proper position.

**SHABADOOBIE! Touch to Henshin~!**

As one they shouted:

“HENSHIN!”

**COMPLETE**

**EVOLVE**

**LAND! Please~~! Dododo Dododon, Don Dododon**!

The four transformed into their Rider forms. Natsu's armor, instead of ruby red like his first transformation was yellow like the element he was the Guardian for.

The shadowy figures charged at the Riders and Erza. The redheaded woman led the charge, swinging wildly through the army with her sword. She shot into the air and quickly summoned her magic. **“Re-Quip: Heaven's Wheel!”** Clad in her silver, winged armor, she raced towards Lullaby with the intent to cut it to pieces.

On the ground, Aura stabbed through an armored soldier and bisected him. Not even flinching, he spun around and decapitated two others. Backing off for a second, he reached into his deck case and pulled out two cards. The first one depicted his Snorlax doing his Body slam, which he scanned and then leaped into the air. The second card was of his Staraptor using Aerial Ace.

**BODY SLAM**

He crashed into the ground, his legs glowing with power. Any soldiers that weren't crushed beneath him were instead sent flying into the air. Aura grinned and scanned the other card.

**AERIAL ACE**

He sliced through his stunned opponent in a blink of an eye before landing with a crouch and flicked his sword. The troopers opposing them were disintegrated in almost an instant. He turned to see the monster trying to swipe Erza out of the air. He quickly ran to help her, sending lightning bolts straight at Lullaby's legs.

Triton was ducking and weaving through the crowd stabbing several opponents as she passed by.. Firing off a Water Pulse to get some distance, she lept up, pulled out a card of her Starmie and scanned it.

**SWIFT**

Pointing Lugia down, she swung it right to left, the head leaving a trail of stars. The shooting stars exploded on impact, destroying those in the blast radius. The stragglers were easily stabbed and disintegrated from the blows.. Triton observed the large monster and used her Aqua Jet to propel her into the fight.

Draco and Zodiac were cutting through their opposition with relative ease. Draco rose his axe and struck the ground causing it to shake. This left several troopers stunned enough for Zodiac to blast them out of the air. The Earth Rider grinned. "This Axe is awesome! I can't wait to fight Gildarts with this!" he shouted with glee. As he hefted the axe, he noticed something on the handle. He touched it and the thing wobbled, like it was meant to move somehow. He pulled it down, getting a distinct click that Zodiac recognized.

"What was that?" he asked cautiously.

“Hm?” Turning, Draco pointed the axe in Zodiac’s general direction. "Uh…I saw this thing on the axe and it made a clicking sound. Uh, what should I do?”

Zodiac growled and stormed over. "First off, don't point that at me!" he barked, shoving it out his face. In the process, Draco's finger accidentally brushed a small lever near the base of the axe. A bolt of fire blasted out and tore a hole through three troopers attempting to flank the two. Zodiac noticed, growled and turned to the dragon slayer. "Give me that!" he demanded. Draco gulped and did as he was told. "Watch me!" he told him, "Pump!" He pulled the mechanism back. "Point!" He aimed at two more opponents approaching him. "Shoot!" He pulled the trigger and destroyed two more troopers. He repeated the mantra and took out two more. "Got it? Don't point the gun at your allies! We'll practice back at the guild. Now let's finish this and end this song!"

Draco nodded and, taking back the weapon, fired a couple more shots before adjusting his grip and charging in. Once the small monsters had been cleared out, everyone directed their attention to Lullaby. Erza focused on attacking with her swords as she flew near the arms.

 **"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"** Draco swung his arms and flung two streams of fire like dragon's wings soaring towards Lullaby.

Zodiac fired multiple rounds into the monster’s legs, while Aura and Triton combined their water and lighting attacks and striking the chest.

Lucy watched them in awe. "They are amazing. All of them are in sync with each other. It's hard to believe this is their first fight together!"

"Aye! This is what Fairy Tail is about!" Happy chirped.

Lullaby roared, swiping at the insect-sized mages in a futile effort to strike them down.He roared causing a magic circle to appear above his mouth.

Happy and Lucy gasped. "Oh no! Lullaby’s about to use its song!" The blonde cried out.

As he sucked in energy, the trees and grass around them withered and died as the life was drained out of them.

"The Plant life! Its being sucked away!" Lucy shouted.

"Your souls will be mine!" Lullaby roared. He then blew out the air he’d stored up to sing its melody. What it got was a short, tiny whistle, issuing from holes that had been punched throughout its body.

"What!?" Lucy gasped.

Lullaby was likewise shocked, trying to whistle out of the holes in its body. "W-what happened?” it croaked, “Where did my beautiful sound go?"

Kageyama spoke up. "I get it. All those holes…"

"The holes messed up the sound. Now it’s just tone deaf," Lucy, sighed, fixing it with a pitying deadpan, "All that build up for a dud."

Lullaby snapped in rage. "To hell with this!" he yelled, kicking the ground and nearly sending the guild masters flying. He then puffed up and fired of a large stream of flames at them.

Grey quickly jumped in front of them and put his hands to gather magic. **"Ice Make: Shield!"** he cried. He slammed his fist into the ground. Ice spread from the point of impact, forming up into a curved, thick wall that deflected the flames. At the sight of the fire, Draco’s mouthpiece slid open, the blaze funneling into it.

"Oh man! That was great! Let's finish this!" Draco called out as he flipped the hand on his waist and picked up the ring for his finisher.

**VERY NICE! FINISH STRIKE!**

"Right!" Zodiac called out pressing the Leo Button and resetting his phone

**STANDBY LEO: FINISHER**

"Let's do this!" Aura shouted holding up his cards and charging them up.

**THUNDER: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**LEAF BLADE: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: LIGHTNING BLADE**

"Time for its last performance!" Triton called out holding out her two cards.

**AQUA JET: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**HYDRO PUMP: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: HYDRO DRILL**

**SUPER COMBO: FOUR ELEMENT CRASH**

The four Riders glowed brightly with energy: Draco brown like the Earth, Triton blue like the Water, Aura yellow like Lightning and Zodiac red like Fire. Lullaby roared as Erza transformed into a skimpy black armor and struck its face with her sword. Zodiac and Aura flew up first and crisscrossed their strikes.Triton followed and drilled through where the slashes met.

Draco propelled himself high above Lullaby, igniting two large flames in his hands. **"Fire Dragon's Earthen Flame!"** Smashing them together, he formed an enormous sphere of flames and the flung it at Lullaby. The monster roared as the flames crashed down upon it, screaming as its bark-like body cracked, charred, and then crumbled away, falling to ashes. Draco landed next to his fellow guardians as they posed in the aftermath of the destruction.

Happy watched them pose in awe. "They were amazing! Great job Natsu!"

Lucy nodded dumbly. "Yeah. It was…" She trailed off as they turned around. She could have sworn that the four walking towards her were some kind of kings and queen as they confidently walked away from a victory. They stopped in front of Makarov and powered down. "I think that shows what we can do, Master Makarov,” Drew boasted.

The old man nodded, chuckling. "Yes, indeed. You did well! Your powers were very strong.” He turned to Natsu, who had started gloating at Grey. "Natsu!"

The dragon slayer perked up. "Yeah, gramps?"

The master cleared his throat. "You, my boy showed great strength. I trust you know that this power should not be taken likely."

Ash smiled and patted Natsu on the shoulder. "If he doesn't, we are going to make sure of that. He's going to get specialized training especially for his weapon."

Makarov nodded and was about to go talk to Erza, when Misty pointed something out. "Uh, guys? Wasn't there a conference hall here?"

They all turned to see a crater where the conference hall stood.

Makarov turned robotically towards them. "You. Reckless. _Brats!_ Wait until we get back to the guild, you kids are in so much trouble!"

As Natsu pleaded with Makarov, his fellow Guardians sighed. "Why do I get the feeling this will be a common occurrence?" Ash asked.

"Just one more thing to work on I suppose," Drew deadpanned.

"And here I thought we were finished with reckless stunts," Misty said rubbing her forehead.

They watched as Makarov tore into their new member, knowing that with him around life wouldn't be dull anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter  
> UO: Alright then, a decent length chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.  
> New Riders.  
> Draco: The Dragon. Natsu's determination has awoken his powers as the Earth Guardian and his new armor. His rider name Draco is reference to the constellation Draco the Dragon. One of the few constellations that can be seen year round, one of its stars Thuban used to be the pole star in ancient times, that designation now belonging Polaris. It was used to align the pyramids.  
> His rider armor is based off of Kamen Rider Wizard. His element of Earth is because of my original intent for this story. I had another series for the second book and the Earth Guardian choice was because of that. With Drew as the Fire element, Earth was the next choice.  
> Preview  
> As Fairy Tail learns about their new guild members, a simple mission into the desert reveals a growing threat that could spell disaster for Fiore. What is it? Find out!  
> Next time: A Danger to all: A Growing threat.  
> NS: Will do! Btw please check out my new Boku no Hero/Psyren cross, if you don’t mind.  
> One last thing, I have a Forum to discuss future ideas. Its on the Writer's United Forum under UnitedOsprey1991 ideas and discussions.  
> OSPREY...SWOOOSH


	7. A Growing Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat emerges as new weapons make themselves known

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOOSH  
> UO: (Storms in and sees destroyed set) GOD DAMN IT! NORA!?!?!?!  
> Nora: Yes boss?  
> UO: What the hell happened?  
> Ash: Believe it or not it wasn’t her fault. Natsu challenged her to use her powers and, well… (Motions to the set)  
> UO: I take it a brawl started. I see. WAIT! (Looks around in a panic) WHERE’S THE SCRIPT?!  
> Dawn: (Pulls it out of her bag) Here!  
> UO: Oh thank god! You are a lifesaver, Dawn!  
> Lucy: What’s so important about this script?  
> UO: It’s because….WE’RE GOING OFF-CANON!  
> Natsu: What?  
> UO: You heard me. Most of this chapter will not be canon events. To our readers, don’t get mad, I already altered canon quite a lot. These original chapters will definitely occur after each major arc. The amount will depend on what I want in each and how much patience my beta has. DISCLAIMER PLEASE!  
> Dawn: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

“Dialogue”  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ **Attacks  
Yelling and Belt Noises**  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 7: A Growing Threat

July 12 th  X784, Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Morning

When we last left Team Natsu, the dragon slayer had discovered his destiny as one of the Guardians. His power was instrumental in defeating Erigor and Lullaby and saving the Guild-masters at the expense of the guild conference hall.

After their adventure and debrief, Team Natsu had returned to the guild hall, Makarov had asked the guild to come in to listen to a presentation. This was done at the behest of his new members, who had been asked by a few members about their magic and were starting to get   
suspicious at how much dodging they had to do.

The guild master turned to Drew. “Everyone that’s supposed to be here is accounted for. Are you sure you wanna tell ‘em your secrets?” he asked, having been briefed on some of the topics they were going to discuss; suffice to say, it boggled his mind.

“Yeah, a lot of people are curious and Erza’s tone on our last mission was getting on my nerves.” Drew told him. “She’s the type that demands order and knowledge through intimidation. We were eventually going to tell you anyway. Natsu’s new powers moved up the time table,” he told the guild master. He glanced over to Ash who was helping Max set up a projector.

“Everyone set?” asked Drew. At Ash’s nod, he motioned for Makarov to step forward and address the raucous guild.

Clearing his throat, the old man spoke with authority. “Alright brats, listen up!” Once he had the guild’s attention, he spoke again. “Some of you, I’m sure, have been curious about our new guild-mates. They’ve shown tremendous and very unique magic. After some discussion, they’ve decided to tell you about this. I have two rules on this: one is to keep an open mind. What they have to say might change your perspective on things. Two, if you have questions, try to keep them to the end of the discussion.” He turned to Drew. “Your show, kids.”

Drew nodded. “Thanks, Master Makarov. To start our little presentation…how many people here know the formation of your world?”

Murmurs could be heard as everyone started to discuss the subject amongst themselves. Levy raised her hand. “There haven’t been many records from before a few hundred years ago,” she began, “But from what I gathered, magic created the world out of the void and gave the people power to perform its work.”

Drew smiled as he motioned May and Misty to close the blinds. “A good theory, but far from the truth,” he said. As he spoke, the room gradually darkened with each blocked window. “What we’re about to show you, will not only blow your minds, but make you feel really small.” He waited till the hall was sufficiently dark, then turned on the projector they’d brought from Earth. The light streaming from the device intrigued some of the guild members. Drew took their silence as his cue to continue and cleared his throat.

“Thousands of year ago, in a time before history was kept, there was a Kingdom that encompassed a vast world; a place of great wonder, strength and wealth.”

The guild members gasped as a gorgeous picture of a town much larger than Magnolia appeared. They watched as the camera panned around, showing different style buildings and the different vehicles and people interacted, amazing the views. The images shifted to a castle, larger than any castle they knew.

“The Kingdom was ruled by a Royal Family,” Tori picked up, “Their protection was secured by a vast military led by a group powerful Warriors, called the Guardians and their Knights.”

“Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Metal, Wood, Ice, Light, Darkness.” Gabby stalked in a circle around the group, slowly listing them. “The ten Guardians ruled over the elements. Fully trained, they could be seen as gods themselves. With a just hand and the power of the Guardians backing them, the Kingdom prospered for thousands of years,” she explained, showing many Guardians bending their elements to their will.

The light radiating from the kingdom suddenly dimmed, while a strange blackness crept over the structure, worrying some of the members. Their worry turned to fear as explosions rocked the buildings and collapsed them. “But, like all powerful objects and wealth, there were those who sought to use them for their own personal gain.” Brock told them as the fire ravaged the once prosperous Kingdom, “A darkness- not like the Guardian, a _wrong_ darkness -invaded and in the ensuing struggle, the Kingdom’s once prosperous nation and her allies were brought to ruin.”

“As a last desperate move, the last Princess ordered the Ten Guardians to flee with the treasure of the Kingdom,” Dawn said sadly, “Then, she split the world into many, protecting the Guardians while they fled into five different worlds.” A great flash nearly blinded the viewers and what was left of the Kingdom vanished.

Drew turned to the mages. “This is one of our secrets. We are not from this world. We aren’t even all from the same world. We- myself, Gabby and Tori -traveled to Ash, Misty, May, Max, Brock, Anabel and Dawn’s world and saved it from the forces encroaching there.”

Ash stepped up as the projection turned to his world. “Our world doesn’t have magic like you have, but that doesn’t mean it’s not cool. Our world has creatures called Pokémon.” He pulled up a map of Kanto. “Over five hundred different creatures, divided into 18 types or classes. We have stuff like Fire and Water types but there are also Ice types, Fighting types, Electric types like Pikachu here,” he motioned to the mouse on his shoulder, “And even Dragons.”

“Dragons!? Really? Awesome!” Natsu cheered.

Ash chuckled. “Yeah. Our world is powered by the cooperation of our Pokémon. Some are companions for life. Some help society and some actually battle each other,” He said as a battle of his started up. The next few minutes had the guild in awe as Ash’s command and confidence got him the win over one of the gym leaders.

“As you can see there are many different professions that a trainer can do. You could challenge elite trainers for the right to compete for championships, show off your pokemon in fashion contests and even care for them like your pets or in this case like Happy.” He said pointing to the flying cat. “With our relationships, nothing is impossible.”

Anabel held up her hand and it started to glow. “Our ‘Magic’ though comes from something else. Aura is the internal energy within us. Only a few people can use this energy. Using it correctly we can do many different things.”

The group watched as the Aura Riders demonstrated their abilities and even showed off their pokémon. Erza smiled at the interactions of the guild and then turned to Drew. “What about you three? You said you went from your world to theirs, so what’s yours like?”

This question seemed to get everyone to calm down. Drew sighed. “Yes and no. Yes we have some similar ideas, no because we don’t have Pokémon.” At the guild’s silence, he moved to the next slide. “Our world has no magic and no Pokémon. What we have is technology and loads of it.”

The guild members watched in amazement as they were shown vehicles like their Magic mobiles, but without a visible way to power them. Trains that didn’t produce steam going faster than the eye could see. Metal birds were seen flying through the sky. All of this was possible without magic?

“Our technology levels are at least three hundred years ahead of yours,” Gabby declared, “Knowledge? We have access to almost anything we want with the press of a button. Medicine? We can cure the diseases that killed our ancestors. Transportation? We’ve been to our Moon and sent machines into the stars.” She grinned proudly at the stunned looks this engendered.

“Wait? You mean the moon that’s in our sky?” Lucy gasped.

“Yes and we know a lot about the stars and our interaction with the people of our planet. Speaking of which, how many people does Fiore have?” Tori asked.

“Um…17 Million, I think. Course that was the last I checked,” Levy supplied.

“That would be…what, the fifth largest state in the U.S?” Gabby asked Drew.

He nodded getting the smaller girl to gasp. “Bigger than Illinois, Smaller than New York. For your size, your density is comparable to New Jersey.” He answered.

He then press another button and this time it showed the political map. “Each border represents a different country, 194 independent nations. A combined population of over 6 Billion. ” He turned to the rest of the guild. “I know the sheer size seems daunting but I can assure you for the most part, they are safe. Anyway, we can save further explanations for later. Any questions?”

Grey immediately raised his hand. “Yeah! Got one. What do these Guardians have to do with Flame Brain?”

“What was that, droopy eyes?” Natsu growled.

“Both of you cool it!” Misty hissed. Her tone scared the two into compliance, mumbling about Erza having a sister. “As for why, it has to do with the armor he acquired during our mission.”

“You see, the last Guardians passed down their powers through their bloodlines, to awaken when they are needed the most. Misty and I are descendent of the Water and Lightning Guardians,” Ash told them, holding up his gem. Misty did the same. “The Lightning Topaz and the Water Sapphire are the proof of this.”

“Tori, Gabby and I are descendents of the Fire Guardian and one of the other six we haven’t found yet. Natsu here is descendent from the Earth Guardian.”

Grey’s question was seemingly answered, but Mira raised her hand. “How are the other six knights found?”

“There is one other Guardian, a girl, in this world and there are five knights for each team for a total of seven members of each team. In total, there should be thirty-five when we found them all,” Gabby responded. “We believe that the knights would be close to the Guardians but we won’t know till they awaken their powers.”

Mira nodded. The last question was Erza. “What about what you used to take down Erigor. You called them...Kamen Riders?”

“They are the armors of the last Guardians and Knights. As their descendents, we can summon them when we need them the most,” Drew replied, “With these belts, we can become strong enough to destroy those kaiju. The armors provide more than just the basic forms you saw, but until we need them we keep them hidden. I think we revealed enough today, so thank you for listening and I hope we have successful missions together.” They turned off the projector and the lights came on. Some more curious mages gathered around the table, wanting to know more about their group. Drew had to make them calm down and ask one question at a time.

Slowly, the guild returned to its normal selves as they discussed what they had learned. Mira had brought over drinks to the now seemingly popular Rider team. Over on the other side, Bisca and Alzack were talking with another group of mages about a mission they just came back from.

“So you two, anything new?” one of the mages asked the green haired gunslinger.

Bisca smiled proudly. “Yeah, after I got paid I went to a new shop in town that sold guns. I happened to pick up a new one that the salesmen said was more useful than my old guns,” she said, summoning the weapon. It was thin and light, much lighter than swords. The top half was black and the bottom was colored a reddish brown. The barrel of the gun had a smaller opening towards its front that didn’t fire any magic. “The salesmen said this was the newest weapon on the block. Still need to fix the fact it doesn’t fire magic…”

At that moment, Drew was taking a sip of his drink and happened to glance over at Bisca. When he saw the gun, he choked forcing Gabby to pound his back. “Drew what happened?” She asked concerned. The brown haired rider said nothing and as he slammed his drink down and stormed over to Bisca. The glass hitting wood got everyone’s attention which he ignored. He walked up to the green haired woman. “Where the heck did you get that?”

Bisca was slightly shaken at his demand, but answered. “At a new shop in town, why?”

“That gun’s illegal, where we come from,” he answered. His answer got her to drop the gun, his reflexes letting him catch it by the barrel. He looked it over critically. “An AK-47, capable of firing two hundred rounds a minute.” He hit a lever, causing the handle to drop into his hand. Then he reached up and pulled the slide back, ejecting the round in the chamber. “30 shots of 7.62mm x.39mm rounds. Looks like it’s a modern version; the select fire mechanism is easier to use. Accuracy is good at close range, but the spread is too much beyond about 300 meters. You’re lucky to get two shots every 10 to hit.”

Bisca growled. “That snake-oil salesmen said it would be great in any environment and can hit from far away!”

“Well, he _was_ right about the environment thing. It can operate in environments where most of its contemporaries would jam up. But the accuracy stinks, and forget about fixing it, the parts are too hard to repair especially here; it’d be better to just replace it altogether, which I believe would be very expensive,” Drew theorized as he the gun a look over.

Bisca slammed the table. “Damn that man, I’m gonna demand my money back!” she declared.

Lucy though looked at the strange cylinder like objects. “How can these things be dangerous? I mean, they’re so tiny and blunt…”

Drew chuckled darkly, holding one up. “Oh Lucy, so naïve. By themselves the bullets are nothing. But hit by a firing pin in the gun it would go faster than the eye could see.” He demonstrated by placing it in front of the barrel. He then twisted the bullet and moved it slowly towards Natsu, making him gulp. “The speed and rotation of the bullet can cause serious damage. If you’re lucky, the bullet won’t hit anything vital. If you’re not, well…let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Anyway, Master Makarov, I need authorization for a mission to investigate where this gun came from.”

“Granted,” the diminutive man acknowledged right away, “A weapon this dangerous could jeopardize the public and must be removed from circulation. If you can find the source, I’ll let the magic council know. You’ll probably get pay for…what, an A rank mission?”

Drew nodded and motioned to Ash and Misty to get their stuff. “Wait!” Bisca called out to them, making them turn around. She motioned to herself and Alzack. “Let us come with you. We were the ones ripped off. If I’d known the danger of this gun, I wouldn’t have bought it.”

Misty nodded. “We figure you want some justice. Besides, we don’t know where it is and with Ash’s sense of direction we be miles out of town.”

Ash grumbled as the group of five headed out. The two gunslingers led the three Riders to a small shop just off the main street. Drew turned to Misty. “Stay out here, in case he pulls something.” The red head nodded and stood outside as the four went inside. Once inside, the two Riders had to whistle at the walls of guns. There were some old looking weapons, some dating to the 1940’s in their world. Approaching the counter, they rang the bell. A middle aged black haired man walked up to them. “May I help you…Oh, Miss Mulan! What a surprise?”

“Zip it buddy, I want my money back. You told me this was top of the line and hard to get. Instead, I find that its maintenance costs too much. I want it back and I want this piece of crap out of my sight!” Bisca growled, slamming the machine gun down on the counter.

The man sweated. He’d hoped to use a Fairy Tail mage to drum up business for these new weapons, but the mage had had a change of heart. Maybe she found out the problems with it. Then, there was the fact he didn’t have the money to repay her. Fortunately, she didn’t have to know that.

“S-sure, let me just check the safe alright?” the man answered easily, but nervously, leaning down to reach into a cabinet. Instead of the Jewels, he grabbed a small handgun, thinking he could catch them by surprise. He grinned, cocking back the hammer and leaping up only to blanch when he heard three more clicks.

“Don’t even try it,” Drew growled, holding up Brave. The owner paled as he saw three guns in his face. Drew pointed his revolver at one eye, while Alzack held his gun to his other eye and Bisca had pulled out one of her Thompson guns and pointed it at his head. “Now then. I don’t know if their guns are magically empowered, but I know mine isn’t. I trust you know what these things can do, considering you tried to sell my friend here a deadly weapon. I want you to show us your real stock. The stuff you tried to sell her.”

The man gulped and reluctantly led the four to the back room. They were greeted by the sight of several shelves of weapons. Some of them like the ones Bisca had gotten, others that looked much more modern.

Ash rubbed his head. “How the heck did they even get these? AK-47s, M1s, 1911s…”

“Looks like these are small arms. But they all had to come from somewhere,” Drew theorized, turning to the shopkeeper, “I need a manifest of these. Surely you keep one.”

The shopkeeper nodded and grabbed the piece of paper of the table. Drew examined pages closely looking at the dates. On the first page, he spotted something. “Look, June 1st X784. We arrived on July 1st. This operation had to have been going long before we arrived. So whoever is supplying it has to have been here a while. Question is, how are they developing these weapons?”

As they examined the manifest, the shop owner watched them in fear. If they took the data to the town council with the knowledge it had, he could go to jail. Worse, is his supplier might find out and kill him! So, he decided to use their distraction to sneak out. He got two steps before a floorboard creaked under his weight, getting the attention of the mages.

“Hey!” Ash called out. The man panicked and ran.

Drew turned to the couple, scowling. “Get Misty and go around. Ash, let’s go!” he motioned to his friend to chase the man. They went into the alley and seemingly lost him. Pikachu looked up and got their attention. The two looked to see the shopkeeper climbing to the roof. Wasting no time, they ran at the opposite wall and climbed the pipes and onto the roof, then leapt onto the other roof. The shopkeeper had a head start, however he did not have the athleticism that the two possessed especially on the roof tops. Before long, the owner reached the end of the roofs. He turned to see Drew and Ash approach him.

“It’s over. Come with us and we can see if we can work something with the council,” Drew pleaded.

The shopkeeper shook his head frantically. “No way. The magic council would throw me to the wolves and the people I got these from will probably…no, they’ll definitely kill me!” His hands shook, his voice turning more and more hysterical. ”That’s why…you fairies will have my death on your hands!”

Before they could stop him, he leaped from the roof, dropping out of sight. They rushed over to the edge, just in time to see him splash into a water shield, saving him from becoming a blood spatter. They looked to see Misty with her hand stretched out, having summoned water from the canal. She looked up at them and grinned, giving a thumb’s up.

The two boys hopped down and walked up to the owner. “Let’s try that again. Are you going to answer our questions now?” Ash asked. The owner gulped, but nodded reluctantly, the looks on Bisca’s and Alzack’s face made him nervous.

The next day, about 60 Miles outside of Magnolia

Ash, Drew, Bisca and Alzack all raced through the woods after their target. The owner had spilled the beans about the operations, revealing that there would be a train that would show up near Magnolia.

Afterwards, Misty had personally delivered the man to the council. Makarov also asked her to retrieve Natsu and Erza from their prison. Apparently, the council had arrested her fellow redhead due to the destruction of the conference hall outside Clover Town and Natsu had gone out to try and take the blame. All that had done was get both of them thrown in jail overnight.

Soon enough, the four reached the cliff where they calculated where the train would be reachable. Hopping off their mounts and sending them scurrying away, they waited for the train. Drew took out his watch, looking at the time. They heard a train whistle and turned to see a large locomotive pulling sixteen cars behind it.

As one, they leapt from the cliff’s edge and slid down the cliff face, holding their hats to their heads. Once they got close, they propelled themselves off the cliff-face and landed not far from the engine, the Riders slowing their momentum with their swords. Alzack and Bisca had no such way to slow down, but the two swordsmen caught them and set them down. Looking around, they spotted a hatch on the sixth car. They raced across the top, leaping over the openings towards the hatch.

Ash pulled out Raikou and busted open the locks. He was the first one in, followed by Bisca and Alzack, Drew closing the hatch behind them. The first thing they noticed was that it was substantially colder. Alzack voiced his displeasure. “What the hell? It’s like an icebox!” he complained, rubbing his arms. Bisca shivered in agreement, her dress not exactly meant for cooler weather. The gunslinger noticed and shrugged off his cloak to give to her, getting a blush and a smile out of both of them.

Ash and Drew glanced around the car..Despite the fact that the trains were steam-powered. this room wasn’t wooden. In fact, it looked something they’d ride in back home. Spotting something familiar, Drew saw the large black columns and gasped. “It’s a server room. That explains why it’s so cold.” At the two mage’s confusion, he explained. Due to the excessive heat these things give off, they need to be constantly cooled, hence the cold air. So if they have servers…Ah hah!”

Drew grinned as he stepped over to a bulky rectangular device, “A laptop computer. These things are portable versions of the servers. So, let’s see here…” He turned it on and had to chuckle at the lack of security. “They really need a better firewall… Bet they didn’t think anyone would know how to use these. Let’s see…” He clicked around and spotted something tabbed as ‘Payments.’ Clicking on it, he picked out seven set of numbers. “Looks like some of Fiore’s businessmen are bankrolling this.”

“Question is, who would back _this?”_ asked Ash.

“Don’t know. But if they wanted to move this around discreetly, they would need access to transportation, materials to make this and the energy to produce it. Something I don’t think a lot of people would be able to get,” Drew theorized, pulling out a small stick and inserting it into the computer. A few moments later, he had pulled the numbers and the data and ejected the drive. “Alright, let’s find a place to hide.”

Before they could, the door opened on the far side opened to reveal guards storming in. “So much for not having security, must’ve tripped an alarm,” sighed Drew, pulling out his phone and pressing the Leo button.

**STANDBY: LEO**

Alzack and Bisca summoned their guns and cocked them back, Alzack with his trusty revolvers and Bisca her shotgun.

“Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.” Ash smiled, pulling out his buckle and inserting Pikachu’s card, making it pulse.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Drew retorted, grinning back. “The party’s just getting started.” He swiped his buckle, while Ash flipped his belt’s lever and both cried out.

(Play From Shadows from the RWBY Black Trailer)

** “HENSHIN!” **

**COMPLETE/EVOLVE**

Hearing about the Rider armors was one thing, but seeing the two boys transform was something else. Aura and Zodiac glared at the approaching guards, taking a stand shoulder to shoulder. Aura grinned, before taking a step and vanishing from sight. He reappeared behind the lead trooper, his sword sliding back into the sheath with a click. The guard shuddered and fell apart almost instantly, one half falling faster than the other. The other guards, seeing their fallen comrade, charged at the other three. Drew, Alzack and Bisca opened fire, filling the robot guards with rounds, while Aura swooped in and slashed through the wounded guards to finish them off. It was a slaughter as the troopers were torn apart by the gunfire. One last trooper had been wounded and collided with the door. Aura showed it no mercy and launched a kick, breaking the door and sending it into an open air car.

The riders and mages leaped out to see another wave of troopers charge them. At a discreet nod, they charged again. Aura barreled through each quickly slashing through the bullets and the trooper’s bodies before appearing behind their slashed bodies, sheathing Raikou with a click. Then he saw four approaching him and with four quick slashes they were bisected while Zodiac shot at them.

Alzack loaded up his guns and fired two shots, creating mini tornados that suck his opponents in the air. This left them at the mercy of Bisca who whipped out her twin machine guns to shoot them out of the sky. One stray trooper flew towards them, but Zodiac pointed Brave behind him and shot him in the head. Regrouping, they entered the next car to find it packed with what looked like ammo crates.

“This is weird, there is no way that’s all of the guards,” Aura said confused.

Before Zodiac could retort, a large metal clang rang out. They turned around to see a large machine descending onto the ground.

“What the hell is that?” Alzack screamed as he, Bisca and Zodiac opened fire. The shots seem to bounce off the robot as it charged up its main cannon. It fired off three shots, forcing everyone to dodge. Aura quickly got onto his feet and charged at him, his sword crackling with electricity. He managed to get a couple of slashes before he was forced away. Zodiac caught him and helped him stand. The machine shuddered, then moved its arms; they then combined and merged into one large cannon aimed straight at them.

The fire wielder widened his eyes behind his helmet. He grabbed his phone while shouting to the others, “Get behind me!” He pressed a button that looked like an M with a cursive L and put it back.

**STANDBY: VIRGO**

His armor glowed and reformed, turning from a fiery red to a dark bronze. His shoulders and legs gained armor that looked like football pads. His sword was replaced with a large shield, which he planted in front of him, cracking the floor. The tank fully charged up, then pulled back and fired.

_*Gooooong!*_

The shield resounded like a bronze bell, but held as it took the blow. The impact was not ineffective, however, as it knocked the four all the way across the room and into the next car.. Shaken from the attack but otherwise okay, they stood up to face the large robot.

“Do one of you have any explosives?” Zodiac asked the mages, keeping his eyes on their opponent.

“I’ve got a Bazooka, but I’m gonna need time to charge it up!” Bisca yelled, summoning a circle to pull out a large green rocket launcher. Zodiac nodded and quickly charged in using his shield. Leaping up, he swung it at its head, stunning it and cracking its helmet to expose a core. Aura dropped down from above, hands glowing as he smashed them into its head. The robot was stunned from the the consecutive blows, reeling back on its back legs. This opened up its front legs for a follow up attack; Aura and Zodiac dashed forward as one and hammered the limbs, sending the tips skidding back. The machine overbalanced and fell flat on on its face. The two landed and turned to Bisca. “Any day now!” Zodiac yelled.

Bisca aimed at the robot. “Fire in the Hole!” she yelled, pulling the trigger. A large blast burst from the cannon’s opening. The shot impacted the core and the robot exploded. Its debris was sent scattering off the train.

(End song)

Seeing no one else coming, Zodiac and Aura powered down and jogged up to Bisca and Alzack. “You guys alright?”

Alzack sighed. “Yeah, that was intense,” he muttered, wiping at his forehead under his hat. He turned to Bisca, who had put her gun away. “You alright, Bisca?”

The green haired woman blushed. “Y-yeah, I’m alright,” she assured them. Shaking herself for a moment, she regarded the two powered down Riders. “That was amazing, with those armor and your techniques!”

Drew chuckled. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do. Come on, let’s go hunker down.”

They headed back to the computer room. “Looks like the room is still mostly intact, let’s just ride here.”

The others nodded and sat down in silence. A few moments later, Drew turned to the gun mages. “What’s your story? How did you get to Fairy Tail? We got the time.”

Bisca sighed. “Well…my story is, I was a drifter from one of the western towns. Didn’t have much, so I turned to thieving under. I was known as the Moulin Rouge and I was a terror throughout my conquests. I made the mistake to use Fairy Tail as my guild to cover up my…habits. One day, Erza heard about me in a local pool hall and confronted me about using their name for crimes. I got my ass handed to me when I tried to fight back; Erza’s no joke, let me tell ya. I begged for mercy, but she beat me up again and then dragged me back to the guild to show me some legitimate work. After that, I met Alzack here and we’ve been a team ever since.” She sighed happily, clearly reminiscing. Then she shook herself and glanced over at Ash and Drew. “So what about you two? You’re from different worlds, right? How dd you meet.”

Ash nodded. “Yeah. Well, I left home when I was 10.” At the couple’s stunned looks, he explained, “That’s the legal age for owning pokemon like Pikachu here. First day, oh man, we fought like animals. But then he saved me from a flock of angry birds. I met Misty that day too, after taking her bike. I met Brock when I challenged him for my first badge, May and Max when I visited their home region. Then I met Drew, Gabby and Tori while I was competing in my third league. We’ve gotten into so many adventures it could be a cartoon.”

Drew smiled and picked up with his story. “Well, I don’t have an exciting story to tell. I was born outside one of my country’s larger cities and moved to the suburbs. Tori and Gabby are my classmates; Tori is my neighbor, even. I got my gem when I turned eight, our belts at 12. Met _this_ knucklehead and his pals in a prison during a coup and, well, we’ve been bros and friends ever since.”

Bisca nodded in understanding. Alzack, on the other hand, had another question. “What about Anabel and Dawn?”

“Ah. Well, Anabel we saved from some of those troopers, who tried to kidnap her and use her abilities,” Ash replied, “We met Dawn when we started in her home region, after Pikachu got kidnapped…again.” Realizing how many times Pikachu had been captured, face falling in despair.

“And fried her bike. Hers, Misty’s and May’s,” Drew pointed out teasingly, making the mouse grumble. Pikachu’s expression got Bisca and Alzack to laugh. After a few moments, Drew looked at his watch. “It’ll be a couple of hours, we should rest up.”

Agreeing with the fire user, they slowly drifted off to sleep, helped by the train’s rocking.

Two Hours later

After a while, the train began to slow down. Pikachu felt it and nudged Ash awake. Opening his eyes he also felt the train slow down.

“Guys, wake up. We’re getting closer,” he whispered. The three slowly woke up and stretched out. Bisca and Alzack saw how they were lying against each other and, blushing, quickly scrambled apart and stood up hurriedly.

“Alright, you two, time to saddle up,” Drew chided with some mirth. The two blushing mages nodded and all four approached the opening in the door. They found themselves in the middle of desert and were fast-arriving at a massive grey structure. It had two large tower spewing black smoke dwarfing a stone wall. They rode through a large iron gate and entered the base proper, where they saw other tracks and locomotives, all presumably carrying other material made in the factory. The train creaked to a stop and the four quickly snuck off and hid behind some boxes.

Bisca gasped at how large the place was. “What is this place?”

“Looks like some sort of factory and storage facility. The black soot means they are burning coal. This base can’t have been built overnight,” Drew answered. He looked around and gasped. “Look!”

They swiveled their heads and saw what appeared to be a humongous cannon, much bigger than the arms they had on them. The barrel alone was about three hundred feet. Underneath, was a large metallic base that was built onto twenty wheels. Next to it were large shells, obviously designed to be used in the cannon. From the way it looked, it could decimate large towns.

“That’s a Railroad Gun. A large cannon that can launch those shells at towns. That’s World War 2 tech!” Drew uttered, shocked that something so big could be built not only on this world but quickly.

“Is that bad?” asked Alzack.

“That war was 70 years ago, which is still two centuries ahead of yours. By the end of it, we could destroy whole _cities_ in a single shot and not even see the target,” Drew explained gravely, making the two look at him in horror, “These were designed to take out armored units from miles away. With the level of protection, they could force towns into surrender. We need to destroy it or put it out of action.”

“Well then, let’s blow it up and get out of here,” Bisca declared, creating her magic circle.

However, Drew stopped her from pulling out a weapon. “It’s on the agenda, but I want to know what they are doing here,” he replied quickly, “Once we figure that out, then it’s open season. Come on, there should be some sort of office,”

They quickly snuck through the factory, Ash and Drew taking some pictures of the facility. Reaching a set of stairs, they started to climb them. When they reached the third floor, they heard a couple of troopers coming down the stairs. Drew turned to Alzack. “Got any sleeper shots?”

Alzack grinned, unloaded his current rounds and slotted in a pair of specially made stun shots. Taking aim, he popped the shots off with a zip, knocking the two guards out. Grinning, he brought up the rear of their train, keeping an eye out behind them. At the top of the stairs, they approached the office. Grasping the door handle, Bisca sighed. “Locked, go figure. What do we do?”

Ash spotted a vent next to the door. “Think you can pop that vent open to let Pikachu squeeze through?”

“Yep,” said Drew, taking out his Swiss Army knife. Alzack and Bisca look on curiously as he fiddled with the small red object and pulled out a small metallic object with ridges at the tip. A few moments of turning and the latch was opened. Pikachu scurried down and snuck in.

“You think Pikachu can get the door open?” asked Bisca.

Before Ash could respond, the door opened, revealing the yellow mouse. He quickly hopped up to Ash’s shoulders and preened proudly as they entered. Inside was a relatively modest office with a large desk, grey walls and a fan. On the desk was another computer.

“Good lord, their security is lax,” sighed Drew, “Guard the doors, I want to know what’s inside,” he ordered, moving behind the desk. A few clicks of the computer and he pulled up the right files. He began reading the files stored there. “Looks like I was right. This isn’t a base: it’s more like a staging area. There’re four or five bases scattered through Fiore and the surrounding countries. Let’s see…” He pulled up a map of Fiore, dotted with several landmarks in various locations. “I see a naval base and another base that are much larger than this in the mountains,” he pointed out the locations, “Another one looks like it’s somewhere near some mines. I need to copy this for further analysis.”

Plugging in his flash drive, he copied the files and then started looking at another set of files. “Weapons, this ought to be good. Let’s see…AKs, got those, grenades, M1’s, some machines- hang on. Special weapons?” Drew furrowed his brow as he clicked on the tab to reveal three files. One of them caught his attention. “Project Canister? Not very creative…oh. Oh my god..” he gasped.

“What?” Ash asked walking over. Not many things got Drew spooked. For him to say that, something big showed up.

“These bastards have Nerve Gas!” Drew hissed with a mixture of anger and horror, “Sarin and Mustard Gas!”

Ash mirrored his friend’s expression, paling. “Do…do these guys know what they are doing?”

“I take it those aren’t good?” Alzack asked with some trepidation.

“No,” agreed Drew gravely, gripping the edges of the desk until his knuckles turned white, “By our rules of war, gas attacks are illegal and they can be brought up on charges similar to treason The only other weapon that can are even looked at like this are large scale bombs.”

“What’s so bad about this gas?” Bisca asked confused. “A lot of mages use it in their magic,”

Drew shook his head. “Not this type of gas. Mustard gas can burn your lungs and anything it touches. As for Sarin, it attacks your body’s nervous system and cause asphyxiation because your body essentially forgets to breathe,” he said seriously, “If these guys have the capacity to create these weapons, then Fiore is in danger ‘cause these things can wipe out towns in seconds.

“What!? We need to get this to the council!” Alzack exclaimed.

“Trust me, we _will_ get it to them,” promised the younger boy, “But we can’t cause a panic at the moment. For now, let’s get this data and wreck this base.”

The others nodded solemnly. He turned and pulled out the thumb drive.

“So, any restrictions?” asked Ash.

“Nope, I think we can take a page out of Natsu’s book and bring this base down through sheer explosive power,” Drew replied, pulling out Brave. “Just watch your shots, these things are really explosive.”

Before they could start, the door opened, revealing four troopers. They in turn were accompanied an officer, wearing brown leather armor and appeared to be tougher than his subordinates. He got on the radio. “Intruders in the main office! All units—GACK!” The order was cut short as various bullets shredded their bodies.

“No need for stealth; time to bring down the hammer!” Drew yelled, pulling out his phone. Ash pulled out his belt, while Pikachu glowed and turned into a card.

“HENSHIN!”

**STANDBY LEO: COMPLETE/EVOLVE**

Now in their armored forms, they shot out the window behind them and leaped through. The glass shattering caught the workers off guard, making them look up at the falling intruders. All four had their weapons drawn, ready for more chaos. Aura pulled out a card depicting his Charizard and scanned it.

**FLAMETHROWER**

His mouthpiece opened up, revealing his mouth. He took a deep breath and spewed out a jet of white hot flames. The troopers in front of them cried out as they were engulfed, and then were quickly burned to charcoal. The heat of the flames ignited a set of barrels behind them, setting them off and creating a fireball of an explosion.

Behind Aura, Zodiac hacked through several troopers with one swing of his sword, before planting his sword and holding out his hand. **“Pyro Shotgun!”** he barked. Twin bursts of flame shot from his hand and blasted a hole through five of the troopers in front of him. The effects continued on, flying through the air to ignite the barrels behind them.

Next to him, Alzack and Bisca were picking off their opponents one by one. Alzack lined them up by using his Tornado shots to fling them into the air, while Bisca behind him was picking them off one by one with her tommyguns. All the while, the fires continued to spread and those not fighting the intruders were attempting to put the fires. After a few moments, they realized there were a lot more than they thought. Zodiac spoke to them. “We’re going to get overwhelmed, need to find a way out of here before this place blows!”

“What’re you talking about?” Bisca yelled, firing off more rounds.

“If this fire can’t be controlled, it will spread and ignite everything,” Zodiac shouted back, “If it gets to a storage room, everything goes boom, especially with these shells!” He pointed to the railroad gun. “I don’t know about you, but I ain’t sticking around!” He fired off another shot. “This place blows with us inside, there won’t be enough of us to even bury!”

“Well then, how do we get out of here?” Alzack asked, reloading.

Aura heard the conversation after firing off a Thunderbolt and looked around. He spotted two motorcycles with sidecars and two machine guns attached to them.

“Guys over there!” He pointed out to his allies.

Zodiac nodded. “That will do, you two get in the side cars and hang out! It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

Aura and Zodiac hopped onto the seats, Alzack taking the car with Aura, Bisca riding with Zodiac. They revved the engines and sped through the factory. The two gunslingers fired at charging enemies Aura charged up a blue ball in his right hand. **“Aura Sphere!”**

The large ball tore a hole in the concrete wall, large enough for the two bikes to speed through. The drivers let out a whoop as they sped away from the base.

“Man that was a rush! You guys alright?” Zodiac asked.

“Heck yeah! We need our own bikes because this is awesome!” Ash hollered back.

Alzack was holding onto the seat for dear life. “How fast are these things?!”

“I feel like I can outrun a train in this!” Bisca laughed.

“Oh trust me, this thing is slow compared to what my world has,” the brown-armored Rider replied, “But it should be enough to get out of here.”

Bisca looked behind them, then gulped. “Uh, guys? We have company!”

Everyone looked back to see several pursuing bikes. Zodiac groaned. “This is just like Mad Max. Alzack! Bisca!” he pointed to the weapons mounted on the sidecars, “Those are high-caliber machine guns! Hold down the levers on the handles and point at those guys! They can swing around to shoot on all sides!”

The two nodded and swung around to fire. The moment they pulled the trigger, it nearly threw them out of the car from the unexpected kick.

“Sorry! Those things are powerful. Be careful!”

Taking his advice, they fired only in short bursts. That tactic worked out and the first couple of chasers were destroyed by the rounds finding their tires or gas tanks. But with the number chasing them, the numbers overwhelmed the guns and were able to get within striking. Two approached from Aura’s left, one pulling back a hammer to swing away. However, the Rider saw it and was quick to pull out a card.

**BULLET SEED**

He flung out his hand and fired multiple energy bullets, causing the attacker to be blown off his bike. On the other side, Alzack was quick on the draw, pulling out his revolver and firing off two shots of his Burst Bullet Magic.

Over with Bisca and Zodiac, the female gunslinger was fighting them off as best she could, but one got close and attempted to pull at her hair.

“OW! Son of a bitch! Take this!” she yelped, pulling out her shotgun and blasting it full of lead. On the other side, Zodiac parried an overhead show with his arm taking the hit. He pulled out Brace, and instead of attacking the rider, attack the wheel. The crashing motorcycle flipped and wrecked a couple of their pursuers. “Don’t these guys give up!?” Bisca yelled as she fired back at their pursuers.

“I don’t know, but we need to think of something!” Zodiac told her.

While they drove and fought, back at the factory, the fires from exploded barrels had spread throughout the factory. The fire reached a storage room, which contained, among other things, large amounts of fuel and large shells. The fuel ignited and then the fire spread to the shells themselves. At this point, it was only a matter of time before they blew. In an instant, one of the shells triggered, starting a chain reaction.

***KABOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!***

The resulting explosion was humongous and could be heard from this far away. The mushroom cloud be seen from miles around and the resulting fires ignited the other rounds and sent them flying into the air.

The explosion was felt by the retreating mages.. “What the hell was that?” yelled Alzack.

“That’s gotta be the factory!” Zodiac answered. “Brace yourselves!” Not seeing a reason to question him they held onto the guns as the large shockwave reached them. The small motorcycles shook as the wave passed through them, nearly tipping them over if it wasn’t for the quick reflexes of the two Riders. However, their recovery efforts forced them to stop their bikes before they fell over.

Zodiac sighed after recovering from the shock and getting his hearing back. “I don’t know about you but I am getting all funned out.”

Before he could get an answer, Aura, who was looking in the direction of the explosion, glanced up to see several projectiles hurtling towards them. “Uh oh.”

“…Don’t tell me, there are shells that are heading straight for us,” Zodiac deadpanned.

“Yep,” Aura replied in the same tone.

“Explosions most likely going to kill us?” he asked, getting back on the bike.

“Most likely,” his friend replied calmly, to the fright of the two gun mages.

Zodiac revved the engine. “Bring it on!” The two hit the gas and quickly rode away. Seconds later, one of the shells impacted where they just were.

The motorcycles were screaming as their engines pushed to the max; all the while shells and shrapnel exploded around them, like an apocalyptic meteor shower. They might have been lucky to avoid the shots, but their pursuers weren’t so lucky. Several shots landed in between the pursuers sending them flying and destroying several vehicles.

When another shot got too close for comfort, Zodiac growled. “Okay, this sidecar is dragging us down. Bisca, hop on!”

The green haired mage, shaken up by the close calls did so and wrapped her arms around his armored form. Aura, seeing this, motioned for Alzack to do the same. At the same, they grabbed their swords and cut away the cars, spun and tipped over, going into several cartwheels. A lone shell hit them and disintegrated them. The increased speed was immediately noticeable as they had dodged the explosions that had started to lose range. One last explosion behind them and they finally escaped their pursuers.

A few miles away, they stopped at the edge of the forest that separated the desert plain. The path here led to Magnolia. Having powered down, Drew and Ash observed the fire that was still visible twenty to thirty miles away.

“Damn, they must have been stockpiling there for a while,” Drew grumbled, “Don’t think the Arizona ever got that big.”

“Well, regardless, that factory is ruined for whoever owned it,” Ash said, smiling, to which Drew agreed.

“Those things, they caused so much destruction,” whispered Alzack, still gaping at the distant spectacle, “Are you saying they could destroy anything in Fiore?”

“All of that and more. Those Nerve gasses are not even the worst things they could do,” Drew answered gravely.

“What could be worse than those things you told us about?” Bisca asked alarmed.

Drew closed his eyes and the images of a similar mushroom cloud and a town in ruins flashed through his mind. “Something…I hope we never have to worry about. Come on, let’s head back.” So saying, he got on the bike. The others quietly did the same and they drove back to Magnolia.

It was near sunset as they drove slowly through the town. The motorcycles got some awed stares as they rode through the towards the guild hall. The noise as they approached attracted many guild members, who exited the guild hall as the returnees stopped and cut the engines. While Ash tried to field the many questions that the various mages were asking, Drew spotted the guild master.

“Did you find the supplier?” Makarov asked without preamble.

“Yeah,” he replied heavily, “The factory supplying them is gone. Blown to kingdom come.”

“Good, one less factory making those machines” the guild master said, nodding decisively.

“Yeah. But that was just one factory; no way they wouldn’t build all of it there. There’s another, much larger issue we uncovered. They have more than one base and the worst part is that there are people here funding the suppliers.”

The guildmaster’s expression darkened. “Traitors to the crown…this is serious. If it escalates, we might have to get the Council and the Fiore Government involved. We don’t want that, do we?”

“The less innocent people involved, the better,” Drew agreed, sighing, “Guess we have some investigating to do.”

Makarov regarded the young man, frowning disappointedly. “You’re not in this alone, you know. The moment you put that mark on, you gained a power that is stronger than anything in this world or any world. Remember that, this guild is more than just friends. They are family.”

Drew unconsciously rubbed the stamp, not looking at the old man. “...Yeah, I suppose so.”

He watched Ash explain how the bike worked, while Misty sat on the seat behind him. Bisca and Alzack observed their guild members with smiles. He glanced down to see their entwined hands and smiled himself, before moving to help Ash answer the flurry of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter  
> UO: Geez I don’t know what happened but I managed to get it out. As you can see, most if not all of this is original material. It’s giving a hint as to what will happen later in the story and later in the series. I hate the pacing of the series so I decided to help spread them out.  
> NS: Yeah, now if only you could work on some of those other hints.  
> UO: Oh yeah, those hints. Right. Well, like I said, I hate the pacing. But something will show up in Phantom Lord that ties into NS’ future involvement.  
> Next Time: S-ranks are the ultimate mission and only reserved for the best mages in each guild. When Natsu steals a mission to investigate demons on an island, Grey’s past and future collide as an old friend threatens the island. What will happen? Find out on Nakama United.


	8. Wolf of the Moon: Lupus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An S class Mission is taken by Natsu and its up to the Riders to help save him. Would a new Rider help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Hello, every—(Crash) WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED NOW!?  
> Ash: Charizard got into a fight with Natsu.  
> UO: DAMN IT, DRAGNEEL, WHERE ARE YOU?!  
> (Charizard roars and tries to torch Natsu but the dragon slayer is unaffected. The same cannot be said of the studio.)  
> Drew: Misty, Tori Where are you, Natsu is blowing up the studio again.  
> (Fire sprinklers start up. Charizard is calmed down enough to let Ash recall him. Misty and Tori come in to finish the job)  
> UO: (Growls) Natsu, what the heck?  
> Natsu: Uh…Icy Prick dared me?  
> UO: NOT GOOD ENOUGH! (Rider Kicks Natsu out of the studio) Disclaimer! Please~!  
> Lucy: (Gulps) U-UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokémon, Fairy Tail or Kamen Rider. He makes no money and only owns the plot of this fic.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling Belt noises, Kaijuu voices  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 8: The Wolf of the Moon, Lupus

July 13th X784, about 1PM

When we last left our heroes, Drew, Ash, Alzack and Bisca had infiltrated and destroyed a munitions factory that had been supplying arms to gun dealers in Magnolia. They had also discovered plans to use other deadly weapons on Magnolia and raced back to Fairy Tail to warn Makarov and the council.

The guild was as lively as ever. Most were eating lunch or preparing for missions.

Natsu was standing next to Erza, trying to goad her into a fight. "Come on, Erza! Fight me! I want a good fight!" he yelled boisterously.

Rather than listening, Erza punched him into the wall without a backward glance. "No, Natsu, I’m tired and we just got out of prison,” she growled, “Let me eat my cake in peace!"

Drew watched Natsu slide down the wall and shook his head ruefully. "Dude, relax. not everything has to be a fight with you!"

Misty rubbed her face exasperatedly. "Seriously! I _just_ got you back from jail! Don't make me have to do it again!"

This interaction got everyone around to laugh. After calming down, they went back to eating. Max finished a bite of his sandwich and looked up. "Uh, Ms. Mira? What's on the second floor?" he asked tentatively.

Mira, who was giving Brock another drink, smiled reassuringly and said, "The second floor’s reserved for those the Master deems strongest. Up there is where the S-ranked quests are."

"So, S-ranked is what, the toughest missions’ you guys got?" Ash asked.

"Correct, Erza and Master are two of the only six mages we have that could take them,” she explained, “As for the others, two of them are out on long term missions. And the third... let’s just say…w-well, that’s enough about him."

The other participants of the conversation all sweatdropped.

“And the fourth?” asked Max.

Mira looked away. “They...haven’t been able to take missions for a long time, now.”

Figuring it was a tough subject, they dropped the matter. “So, these missions can only be done by the best. Must be some serious danger to leave it to a select group,” Brock theorized.

Lucy, who had been talking with Levy nearby but still listening, gasped. "S-So these missions are really tough?"

"Don't worry Lucy, we could take those missions no problem!" Natsu boasted proudly, Happy chiming in with an ‘aye.’

"Natsu, what part of forbidden don't you get? We aren't going on those missions anytime soon!" Lucy snapped back.

Before the argument could devolve, some of the mages started to feel sleepy. Lucy started to nod off. "What's…happening?"

Erza, who was also starting to lose consciousness, answered, "It must be…Mystogan,” she muttered, drooping, “He…never lets us see his face…"

Drew struggled to stave off whatever was affecting them. "Damn…sleep spell,” he forced out drowsily. He managed to turn to one their healers. “Dawn...Safeguard!"

The bluenette, who was about to fall over, struggled to hold up her sword, causing it to glow green. She might not have enough power for everyone, but she did have enough to cover her friends. The spell’s effects quickly woke them up, putting them on alert for intruders. As one, the group turned their attention to the guild’s doors as they opened. In the doorway stood a tall man, almost as tall as Grey, wearing mostly blue from his shirt to his pants and a tattered cloak. He had a green scarf pulled over his face and, on his back, he had a large wooden staff.

The stranger hesitated, seeing the group still awake, but entered the hall anyway. They watched as he approached Makarov and the mission board; the master hadn’t been affected by the sleep spell.

"You know you don't have to do this every time, Mystogan," the old man told him, with the air of an oft repeated saying.

"I know, but…you know I have my reasons," the man explained, his tone similarly re-tread. He turned and took a request off the board. He was about to walk out when he saw Drew and Ash blocking his way. Their friends stood with them, though Dawn looked close to exhausted.

"Who are you?" Drew asked bluntly, holding his sword to Mystogan's face.

"Calm down kids,” drawled Makarov, “This here’s Mystogan. He is one of our S-Class mages, an ally."

"Master Makarov is right,” agreed the masked mage, “I do not wish to harm you. However, I must ask. How did you resist my sleep spell?”

"Where we come from, there are ways to resist spells like that. The spell Dawn is casting is one of them," Ash replied.

Mystogan smiled under his mask and bowed his head. "I see. Do you still wish to fight me?"

Drew looked at him, then at the Master. Sighing, he relaxed his stance, his friends mirroring his actions. "Alright, fine, but can you try not to knock everyone out next time."

Mystogan just walked by them. "No promises," he said lightly, giving a casual wave as he exited the building. The moment he left, the spell wore off and the guild slowly came back to life. Dawn released the Safeguard on her friends and dropped to her knees, panting, making everyone look at her worriedly, especially May and Ash who immediately went to comfort her.

"Dawn, are you alright?" May asked concernedly.

"That spell…took everything I had,” breathed Dawn, “I am surprised I lasted two minutes with that spell baring down on me," She said closing her eyes trying to catch her breath. May immediately hugged her to console her while Misty tried to cool her down. Ash held her hand. "It's fine, Buneary, you did great!" He told her getting her to smile.

"Oh, how sweet, nearly fainting after using a spell," a snide voice called out from the second floor, “No...no, not sweet. More like, pathetic.” The Riders all looked up to see a blond man wearing a black-furred jacket over a yellow shirt leaning over the balcony. His face was adorned a lightning bolt scar that cut across his right eye, somehow enhancing his derisive sneer.

"Who in the world are you?" Gabby asked, reaching for one of her knives.

The man growled. "Show some respect, newbie. I'm Laxus Dreyar, the strongest mage in this guild and future guild master!”

"Dreyar?" Max asked as they turned to Makarov.

He sighed. "Yes, he's my grandson." Then he scowled up at the now named Laxus. "Also, you’re _not_ guild master yet and you’re _not_ the strongest here, ya little pissant! I would make Dawn here the master long before you.”

Laxus scoffed. "That weakling? Guild master? Don't make me laugh! When I become guild master, all these weaklings are out of here! In fact, I will _personally_ see that she gets the boot, after I-” Whatever he was going to say was cut off when he felt something graze his cheek. He looked over his shoulder to see a leaf embedded in the wall. "What the? A leaf?" Then he felt something trickling down. Putting a hand to his face, he realized that the leaf had left a bleeding cut. He looked, mouth twisting in a furious snarl and saw Ash’s eyes glowing, ready to launch another attack.

"Next one’s in your head!" Ash growled, "You mess with my friends, you mess with me!"

Laxus roared furiously and in an unexpected move, he leaped across the room towards Ash, his arm sparking with electricity. The younger boy drew Raikou and charged, but Drew grabbed his shoulders and stood in front of him. Meanwhile Makarov’s hand glowed and grew to stop his grandson.

"That's enough! Laxus, leave! Go back upstairs!" the old man barked.

"Ash, go cool off! Misty go with him!" Drew ordered.

The two glared at each other heatedly for a long moment, before following their respective orders. Dawn, having sufficiently recovered and feeling guilty, went with Ash and Misty.

Grey, who had been watching the exchange with some trepidation, turned to Brock. "What the heck was all of that?" he asked.

Brock sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Dawn is the healer in our group. We rely on her a lot and sometimes it gets to be too much. Safeguard, the ability she used, can help protect against abilities that affect how we fight such as being put to sleep. It typically has a limit of five minutes and can cover us with little to no trouble. Considering the only other person not affected was Makarov, you can figure out that spell drained her keeping us up to talk to Mystogan."

"And Ash's reaction?" Grey pressed.

"He does that to anyone that threatens his friends," Brock answered simply, shrugging, “Something that seems to be a common theme here.”

Grey looked at the door the three left in and then back down at his drink. _There’s gotta be more to it…_ he thought, _Ash wouldn’t just react like that with Laxus…even if he_ is _a total prick._ _It’s almost like Ash and Dawn are in love with each other. But that’s stupid; he’s with Misty, not Dawn-_ ’His thinking was broken when Natsu called him out on his stripping habit again and it led to a more typical brawl.

Later that Night (Play Baten Kaitos OST: To the Garden of the Moon Butterflies in the Moonless Night)

Grey opened his eyes, expecting to see the inside of his apartment. Instead, he found himself in a frigid tundra; nothing but snow and ice for miles around. In the distance was a mountain that stretched high into the sky. He also noticed that it was lightly snowing giving it an almost storybook feel.

"Wow," he breathed in wonder. He was an ice mage and had seen ice do spectacular things, but this was beyond what he could do. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Snow crunching behind him made the ice mage turn around. He gulped as an enormous grey wolf stalked up to him, its blue eyes fixed on him. He put his hands up. "E-easy there, boy!"

Instead of attacking him, however, the wolf trotted up and nuzzled his leg and let out a happy woof. Grey chuckled as he knelt to pet the animal’s thick, coarse fur. “You’re a friendly one aren’t ya?” he asked lightly, rubbing the canine’s ear.

"Lupus sure seems to like you," a feminine voice giggled from behind him. Grey turned his head and jumped, startled. There stood a girl, as still as if she’d been carved from the ice, clad a long silver dress and with matching hair. Despite her clothing being unsuited for the weather, she seemed unbothered by the cold.

"Lupus…?" asked Grey to the wolf, who nodded. He turned back to the mysterious woman. "And who’re you?"

The woman smiled and curtseyed. "My name is Tsukihime, Princess to a lost Kingdom. And you being here means that you are destined to help your friend Natsu."

"Tch…Flame-brain isn't my friend," he grumbled.

Tsuki smiled, which for some reason put Grey at ease. "I beg to differ, you two are friends deep down."

Grey looked away scoffing. _‘As if flame-brain and I are friends.’_

She motioned him to follow. "Come, let me explain what you probably don't know from Drew.

Grey hesitantly followed her through the snow, Lupus following behind and bounding through the snow. As they went Tsuki explained the Guardians, the Knights and other things Drew had left out.

"So, what, I have to guard Natsu?" asked Grey skeptically, “And _work_ for him? Are you sure your head’s on, right?”

The silver-haired girl gave him a deadpan look, but said, "You don’t get it, Mr. Fullbuster. Natsu is a Guardian and he _will_ need your help. The other knights haven’t awoken yet so it might be a tough prospect.” Her gaze softened. “With your powers, you will fight alongside the other Guardians, like Drew, Ash and Misty and their Knights."

They stopped by a crystal-clear lake that made the landscape look mystic. The snow had stopped, and the clouds were beginning to clear up, revealing a full moon. Lupus watched the full moon and snapped his head back to howl.

Tsuki smiled and looked up at the stars appearing in the sky. "So much potential for life out there…and yet, we are confined to these shores.”

Grey looked up at the sky, a faraway look of wonder in his eyes. "So Gabby wasn't lying about the stars being suns, huh?"

“Of course not. That’s the truth.”

They both stood there, watching the darkened heavens in silence.

"I'll do it." He whispered it, but in the stillness, Tsuki heard him clearly and smiled. "I'll accept this belt,” Grey continued, smiling ruefully, “Natsu’s gonna need someone to help him out. May as well be me

Tsuki nodded and turned to face Grey and Lupus. She leaned down and touched the wolf. He glowed and shrank down in the size to form a belt. It had a small hand, similar to Natsu's and had a couple blue colored rings.

"Here, this is for you," Tsuki held out the items.

Grey took them almost reverently and then looked at the princess. “What about Lupus?"

“His spirit will guide you when the time is right."

"How will I know when that is?" Gray demanded Tsuki began to fade into the moonlight.

"When it is time, you will know," she whispered. The sky brightened, blanketing the surrounding area, blinding Grey and forcing him to turn away.

(End song)

Back in Grey’s apartment

When Grey opened his eyes, he saw that he was back in his bedroom. He rubbed his head, sitting up slowly. "Damn, that was an intense dream," he mumbled. He dropped his arm and knocked into something metallic. “Huh?” He grabbed the object and held it up to reveal the belt and rings Tsuki had given him.

"Heh, so you're mine now, huh?" he asked the belt, smirking lightheartedly. He could have sworn he heard a wolf barking but brushed it off. Climbing out of bed and throwing on a brown shirt and black jeans he headed towards the guild. When he got there, the guild was livelier than normal. He saw Makarov and Mira discussing something frantically. "What the heck is going on?" demanded Grey.

Mira looked at Grey, her brow creased with worry. "One of the S-Ranked missions is missing. We think Natsu took it and is heading to Galuna Island. If that idiot survives, he's gonna be in big trouble."

Grey growled. "Damn that flame brain." Before Mira could stop him, he dashed off towards the docks. He pushed passed Drew and Brock who were entering with Anabel and Dawn behind them.

"What's going on?" asked Dawn curiously.

"That dumb brat Natsu stole one of the S-ranked missions and Grey’s gone after him. If Erza were here, she’d keelhaul them," Makarov grumbled.

"What was the mission? “Brock asked.

"It seems the islanders are under a curse that they want broken,” Makarov explained, as if such a thing were commonplace, “I was waiting for Erza to come back and give her the mission. But Natsu's recklessness changed that."

Drew walked up to the master, looking thoughtful. "What if it's a curse that’s caused by a kaijuu? Master, please send us, we can handle it. Natsu has his gear too if something were to happen."

Under normal circumstances, Makarov would’ve said no. But Drew and his friends _were_ the only ones that could take down the monsters; if the mission involved a kaijuu, those brats would need help. "Very well, I’ll give you this mission: escort Natsu, Lucy and Grey to the island and back them in their efforts to combat the curse. If you find that there are Kaijuu involved, you are allowed to take over the mission and protect that island from any threats," Makarov told them firmly, "Mira, get me the paperwork," he asked the barmaid. Mira nodded and pulled out a piece of paper that he wrote on furiously.

Drew smiled. "What about interference from Erza?"

"If she comes after you, then she will be having to answer to me. She may be an S-class mage but interference in a mission can result in her being disciplined."

"And Natsu?"

"He’ll still face punishment, but it will be reduced based on his behavior."

Drew nodded abruptly and turned to his friends. "Grab your gear, let's rock!"

The four quickly took off heading towards the docks.

At the Magnolia Dock

Lucy shook in panic as she approached the dock, hiding behind Natsu. The pink-haired mage and Happy had broken into her house early that morning, telling her he’d stolen a mission. Not just any mission, but one of the S-Class missions! All that she knew was that it involved breaking a curse on some island. She would have said ‘no way,’ but Natsu had told her that part of the reward involved a Golden Spirit Gate Key. Unwilling to let that pass, she reluctantly followed the Dragon Slayer to the docks, where they had trouble finding a ride to the island. This was due to the fact that whenever they mentioned the island they clammed up.

"Oh man, why is everyone so scared of this island?" Lucy moaned, teary-eyed.

"It's because the island is cursed young lady," a fisherman told her matter-of-factly, "I can take you and your companion, but it might be a one way-trip."

Lucy gulped, but Natsu grinned victoriously. "Thanks, old man!"

A hand grabbed each of their shoulders, making Lucy leap up in surprise and Natsu growl at the familiar scent. "I knew I find you here!" a familiar voice grumbled, "You guys are in big trouble when we get back. You took that S-class mission without permission; you know what the punishment is!"

Natsu growled. "Shut up, droopy eyes, we ain’t gonna get kicked out for this; not before I prove we can handle this mission!"

Lucy was about to say something when another familiar voice called out. "Then it's a good thing I talked to Master before we left!" They all turned to see Drew, Brock, Dawn and Anabel above the dock looking ready to travel.

Natsu grinned gleefully. "What did gramps say?"

Drew chuckled as they stepped onto the dock. "Oh, make no mistake Natsu, you _are_ in trouble.” The pink-haired boy grumbled. “However, I convinced Master that this curse could be caused by a Kaijuu." He pulled out a piece of paper. "We have escort you while you investigate this curse. In the event a Kaijuu is involved, we’ll take control of the mission and protect the islanders." He glared at the dragon slayer seriously. "If you behave and do a good job, I might be able to convince him to be lenient. Bear in mind, my butt is on the line too. Understood?"

Natsu shook his head, scoffing. “We don’t need no babysitters! But, the more the merrier, I guess…”

Lucy sighed and smiled gratefully at the Riders. "Thank you. I feel a lot more comfortable with you guys coming along You have no idea how scared I was when Natsu basically kidnapped me to do this mission"

Dawn returned the smile. "No need to worry. With what we have, we can handle anything."

With that assurance they hopped onto the boat. The moment it started Natsu's motion sickness kicked in and he almost lost his lunch over the side. Lucy, in a bout of sympathy, lay Natsu's head on her lap and threaded his hair, making him stop shaking and nuzzle into her. Anabel saw this and smiled. "You two look natural together."

Lucy blushed. "N-no, it's just me being a nice person," she stuttered, making the two other girls laugh.

Drew shook his head and turned to the boat captain. "So, what's your story?"

"My name is Bobo. And this is the result of the curse of Galuna Island," he said morosely, holding up his hand to the shock of the others. It was scaled like a reptile's and clearly not human.

"You think a curse caused _this?"_ asked Brock.

"Yes. In fact, there’s is the island now," the boat captain pointed at the large island in the distance. It was large and shaped like a crescent moon. On one side of the island, they saw a large mountain that was giving off steam.

As they observed the island, the boat stopped. Lucy noticed this. "Um, why are we stopped?"

They turned to the boat captain, only to see that he had vanished. They frantically looked around for him as they assumed that while they were looking at the island he fell overboard. Anabel's ears picked up a roaring sound and they turned to see a tsunami heading towards them. As Lucy and Grey panicked, Drew glanced sharply at Dawn. "Dawn, freeze the wave!".

The Lolita nodded and stood up, pulling out her sword, Sylveon. She pointed at the wave and channeled energy into it, causing its edge to glow ice blue. **"Ice Beam!"** A white beam shot from the tip and struck the wall of water. The wave quickly froze solid getting Grey and Lucy to gasp in awe at the power she wielded. Once it froze, it cracked and shattered, making the boat rock strongly. The waves brought them closer to the island, close enough so that Anabel could telepathically push them ashore.

They disembarked and looked around. The beach had pretty white sand. Despite the seriousness of the mission, they couldn’t help be but amazed at the beauty of the unspoiled beach. Behind the beach were many palm trees, leading into a dense jungle. "Looks like a normal island. If there is a curse, it may not be visible from here,” Brock theorized.

Drew spotted a well-trodden path leading out from the beach and pointed. "Look. That might lead to a village. Come on."

The group followed the path, with Brock and Drew leading and the girls in the back. Lucy moaned about the humidity. "Oh man, my hair’s gonna be ruined! This reward better be worth it!"

"Relax, Lucy, just enjoy the walk. It's not often we can walk through a jungle like this," Anabel assured her.

"Besides, I got something for your hair you can use when we stop," Dawn offered.

The blonde looked behind her. She watched the two other girls, hand in hand under Dawn's parasol, walking without a care in the world and a small smile appeared on her face. If it wasn’t for the fact they were on a mission, she could be forgiven for thinking they were on a date. "Thanks. Doesn't it seem weird to be holding hands with…you know, another girl like that?"

Anabel smiled, but shook her head. "Not at all. At least to us," she said, squeezing Dawn's hand tenderly. The blue haired girl returned it by leaning into the empath.

Lucy almost squealed at how cute they were being; instead, she settled for a bright smile. They followed the boys until they reached a walled settlement. Drew cleared his throat. "Excuse us?” Is anyone here? We’re the mages from Fairy Tail!"

A few moments passed before two figures appeared at the top of the gate. "Are you really? Can you show us your guild marks?" one of them called down.

After revealing their marks, they were allowed through the gate. The inside of the village reminded the Earth Riders of some tribal village. The houses were made of bamboo and palm leaves. The houses were scattered throughout the village, though they were small in number. Mixed with the jungle, the Riders thought they were in the Caribbean or someplace like that. They were approached by a large group of people led by what appeared to be leader. The leader was a short elderly man in a green robe. "Thank you for coming,” he told them gratefully, bowing low, “I am Moka, the chief of this village."

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked Grey.

"Yes,” agreed the old man. Behind him, the sun began to dip below the horizon. “For the last few months, we become demons at night when the moon turns purple. For whatever reason, the transformation wears off at sunrise." At this, the sun completely set, basking the village in a violet glow. The change was dramatic as the villagers suddenly cried out in pain and doubled over, their bodies distorting and warping into monstrous forms. Most turned into what could be described as devils or imps, with horns and spade-like tails. This sudden change weirded out most of the group.

Natsu grinned. "That’s so cool!" he cheered, getting everyone to look at him in exasperation.

"Natsu, this isn’t cool. This curse could have ruined their lives! These people are desperate to end it,” Lucy growled.

Natsu rubbed his head sheepishly. "Ah, right…Sorry!"

Moka coughed. "Continuing our story. The transformation is typically harmless, but some completely lose themselves and we have to…to end them. My son, Bobo…” He hung his head, shivering slightly as he hugged himself. “Please, destroy whatever curse is causing this. Destroy the moon and we'll pay any price!"

Drew nodded, his face set. "I see. Well then, we shall do some exploring of the island in the morning to see if there is another cause. Till then, do you have a place for us to stay?"

Moka nodded and let them to a hut that had two rooms one for the girls and one for the guys. In the guy's room, they were discussing ways to end the curse.

"So, if we have to destroy the moon, how do we get there?" Grey asked.

"I know! Happy could!" Natsu offered, smacking his palm in revelation.

"No way, I can't fly that high!" Happy protested.

"Even if he could, destroying the moon would have disastrous consequences," Brock interrupted seriously.

"Brock's right,” agreed Drew, “The moon controls a lot of stuff here on Earthland, including the tides. Lose the moon and they go out of control. Besides, if the moon _was_ the cause, then we would have been affected in Magnolia. No, the issue has to be terrestrial in origin; maybe related to the kaijuu we’ve been facing. Anyway, we should look around in the morning.”

With that the boys killed the lights and went to bed.

Over with the girls, they were in their night clothes settling in for a quiet night. Lucy was in a blue shirt and pink pants, Anabel in her undershirt and shorts and Dawn in her nightgown. The empath was brushing her girlfriend's hair. Said girl had her eyes closed in bliss. Lucy watched them with a smile. "Your hair is amazing. It looks like silk,” she commented.

Dawn giggled. "I just care for it a lot. But there is something about someone like Anabel brushing that puts me at ease."

Anabel held the comb to Lucy. "Would you like to do a couple of strokes?"

Lucy was surprised that they would let her in on something so private. She took it and slowly brushed the blue-haired girl's locks, finding it soft to the touch. Dawn's sighs told her she was doing it right. A couple of minutes later, she finished.

"That felt _so_ good~ Thanks, Lucy," groaned Dawn, "Now let us return the favor.

Here, Lucy actually blushed, but allowed them to take a comb to her mid-back-length hair. She actually closed her eyes and almost nodded off at how gentle the two were being.

"Wow, you’ve got great hair Lucy," Dawn gushed feeling the strands.

"Thanks. My mother used to do this when she was alive. I forgot how nice this is," Lucy told her, almost slurring her speech from the effects of their ministrations.

Anabel held up a few strands, eyeing them idly. "Ever consider dying your hair?" she inquired.

"Dying, as in changing the color?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah, it would look pretty good on you. Of course, it's your choice because this would be without magic."

She pondered the idea. "I guess I could give it a shot."

Behind her the two girls smiled. "Alright, we'll try it one day. Anyway, let's turn in," Anabel announced.

She got up to kill the lights and then settled next to Dawn, who cuddled into her. Lucy smiled at the interaction, then closed her eyes, dreaming of her future.

Next Day

The mages headed deep into the jungle to locate potential objects that could create the curse on the village. Natsu, of course, was charging through the brush with his Axe, Urvan. With a mighty swing, he felled several trees and ruined the vegetation.

"Natsu, for crying out loud, slow down! Seriously, you're gonna do more damage to the jungle!" Drew growled.

For once, Natsu actually listened and turned to Drew, pouting like a child. "But Drew, I wanna fight something other than droopy-eyes!"

Anabel knew what would happen and stopped Grey from attacking Natsu. Meanwhile, Drew sighed. "Look, I know you want a fight, but you gotta be patient. A fight’s not going to come crashing through the jungle like some giant monster."

A roar came from the trees. They all turned into the direction of the sound to see a giant rat-like figure in a maid outfit stomping towards them, looking murderous with its blood-red eyes. Happy, despite being a cat, screamed like a girl and scurried away to hide with Lucy, who was riding in Horologium.

Drew groaned. "I was just kidding!" he shouted to the sky as they began to retreat. The rat took a deep breath and blasted out a noxious plume of gas from its mouth.

Anabel pulled out her chakram. "Cover your mouths!" She called out, holding her hand to her mouth. Dawn quickly pulled out Sylveon. **"Safeguard!"**

The group was covered in a mystical veil that protected against the toxic gas. But the smell was very strong, causing Natsu to pass out and Horologium to fall over.

"’Guys! What's going on? I can't see anything?’ she screams in panic,” said Horologium in a bored tone

Drew pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth, grimacing. Then he grabbed Natsu and pulled at his shoulder. "Come on!" he yelled, dragging Natsu away. The mouse creature marched closer, intent on doing some damage. Grey, however, had an idea. He slapped his hands on the ground and channeled his magic, crying out, **"Ice Make: Floor!"**

A thick layer of frost spread out from his palms, coating the ground in seconds with a slick surface. The rat-like creature charged right onto the ice and promptly slipped, crashing into the jungle and out of sight.

Grey sighed. "Well, that was stupid," he grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He turned to see Natsu waking up and Lucy sending back her spirit. "So, now what?"

Lucy looked around and spotted a large building. "Over there, it looks like a large temple!" she exclaimed, pointing it out.

They followed Lucy's directions through the jungle towards the building. It had clearly seen better days, with vines strewn about and much of the brick cracked and weakened with age.

Natsu started to tap the ground and then hop on the floor to test its strength. Drew growled. ‘ _Oh my god, I did not sign up to be a babysitter!’_ “Natsu, will you relax for like, two minutes?!" he demanded.

"Why? It’s not gonna break the floor or anything," the dragon slayer replied energetically. The world decided to mock the group, because right then the floor cracked under Natsu's feet. Everyone looked down for a long moment, then all glared venomously at Natsu.

"Damn it NatsuUUUU!" The ground collapsed and they dropped into a long chute, yelling in fright. Finally, they landed in a large crystalline cavern. The gang groaned as they untangled from the fall.

"Natsu, come here," Drew calmly said. Natsu curious walked over. He then dropped to the ground in pain as Drew started walloping him with his hat. "NEVER SAY THAT!” he bellowed irately, “MURPHY'S. LAW. IS. KING!"

Taking a deep breath after Natsu's stupidity, Drew replaced his hat and looked around. "Soooo... where are we?"

Grey sat up and cranked his head to look as well. He gasped, getting the others to look in his direction. Dominating a majority of the space was a large ice monument that stretched to the top of the cavern. Frozen inside was a large, purple humanoid creature.

"Wonder what that is?" Brock asked.

"Deloria," Grey whispered, making the others look at him. "How could this be here?" He didn’t look around, but he could feel the others’ stares on his back. "Deloria…was the monster that killed my parents and people in my hometown. How in the world did it get here?!”

Lucy gazed up at the monster worriedly. "Could it be possible that the curse on the villagers and Deloria are connected?"

"I don't think, I know it's connected,” he replied. He fell silent, biting his lip, as if wondering what else to tell them. Finally, he said, “…My master, Ur, used a spell that sacrificed her life to imprison for all eternity, using her life force."

Natsu pounded his fists. "Let's break this thing and kill it!" That answer was met by a punch to the head. "Why me!?"

"Idiot, if that thing got free, then none of us would survive!" Grey snarled, “And don’t try to smash up my teacher’s life force after I just explained it, you molten-brained _moron!”_

Drew glanced at Anabel, ignoring the slapstick going on off to the side. "You feel anything?" he asked.

The empath closed her eyes. "I feel two signatures, very faint. One is the monster, and I feel that the other is slowly draining out of the ice.” Then she gasped. "There are three more incoming!"

"Over there!" Brock ordered, pointing to a pile of rocks. They all snuck into cover and watched as three people appeared. One was a man with spiked blue hair, dressed what could be described as a green Chinese outfit. One was a red-haired woman that dressed like Dawn, only darker and less frilly. The third person looked like a dog-man, with brown hair, no shirt and blue pants.

"Oh, my poor Angelica~” the woman whined dramatically, “Whoever hurt her is going to pay!"

"At ease, Sherry, your rat’s fine,” said the blue-haired man impatiently, “However, this does create a problem. There are obviously intruders on this island. They need to be eliminated." He held up a small object, something that even from distance they could tell was a kaijuu drive. However, they could not make out the name on it. "We paid good money to get everything here and I will _not_ have it destroyed because of the villagers. Soon, we’ll have enough moonlight to succeed."

As they talked, Brock looked around for a way to get those three to leave. Spying a pebble, he kicked it up into his hand and threw it at a wall near the enemy mages, making a clatter. The dog like mage perked up and looked over to where he heard the sound. "What was that?"

"Must be those intruders. No matter, we’ll deal with them once this ritual is complete,” the man said dismissively, “This plan can’t be stopped now. Emperor Cold must be notified."

As the three strangers wandered away, the group emerged from behind the rocks. "Well, that adds credence to the theory that this ritual and the curse the villagers are related. But the relation is circumstantial at best," Brock theorized.

"Should we go after them?" asked Dawn.

"No," said Grey, getting everyone’s attention, "I am staying to make sure that Deloria stays like this.” He glared up at the frozen demon. “I will not let Ur's sacrifice be in vain!"

Drew sighed, but said, "He's right. They’re likely to come back. May as well sit tight."

Natsu took this advice to heart and went right to sleep on the floor. The others also sat down, with Brock creating a table to play cards.

Lucy groaned. "I'm bored. What to do?" she asked herself, "Oh I know!" She pulled out one of her silver keys, eyes sparkling. This one had a blue harp on the end of the handle. **"Open, Gate of the Harp: Lyra!"**

The familiar bell sound of a spirit summoning was heard, and a puff of pink smoke appeared. Once it cleared up, a very bright and happy young girl was revealed. For her outfit, she wore a modest, soft-looking blue dress, with heart-shaped patches sewn on the skirt and a pink bonnet/hood. She also had a small pair of wings, between which was slung a large harp.

Lyra was waving her arms energetically. "Long time no see, Lucy!"

"Hi, Lyra." Lucy smiled gently at one of her friendlier spirits.

Suddenly the winged girl pouted at her. "Sheesh, Lucy, you never _call_ me anymore! I want to help out more often, you meanie!"

"But you only let me call you a couple of times a month," Lucy explained, much to the harpist's shock.

"S-so, what would you like me to sing today?" Lyra asked, regaining her composure.

"How about whatever you like?" Lucy requested kindly.

"What about a song about fish?" Happy chimed in.

Lyra ignored him and held up her thumb with a smile. "Alright! One beautiful song, ready to go~!"

Lucy smiled at the others. "Lyra is an incredible singer," she praised, “She can come up with songs for every situation!”

Lyra started to strum her harp and began to sing. The melody was soft, but sorrowful, almost like a parent weeping for a child. But the music did its job and relaxed everyone. Dawn and Anabel even released their Pokémon to listen to it as it echoed through the cavern. All save Grey, who was facing the captive Deliora. The music reminded him of Ur, who was more of a mother than a teacher to him. All of these thoughts made him start to tear up.

Anabel noticed the change in his emotions. "Grey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing. It's just…" he trailed off.

"It's okay to cry, you know. We all miss someone dearly," she assured him.

Grey was about to deny it but decided not to as Lyra changed her song.

Several hours later, they all fell asleep. Drew and Ash were leaning against a wall, while Brock slept next to them in a sleeping bag. Anabel and Dawn instinctively cuddled together near the black-haired trainer. Grey was still sitting near Deloria, and Natsu was snoring his arm subconsciously around Lucy. The ground shook violently, startling them. Lucy was the first to recover. "What's going on?" she asked frantically as the others awoke in shock. They all watched as a purple circle appeared in the ceiling and a large beam struck the frozen monster.

"What the? Is that light is shining down on Deloria?" Lucy gasped.

"The purple light. Is it moonlight?" Grey wondered in horror.

"It has to be, there is too much going for it be a coincidence!" Brock yelled.

"The source has to be above us! We got to go now!" Drew ordered. Searching around the cave, they found the stairs that the non-inhabitants had used. As they climbed, they found another room, with the same magic circle going through the floor.

"It's going through the floor?" asked Dawn, shocked.

"Keep moving!" Drew called out as he passed. After a few moments, they reached the top of the ruins. They observed that the spell wasn't limited to the ground but stretched high into the sky, almost touching the moon. Surrounding the circle was a group of priests swathed robes, ducking behind the rocks.

"What’re they doing to the moon?" Natsu asked.

"It looks like they are taking the light straight from the moon and converting it into the purple energy that's shining onto Deliora," Brock realized.

"But what for?" Lucy wondered.

"Ah, I see what's going on," Lyra suddenly spoke up, said surprising everyone. Mostly Lucy because she thought the spirit left.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked her spirit.

"It's Moon Drip, a Belanese spell,” replied the younger girl, watching the light, “They’re gathering Moon Drip to revive the demon."

"Impossible! Iced Shell is unmeltable!" Grey retorted.

"Not with Moon Drip,” she disagreed, “The Focused energy can break any enchantment, even Ice Shell. In fact, it's possible that this spell is what is causing the curse the villagers believe they are under.”

"Those bastards don't know what they're dealing with!" Grey snapped. "If Deloria is revived, no one will survive! They-!" He would have continued, but Drew dragged him down as four people appeared. In addition to three from before, there was also a tall, armored figure that looked like the leader. He wore a grey cape and a silver helmet with two ram horns which had its mouthpiece removed. The helmet prevented a good look at his face as he walked with a purpose.

"So that's the Emperor huh?" asked Anabel.

"Looks frightening," said Lucy worriedly.

"I think it looks cool!" Happy chimed in, as blind to the atmosphere as ever.

The blue haired man sighed. "Can't believe we had to wake up early handle something that could have been nothing.”

"Were there even intruders!?" yelled the dog man.

The armored figure ignored them and stopped a few feet away from the circle. "Deloria is still not revived?" he asked without preamble, looking down through the hole.

Sherry shook her head. "No, but we are close, Emperor. Tonight, or tomorrow night at the latest." She morphed her face into a depressed frown. "We thought that there were intruders earlier today, based on what we heard from the village. But we couldn't find them…Haah, I am unworthy of love…"

The man waved her off, looking bored. "We've come too far to be stopped by random intruders.

"Yes, the only people on the island are the villagers," Sherry told him.

The man nodded and stretched out his hand imperiously. "Go eradicate the village. I don't want them interfering so close to victory.

"Right!" The three saluted and dashed off.

Drew narrowed his eyes. "Anabel, Brock, Dawn, go intercept and protect the village. This mission is now under our jurisdiction!" he ordered.

"Roger!" the three replied, sneaking away.

Natsu, on the other hand, only growled. "I'm tired of sneaking around." He leapt up and let loose a torrent of flames. The mystery man jumped and looked around; they couldn’t see his face, but his stance showed annoyance.

" _We're_ the ones that came to interfere!” roared the pinkette.

Lucy sighed and pulled out her keys. "He's so reckless!" she complained

"Can I help?" asked Lyra.

"No! Please go back!"

"Aw, you big meanie!" the young girl pouted as Lucy dismissed her.

"Guys, get a freaking move on!" Drew ordered. "Lucy go with them!"

"What are you three waiting for? Go destroy the village! Make sure they can’t interfere anymore!”

The man's subordinates nodded and chased after the fleeing Riders, who already had a great head start. Meanwhile Grey, who had been frozen, charged at the man. "Damn you! You won’t complete this ritual!" he roared. He clenched his fists and punched the ground, generating a wave of frost, which rushed over the ground towards the masked man. The man leapt up and slammed his own hand down, sending an equally large wave of ice to match Grey's attack. The two attacks collided, the edges splintering and ‘retreating’ as they cancelled each other out.

Grey slid back. "Damn you, Lyon! What the hell are you doing, trying to revive Deliora!

At Grey's shout, Drew and Natsu looked at the ice mage in shock. "Wait a minute, you know this nutjob?”

“You know him, Stripper?"

The man chuckled and removed his helmet, revealing a silver haired man. "So, you were one of the mages sent here by the guilds, Grey,” he greeted lowly, “It's been a while. Did you come here knowingly, or was it only coincidence?"

Natsu growled and charged in, much to Grey's shock. Lyon held up his hand and summoned a magic circle. The dragon slayer was caught in his spell and frozen in a block of ice.

Even encased in ice, the pinkette was undaunted. " When I get out of here, you’re toast! You don’t mess with Fairy Tail!" he declared, flames bursting from his fingers.

Grey glanced at the frozen slayer, then casually kicked him down the hill. Natsu screamed as he barrel-rolled down the incline. “You bastaaaaard…!”

Drew swore. "God damn it! Don't do anything reckless!" He called out as he chased after the fallen Dragon slayer.

Lyon shook his head. "You really are something. Isn't he your friend? No matter. Your friends can't stop Sherry and the others. Especially with what they have."

The dark-haired boy snarled; fists clenched. "I don’t think you understand their power, Lyon. Stop acting like you’re superior to me; you're no longer Ur's student!"

"Neither are you, Grey. Because she is no longer of this world. And thanks to this," here he held up a driver like the one Grey had seen Erigor use, "I will avenge her."

"You're insane! She gave her life for us and you're going to ruin it?!"

For a moment, the other boy’s expression twisted into something darker, bitter and resentful. "Don't fool yourself. You’re the one that killed Ur! If anyone should have died that day, it's you!" Lyon snarled, slamming the drive into his neck. His body grew, becoming more cat like. Curved, gouging claws sprang from his fingertips, his muscles roiled and swelled, and great fangs extruded from his maw. In his place stood a bipedal lion, with silver fur that looked like the very ice he controlled.

 **"And as Tundra Mane, you will fall!"** he growled, raising a taloned paw, **"Frozen Claw!”** The beast swung down with all his might, carving a visible series of crescents out of the air. They howled like the winter winds as they sheared towards Grey, freezing and cutting the stone as they passed.

The shirtless boy clapped his hands and crossed his arms, summoning a thick ice shield to block the attack. The kaiju's claw wave tore through the shield like a knife through butter and knocked him back into the wall. Even as the impact drove the air from his lungs, Grey noted that the cuts had been blunted a bit. _That attack cut through the stone and my shield like nothing, but I’m fine? Something’s up, here…_ he thought, his eyes narrowing.

" **What's wrong Grey? Guilt weighing you down. You should just give up. I will revive Deliora and avenge Ur!"** Mane boasted

Grey snarled. "Shut up!' He clapped both his hands together to create another spell, circle flaring from his palms.

Mane laughed. **"You still need two hands? I haven't had to in a long time. I was always the stronger and older student.”**

"Damn you! **Ice Make: Geyser!"** Grey punched the ground, the stone beneath the monstrous lion cracking open. In an instant, a massive pillar froze solid from that spot, trapping Tundra Mane. However, his triumph was short lived as the tower broke apart and collapsed.

 **"Nothing has changed. Our paths are different, but our time is frozen and unchanged," Mane said with pity, ignoring the prior attack. He held up his hand, a white circle forming from it. "Dragon's Maw!"** A large Serpentine dragon formed underneath Grey. It slithered towards the shirtless mage, circled him and then rammed into his jaw, sending him out of the ritual site. **"That’s why I'm going to melt the ice. I had thought Ur dying would keep me from surpassing her…But now, thanks to Moon Drip and this form, my dream is back in reach. If I can defeat Deliora, the monster Ur was never able to defeat, I will finally surpass her!**

"Stop this! You can't do it!" Grey argued. "You’re insane, you _know_ how strong Deloria is!"

This seemed to cause something to snap in Ice Mane. **'"Stop this! You can't do it!"'** He thrust out his hands and fired off a series of ice spears from his fingers, striking Grey and holding him in place. **"We said the same thing that day you disobeyed Ur! You’re the reason she died! Disappear and be gone from my sight!"** He roared firing off another dragon, knocking Grey clear from the ritual site and over the edge of the hill.

Seeing his old friend gone, Ice Mane slowly morphed back into Lyon. "Goodbye, Grey," Lyon muttered, walking away.

Grey, however, wasn't dead. He was knocked unconscious further down the mountain and out of sight. He felt his shoulder being shaken. Regaining consciousness, Grey blinked the darkness away blearily. "W-what…?" His vision cleared and he saw Natsu out of his ice ball and Drew checking him over.

"Nice to see ya Grey. Sadly, we haven’t been able to find those four who are trying to revive Deliora," Drew told him.

Grey looked away. "I was outmatched. He transformed into this lion-like monster and just…I don't know." He gritted his teeth in frustration.

"If we were here, we might have been able to fight them. But that's not important. The villagers come first. We can get Dawn to patch you up!"

Grey nodded and looked coolly at Natsu. "And what’re you doing here, Flame Brain?"

"I was trying to find the village and got lost. Drew found me and freed me. Come on, we gotta go!"

Drew called out his Flygon, helped everyone on and flew to the village. Grey, having been put through the ringer by his fight, fell asleep along the way. A few minutes later they landed outside the village. Hopping off Flygon, they took two steps forward, only to then yelp in surprise as they fell in a hole beneath them.

"Well, this is familiar," Drew groaned.

"Oh my gosh guys, are you alright?!" Lucy screamed over the hole.

"Yeah, but damn this reminds me of Team Rocket," He replied. Brock walked up and helped them out of the hole, stomping his foot to raise the bottom.

"Sorry, we were trying to catch anyone attacking the village," admitted the blonde.

Anabel looked up. "I think we got bigger problems! Look!" she cried in shock, pointing. They all turned to see the giant rat monster, somehow flying with its tail. Putting aside the ludicrous image, it was also carrying a large vat of some sort of green substance in its paws. Some of it spilled and splashed on a tree, eating away at leaves and bark.

"It's acid! Get the villagers away!" Drew ordered instantly, sprinting towards the village. The others followed behind wordlessly.

Natsu, however, sprinted towards the giant rat. "Happy, let's go!"

“Aye!”

Grey moved to join his rival, but the Dragon Slayer punched him the gut and knocked him out. Natsu and Happy charged into the sky. As they did so, Sherry looked down in glee.

"Alright Angelica, drop that Double Poison Jelly!"

Angelica hissed and tipped the green mass onto the village below. Natsu flew close enough and leaned back, taking a deep breath. **"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"** He let loose a large torrent of flame that engulfed the green acid. The heat of the flames rapidly evaporated the solution, leaving only a noxious cloud to drift away.

Sherry pouted. "No fair!" she complained. Then she spotted the villagers fleeing. "Angelica, go after the villagers!"

Dawn spotted the monster going towards the evacuating people. "Oh no you don't!" She grabbed Lucy, who was debating how to fight the monster and channeled energy into her legs. They rocketed towards the rat and latched onto her legs. Pulling out Sylveon, the blue haired girl stabbed its ankle. It roared, struggling to shake off its unwanted passengers. The pain made its tail-based flight falter, and eventually caused it to crash land outside the village. The impact sent the two attackers rolling off into a fighting stance.

Sherry leaped off her pet rat, steam blowing out her ears as her lovely face twisted in fury. "Damn you! How dare you hurt my precious Angelica!" she shrieked, looking a good deal less composed than before. She held up her hand to reveal a silver and gold device with the word ‘CLOCKWORK’ written on it. "This had better work!" She jammed it into her arm. Her body gained a metallic sheen and her eyes became a soulless blue, with lines running down her cheeks. The rest of her body liquified into a silver and gold armor as she finished her transformation

 **"I am Orianna!"** she said in a metallic voice **"And I must destroy you for Lyon's love!"**

Dawn narrowed her eyes and reached into her pocket. She grabbed her buckle and placed it on her waist, the belt forming from it. Lucy reached down and unhooked Taurus's key. **"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"**

Dawn spun around, then flipped her lever and shouted out, **"HENSHIN!"**

**EVOLVE**

Now in her Hanabi armor, she set herself to fight. Orianna was more focused on in removing Lucy from the fight, allowing the Rider to pull a card of her Pachirisu a swiped it.

**DISCHARGE**

She struck the ground, sending waves of electricity from the tip of her sword to strike Orianna. Her metallic parts were perfect conductors for the electric attack. The voltage nearly shorted her out

 **"Damn you! You won’t defeat me that easily. Doll Magic: Wood Doll!"** She held out her hand, making a large green circle appear. A wooden golem taller than the girls rose out of it, timber creaking ominously as a lone eye gleamed from its crudely carved face. **"Take out that tramp!"** commanded the homicidal automaton, pointing towards the armored Rider. The wooden doll charged at Hanabi, forcing her to backflip out of the way. The metal kaijuu turned to Lucy. **"Now then, you're a Celestial mage… gehehehe, my perfect prey."** At Lucy's confused look, she explained. **"My doll magic can take control of anything that isn't human. Like your Celestial Spirits!"** She held out her hand; several puppet strings suddenly extended from her fingertips, glimmering, and shot towards Taurus. The wires connected with the bull, sending energy into him and began its hypnosis.

Taurus struggled against the binds, his powerful muscles straining in vain. "I'm sorry, Miss Lucy... but this magic... is too strong!" He gasped. A few moments later, his eye dull almost. **"Now he's under my control! Taurus, strip her!"** Orianna demanded.

Taurus grinned maliciously and leaped towards Lucy, who panicked and tripped. She crossed her arms over her chest and screamed, mortified as her normally trusted spirit loomed over her like a hungry wolf.

**REFLECT**

At the last second a pink barrier appeared between Lucy and her spirit. Everyone looked at Hanabi who looked as pristine as ever dashing from the fallen golem.

"Lucy, call back your spirit!"

 **"She can't!”** Orianna taunted, **"In order for her to return her spirits, both spirit and contractor need to be in agreement to send the spirit back. With me in control, that can’t happen.”**

** ICE BEAM **

A beam of cold blue light went sailing past the robot girl, careening away uselessly into the sky. **“THAT THE BEST YOU GOT? LORD LYON COULD DO THAT WITH HIS EYES CLOSED!”**

Hanabi didn’t looked perturbed. In fact, she smiled as Orianna dismissed her attack. Unbeknownst to the other two, the acidic cloud that had formed from Natsu’s flame attack had reached their battle site as a hazy green fog. Using what she knew about meteorology, she’d deliberately fired the cold beam into the clouds, causing them to start condensing

Lucy stood up on shaky legs and channeled her magic regardless. "Taurus, go back to the Spirit World!" she ordered

Taurus ignored her and kept trying to break through the Reflect barrier, single-mindedly smashing it with his fists. Lucy was still trying to get her spirit to vanish. She saw the cracks in the barrier and knew she was running out of time. Lucy tried one more time. "Taurus, I command you! Go Home!"

This time the order seemingly got through as suddenly the bull disappeared in a flash of light. Orianna was impressed even if her face couldn't show emotion. **"You must have a lot of magic to use a Forced Gate Closure."**

**ANCIENTPOWER**

Her musings were cut off as the ground broke apart underneath her and sent her flying.

"Forget about me?" Hanabi taunted.

Orianna staggered from where she fell, her weight making her sink into the surprisingly soft ground. As she glared at the armored Rider, she felt something wet drip onto her metal body. The fact that she actually felt it was what clued her in. She looked up and gasped. It was a cloud of green fog that was drizzling directly on her. And where each drop landed, her metal skin started to sting, a burning sensation slowly building until she couldn’t ignore it.

“Recognize it?” asked Hanabi, cocking her hip, “That’s the cloud left over from your rat’s acid shower. I wasn’t aiming at you; I was aiming at _that_. The cool air has condensed the acid into a rain shower, which should happen right about...now.”

At that moment, the cloud opened up, _really_ deluging the metallic woman with its caustic rain. Orianna screamed as the acid ate away at her armor, turning soil beneath her into grasping, burning muck that might as well have been quicksand. When the shower stopped, the once intimidating monster was nothing more than a twisted exoskeleton, barely able to stand.

 **“Ge...geeeeh…”** she wheezed, her voice tiny and faint, **“I feel…hea...vy…”** Gravity began to draw her down, her now-spindly legs twisting, metal fraying and snapping.

Hanabi pulled out two more cards, one with her Pipulp and one with her Cyndaquil and charged them up. “Time for your final performance!”

**FLAME WHEEL: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**DRILL PECK: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: SPIRALING FANG**

Flames erupted around Hanabi, tracing a line down her silver blade. Pouring power into her legs, she sprinted forward, her sword thrust out in front her in a streak of fiery light. With a loud cry, she ran the automaton through, blazing rapier punching through steel. The armored warrior stopped herself behind her opponent. and stood proudly in the moonlight. "This performance is over!" she declared. With a fluid motion, she gave one final swing, sending the last few fingers of flame spilling off her blade to dissipate.

Orianna, who was now feeling the pain from multiple directions, screamed and exploded into a massive fireball. Surprisingly, when the blast died down, Sherry was shown to be relatively unharmed, albeit unconscious.

Hanabi powered down and walked to the fallen girl. She picked up the device that transformed Sherry and put it in her pocket. "Seems like your little scheme is over," Dawn taunted.

"Thanks Dawn," Lucy praised. "Come on, we need to help the others finish this mission."

"No, you won't!" A powerful voice stopped the two in their tracks. They turned to see Erza approaching them with a furious expression.

"Oh, hey Erza. I'm glad you came," Lucy started, but one look at the red headed knight’s face shut her up.

"You’re all in big trouble!” snarled the knight, “Not only did you go on an S-class quest, but you also took it without authorization! I’m here to bring you back to answer for your dereliction of duty!"

Dawn's normally passive look turned angry. "Dereliction!? We _have_ permission to be here! You're not being fair on us!"

Erza turned to the other girl, glaring unyieldingly. "I don't care! You took a mission you shouldn’t have and I'm here to see you get punished properly. Better pack your bags, because I don't think you’ll be a member much longer!"

Dawn tried to explain their situation, but Erza pulled a length of rope out of nowhere. In an instant both girls were wrapped tightly in the thick bonds. She hefted them up onto her shoulders with little effort and marched back to the village. Dawn and Lucy struggled furiously in their binds while trying to get Erza’ attention to free them, to no avail.

With Natsu and Drew

While Dawn and Lucy handled Sherry, Natsu and Drew spotted Sherry’s two friends, standing in their way. "There you are! Time to light them up!" Natsu roared. ** "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"** As he charged forward, his fists aflame, the blue haired man chuckled and held up his hand. A light blue wave shot out, encased Natsu and negated the flames, much to his surprise. “Eh? What the-?!”

"Let me explain. My name is Yuka, and this is my Wave magic. Any magic caught in its wake will be negated.” He chuckled, folding his arms behind his back. “Now then, I hope you're ready to die," he declared, powering up his spell further to snuff out Natsu.

Natsu struggled against the spell as he felt it crushing him from all sides. Then, for the first in his life he actually thought about his attack, "If I can't hit you directly, then all I need to do is attack you outside of your spell!" And to Yuka's shock, Natsu reached outside the spell, freeing him of the effects of the spell. Yuka’s last image of consciousness was of Natsu igniting his elbow and using the flame to propel his fist and drill him into a tree behind them.

The dog man gasped in shock, then howled and turned to Drew. "You'll pay for that!" His fingernails suddenly lengthened into claws and his hands became visibly infused with electricity. "I'm Toby and my lightning claws will tear you apart for messing with master Lyon! Just one scratch and you’ll be wishing for _death!"_

Drew smiled. "Alright then. Oh but, uh, before you fight us, you’ve got something on your nose."

“Huh? Oh, thanks…” The man reached up to scratch whatever was on his face, only for his lengthened claws to pierce his forehead. Instantly he spasmed wildly and passed out, foaming at the mouth.

Drew shook his head, muttering, "Too easy." He looked at Natsu, who was watching his ‘fight,’ his expression set sternly. "That's what using your head does. We’re still at full energy and we can think about ending this mission tomorrow."

"But bashing stuff is more fun!" Natsu retorted as they headed back down the hill. 

"Well, sure, but it can you into trouble I'm gonna teach you that lesson if it kills me."

Natsu nodded hesitantly and headed back to the village. Returning to their hut, they were surprised to see Erza sharpening her sword. Looking to her left, they could see their friends tied up, Dawn and Lucy especially livid at their predicament.

"There you are! It's about time! You're in a lot of trouble with the guild master and me! Get your gear and let's go!" ordered the armored woman, her tone brooking no argument.

Dawn looked desperately at Drew. "I tried to explain, but she's more stubborn than a Tauros!"

Drew glared at Erza and stepped into her personal space. "No. We're staying! We've come too far on this mission to let someone like you end it for the sake of rules!"

"You broke the rules, so you'll get the full punishment of the guild and the master!" she roared.

"What about the villagers?" asked Anabel worriedly from next to Dawn.

"What about them?" Erza shot back darkly. She turned to yell at Drew, only to yelp in shock and pain as a fist smashed into her face. The impact lifted her off her feet and sent her sliding into the opposite wall, while Drew glared furiously at her, looking ready to burn her alive.

"How dare you?" he growled. "We are _not_ leaving these villagers to die because of some sense of…of _superiority!"_ He stomped over to his bag and pulled out the mission request. "Read this!" he demanded, thrusting the paper in her face. "It gave us the authority to watch Natsu, Grey and Lucy while they complete their mission. But it also gives us the authority to step in case if a kaiju showed up. Did anyone beat one of the kaijuu?"

"I did and the device is in my breast pocket. You can search me," pleaded Dawn in a panic. Internally, though, she was giggling at Erza’s dressing down.

Drew did so and pulled out the remnants of the drive. "Well what do you know, a kaiju drive?" He chuckled and glanced at Erza, who was in shock at the mission request. "Makarov told me that Natsu and anyone involved would still face punishment, but based on his behavior, I can argue for a more lenient sentence. You, on the other hand…"

Erza stepped back, clearly thrown off. "Wh-why would I get in trouble?! I was following the rules of the guild!"

"And it's because of those rules that you're in trouble too. Minimum, I could argue for outside interference from not needed help. Maximum, if we leave, you're going to have blood on your hands!" Drew explained coldly, "If what Grey said about Deloria is true, then these people, human or not, will be killed."

At that, Erza finally relented. "Fine! But I still demand you face your judgement at the guild!"

Drew shook his head. "Good luck with that," he muttered dismissively, freeing the rest of the group, "Now, what should we do? At the most, that ritual is going wake up Deliora tomorrow night."

"Should we wait for Grey?" asked Lucy.

"We can fill him in. Now we need ideas!" Drew ordered.

"Can we just wreck the ritual site?" asked Natsu.

Erza opened her mouth protest but Drew cut her off. "That…would actually work, surprisingly, but we need to be smart. We not only have to deal with the priests, but also Lyon. So, this calls for three teams."

"We can handle the priests," Anabel held up her and pointed to Dawn. "If we have Erza and Lucy as back-up they won't interfere."

"Then Brock and I can probably wreck the site or tilt it off balance. That leaves Natsu and Grey to take down Lyon," Drew concluded. At Natsu's protest, he patted him on the shoulder. "Of the two of you, you're the only one with a belt. Just back him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. He might make a desperate gamble."

Natsu nodded reluctantly and went to sleep to await the next day.

Next day at the Moon Drip Temple

Lyon looked at his subordinates from his throne with a frown. "So not only did you not destroy the village, but they defeated your Kaijuu form, Sherry?"

"I'm sorry Lyon. They had powers that could defeat my form. I am unworthy of love!" Sherry despaired, kowtowing to the silver-haired man.

"Toby's sorry, master Lyon!" Toby bawled.

"I apologize for my defeat, it was disgraceful," Yuka groveled.

"These Kamen Riders are no joke," a deep voice abruptly spoke up. Lyon turned to see a man dressed in a green robe. He wore a black and red mask, with his hair partially visible. "They have been easily dispatching kaijuu that have been sent their way and my master is growing concerned. We need to finish the ritual tonight; these Riders aren’t alone. They have the great Erza Scarlet helping them.”

Before Lyon could process this, the temple suddenly shook violently. They watched as the temple seemed to till to the right, causing the magic circles to vanish and the violet light to dissipate "What's going on?!" Lyon demanded.

Before anyone could answer, the door blew inward, flying a good few feet before slamming to the floor. The resulting smoke cleared revealed Natsu with his arms ignited and grinning broadly. "There you are you ice prick!"

Lyon stood up and approached the two mages holding his ICE driver in his hand. "So, you're alive, murderer. How fitting. That means I can watch you die properly!" He hammered the drive into his hand and changed back into Ice Mane. He charged at Grey claws out to decapitate him

**DRIVER ON! Please~!**

Only for Natsu to block the strike with Urvan. "Your fight is with me!" Natsu growled. He flipped the levers and placed the already set ring over the hand.

**FLAME! Please~! HI! HI! HI HI HI!**

The red magic circle enveloped Natsu, revealing his armored form. Mane's eyes narrowed as Draco pushed him back using the force of his axe. The axe eventually forced the lion kaiju away, sending him stumbling. Before he could react, Draco pointed and fired a shotgun blast into him. Mane roared in pain as to his surprise, the shot penetrated his fur and struck his stomach

He glared at Draco. **"You won’t stop me from completing _my mission!_ Ice Make: Eagle!"** Multiple icy birds fired from his hands and soared towards the armored Rider. Draco quickly swung his axe created a wall of flames to melt the ice. Some still made it through the attack and sped towards the Rider. Only to meet an Ice shield, courtesy of Grey, who had jumped in front of the armored Rider.

"You still have me, Lyon!" Grey called out.

"Thanks Stripper!" Draco told him. He ignited Urvan and swung heavily into the ground splitting the ground. ** "Fire Dragon's Rock Smash!"**

The impact created a large shower of rocks that radiated out in a wide cone, ignited by Draco’s magic to create a shower of blazing shrapnel. Ice Mane tried to leap out of the way of the fiery shards as they came speeding towards him. However, there was too many and took some of the sharp rocks to the face.

 **"You’ll pay for that!"** Mane hissed. Then the temple shook and suddenly the purple circle of the Moon Drip appeared again.

Mane laughed maniacally. **"You see that, Grey?! nothing can keep me from our goal!"**

Draco tapped the side of his helmet. "What the heck happened, guys!? I thought you broke the ritual!"

" _We did! But then this guy just appeared and did something that fixed the temple like we never touched it!”_ Drew called over the comms, _“We’re pursuing him into the jungle!"_

Before Draco could react, a hand grabbed his shoulder. "Go. I have some unfinished business with Lyon," said Grey, staring stonily at the silver lion.

Draco glanced at his rival and then nodded. "Don't do anything stupid, stripper. Ur didn't sacrifice herself to make you do the same. Just do your thing and then come help us out," He ordered. Ad Grey’s nod, he placed his hand on his helmet. "I'm on my way, Grey can handle the kaijuu here.

"… _Roger. There you are! (BANG BANG) Damn it! Brock, try to corner her-!"_ Natsu cut the comms and then rocketed out of the room.

"You're not leaving my sight!" Mane roared, firing off more ice shards from the fur in his arms. They were blocked by another ice geyser appearing from his right.

"And I'm not letting you out of _my_ sight!" Grey yelled back defiantly.

Mane chuckled. "That's fine. I can finally get revenge for Ur's Murder!" He began to charge up another attack.

Grey stood firm staring down the kaiju as he charged up his attack. _If I let Lyon by, then Deloria will be unleashed!_ His heart echoed through his chest. _Ur's sacrifice will be in vain!_ Another heartbeat this time it seemed to shake the room. _I won't let that happen!_

"Goodbye, Grey! **Frozen Embrace!"**

A gigantic wave of ice formed from his hand and rushed towards Grey, retaining that shape. His confidence in his attack blinded him to the glowing that came from Grey That is, until the wave stopped and then shattered

"WHAT!?" Mane roared.

Grey smirked as the glow died down to reveal a small hand on a metallic belt. In his hand were two rings, one that matched the hand and the other an icy blue.

"Time for you to feel the power of the hunt!" Grey declared. He slipped the hand ring onto his finger and slapped it to his belt.

**DRIVER READY!**

He flipped the lever, turning the hand, and slipped on the ice blue ring.

**READY TO HUNT!**

He punched the air in front of him and formed a claw. He yelled out a familiar word.

"HENSHIN!"

He slammed the hand over the belt.

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

The belt let out a howl as he raised his hand over his shoulder. A blue magic circle appeared above his hand and covered him. Where Grey stood a light blue armored figure. The form itself was leaner and more bestial than Draco’s. His boots came up to his knees, an icy blue that matched his jacket and gloves. On his head was a blue helmet that looked like a wolf with round yellow eyes.

Grey clawed his hand across his torso. "Stalking closer, the Wolf of the Frozen Plains…" He slashed his hand. Then he leapt up then landed with his right leg forward. "Kamen Rider Lupus!"

Tundra Mane took a step back in a panic. "Impossible… _you're_ a Rider?!"

Lupus nodded and reached behind his back to pull out a collapsed metal halberd. It was a metallic gray, with a pale blue crystal near the edge of the weapon. Like Urvan, the weapon was segmented as if it had multiple forms. Extending it with a flick, he gave it a twirl and charged towards Ice Mane. He swung low across the ground, wordlessly generating a sheet of ice, from which sprang large spears that knocked Ice Mane back

He hissed in pain as several spires jabbed harshly at his thick fur. **"I will not be defeated here! Ice Make: Tiger!" **

He held up his hand to summon another blue circle and a large crystal tiger charged out of its t. It roared and leapt at Lupus, mouth open unnaturally wide and full of saber-like fangs. The Rider calmly charged up magic in his Halberd and called out, ** "Ice Make: Cage!" **Lupus stabbed the blade into the tiles. From its edge arced numerous thin, silvery spikes of ice, forming into a large cage that quickly enclosed the tiger. From his position above the cage, he leapt up and brought the polearm down, thrusting it into the Ice Mane's shoulder. However, the impact jarred his arm slightly when, instead of penetrating his flesh, the blade glanced off an equally silvery armor of thorns. “What?!”

**“Hah! Looks like there’re benefits to this fur after all! I’ll call this one… Ice Make: White Nettle!”**

However, the momentum still carried Lupus’s attack through the fur and struck his shoulder, drawing blood. The kaijuu roared in pain and fired off another icy cat, only for the rider to leap back and dodge it easily. "Because you use one hand you lack the ability to focus and control your spells. Ur told us to use two hands to control the creation process!"

"Don't speak her name, murderer!" Mane snapped.

 **"Ice Make: Mound!** **"** Mane was caught off guard as Lupus used the distraction to grab him and pin him to the floor. Immediately a thick coating of ice swelled from the ground and encased the beast. "You’re right. I _was_ the cause of Ur's death…but I will not be the reason Deloria walks the Earth!" he declared, “She gave up her life to seal him away, _so don’t act like you’re thinking about her, you jackass!”_ He pulled out another ring, bearing a scale model of his Halberd. Slipping it on, he thrust it over his buckle.

**FINAL HUNT**

Lupus spun the halberd behind him and powered it up, glowing blue. Ice crystals gathered around the blade, forming up into a massive cleaver of ice. He dashed across the frosted ground, gliding as he picked up speed. With one triumphant yell, he whirled around, using the momentum to send the polearm crashing through Ice Mane, skidding to a stop.

"This Hunt is over," Lupus announced coolly, staring down his foe. Tundra Mane roared and exploded. When the smoke cleared, Lyon was lying on the ground, stunned and bruised, but awake. Lupus walked over to his former friend. "You know, after Ur died, I was feeling guilty and weak, almost like you are now. But I didn’t give in to despair and found a new family. Sure, we fight, but that’s what family does. You remember that, right?”

Before Lyon could retort, the ground shook. Lyon chuckled weakly. "Deloria is waking up. You can't stop me from achieving my dream."

"What dream? Doing what even Ur couldn’t do?" At the silver-haired boy’s look of surprise, Lupus snorted. “Of course, that’s what it was. It was a dream to make her proud of you…and now you’re going to spit on her sacrifice. But I _won’t_ let that happen, not while I draw breath.” With that, he ran off. When he arrived at the chamber, he could see the others already in their armored forms. Lucy and Erza stood ready to summon their spirits and weapons respectfully.

Draco turned and grinned. "Well how about that? Stripper is a Rider too. Awesome!"

"We can worry about celebrating later. Right now, we need a plan to end this thing before it gets up!" Zodiac barked.

Kyokan closed her eyes to determine how much power this monster had, to see if they could even fight it at all. To her surprise, not only was the melting ice losing its Aura, but so was the monster itself. Instead preparing to fight, she relaxed her stance.

Hanabi noticed this. "What’s up, Kyo?"

"Well…I think whatever was in the ice drained the power out of Deliora. In effect, I think it’s dead, or close enough to it."

Zodiac heard this, then relaxed, getting Onyx and Hanabi to do so as well

Erza looked at them incredulously. "What are you doing?"

"Kyokan has the best sense when it comes to detecting internal energy. If she says that this guy is dead, I'll trust her. She has rarely proven us wrong!"

Draco grinned and pounded his fists. "If you guys don't want to fight, then I will!"

The ice began to steam and slough off the monster, revealing his full size. Lupus stood with his weapon at his side, alongside Draco, against his childhood tormentor. But before he could even prepare an attack, Deloria's arm abruptly cracked, split and fell off. This was followed by its other arm, its legs and then its head all collapsing into a heap.

They watched for a few moments, in case the monster would try anything, but it was down for the count. Zodiac sighed as everyone powered down, Grey getting some help turning it off. "Looks like in her final act of life, Ur killed Deliora, over the seven years she had it imprisoned." He looked down at the water flowing out of the cave. "Now her body is heading out to sea." He glanced at Grey, giving him a small smile. "In a way, I think it’s fitting you saw the end of it."

Grey looked down, biting his lip. "I guess you're right…" He looked at where the Deloria had stood before his face twisting with emotion. His vision swam and his eyes burned. "…Good-bye, Ur." He turned to walk away but felt dizzy. "Must have taken more out of me than I thought."

"It's the power backlash. First time users get overloaded, remember? Don't worry, after some rest you'll be back to normal," Drew said, holding him from falling on his face Grey nodded and drifted off to sleep.

Erza finally spoke. "That’s all well and good, but the mission was to remove the curse. We haven't done that! We need to head back to the village."

Drew nodded and then dropped Grey in Erza's arms. "You shouldn't be here. You carry him. And be gentle.” Dumping him on the red head’s shoulders they headed back down the mountain

In the village, the town was no longer a smoldering wreck, due to some unknown magic. The Riders were still debating on what to do about the curse, as when they asked Lyon, he had no clue as to how they had fallen to a spell.

Dawn happened to look up at the moon and tilted her head. "What?" She took a closer look and saw that something was reflecting the moonlight. "Guys? What if something was covering the village.”?

Drew looked up. "Then when they asked to destroy the moon, what if it means the key to breaking it was throwing it straight up?"

Erza approached the center of the village, wearing a set of massively bulky, blue and gold armor that shook the ground as she walked. Upon reaching the middle, she summoned a humongous spear. She hefted it up and through it like it was a rocket straight at the moon. As it went, the spear suddenly a barrier and punched through it, revealing the blackened night sky. As the dome shattered, the villagers suddenly morphed back into their demon forms, to their immense surprise.

"It would seem that whatever their curse was, it made them forget that they weren't humans to begin with," Erza theorized. Meanwhile, Moka enjoyed a tearful reunion with his son, who was revealed to be the boat captain who’d brought them to the island. The villagers flew off into the night sky to celebrate the curse being broken.

The next day they all prepared to disembark on the ship Erza used to get to the island. She had tried to refuse all of the reward, but Drew overrode her and split the money up between everyone except her. Lucy also got one of the Zodiac keys, this one being Sagittarius. As they left on the boat, tension between Drew and Erza could be felt between their friends and they felt it was only a matter of time before they would come to blows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER  
> UO: That took a little longer than I wanted but I wanted to squeeze this arc into one chapter because of stuff further down the line.  
> NS: And damn/thank you for that!  
> UO: Sorry  
> New Riders  
> Lupus: The Wolf. Grey's never give up attitude has awoken his destiny as Kamen Rider Lupus. His armor is based on the Mage gear from Kamen Rider Wizard, while his weapon is based on Neptune's weapon from RWBY. The constellation itself is a rather ordinary constellation near Libra in the southern horizon. However, it is home to one notable event. In 1006 AD the brightest object ever recorded was found in the Lupus constellation. Dubbed SN 1006, it was a supernova that was so bright that it could be seen during the day.  
> Preview: As the fallout from Galuna unfolds, a challenge humbles two proud fighters. This defeat opens one of their eyes to the folly of their power. Who are they? Find out.  
> Next Time: Fall From the pedestal


	9. Fall From the Pedestal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from the Galuna Mission results in a serving of Humble Pie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: I am so sorry (Sees studio in disrepair) Seriously what now?  
> Lucy: Sorry, I summoned Aquarius and she wrecked everything  
> Misty: I can confirm that. I actually had to stop the water.  
> UO: (Sigh) Damn it. Good thing I had the script. Everyone here?”  
> Erza: UO!!!!!!  
> UO: Knew this was coming. (Sees Erza in her Heaven’s Wheel Armor) Can I help you?  
> Erza: Change the script, you make me look weak!  
> UO: Author Style: Armor crusher (Erza’s armor is destroyed and forced back into her normal gear) you are not weak by any stretch of the imagination. Let’s just say you’re due for a piece of humble pie.  
> Natsu: Is that tasty?  
> UO: No, well at least the person being served it. As long as you’re careful, you won’t get it. Disclaimer please?  
> Natsu: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

Chapter 9: Fall from the Pedestal

July 17 th X784 about 12PM

When we last left our heroes, Natsu had taken an S-class mission to break a curse on Galuna Island, taking Lucy, Happy and eventually Grey with him. Drew, along with Brock, Anabel and Dawn had struck a deal with Makarov and helped the three out in completing the curse. Once there, they ran into an old partner of Grey’s named Lyon who had sought to awaken the demon Deloria, an ancient beast responsible for the death of their master, Ur. But thanks to Grey awakening his Rider armor, he defeated Lyon’s kaijuu form and the team was able to break the curse on the island.

Now we find our heroes in the sparring arena. The whole guild had gathered around the four in the ring and were whispering to each other, taking bets about the fight to come. On one side was Ash and Drew, their faces bearing little resemblance to their normally jovial nature. On the other was Erza and Laxus, the blond sporting a cocky grin while the red head looking mad at something.

How they got here could be traced back before Natsu took the mission to Galuna Island, but the spark that led to the fight happened earlier this morning.

Three Hours earlier

Makarov was in his office, glowering sternly at Drew and Erza from across his desk. The young man was finishing his side of the story with some heat in his voice, while Erza looked five seconds away from cutting the desk in two. They’d both debriefed him about the mission, in particular Erza’s late arrival to remove them and the resulting destruction of Deliora.

“So after Deloria crumbled, we came back to the village to still find it cursed. Thanks to Dawn, though, we figured out there was some sort of barrier surrounding the village causing the curse. Erza then destroyed it with her spear. We accepted the money and the Gate Key and came back here.”

Erza growled, dissatisfied with his telling of events. “I contributed more than just the fight and the shield. Master, they should not have taken the reward, though I agree that Lucy should have the key.”

“It wasn’t your call to make and you intentionally tied up four members of my team. If a kaijuu attacked them they would have been seriously hurt,” Drew replied without looking.

Erza spun around and jabbed a finger at Drew. “That doesn’t matter! You broke the rules, so there has to be consequences for your actions. You should have never gone on the mission in the first place!”

Drew shook his head and brushed her accusing finger aside. “Well, we did and there’s nothing that can change that!” He snapped. “Technically, our mission wasn’t even S-ranked. It got bumped up to S when the kaijuu started destroying the jungle around the village. With the wording on our mission statement, we were allowed to take over. If anything you would be the one in trouble.”

Makarov stared at Drew, intrigued. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s say Erza was successful in getting us to leave and Deloria wasn’t killed by the Iced Shell spell. Not only would you have Lyon and his team dead, you would also have the priests and any villager on the island six feet under. When word of that attack gets out, they would immediately blame Fairy Tail once they realize we were the ones that took the mission and abandoned it. Our reputation, whatever we had, would be destroyed,” he said seriously, “And quite frankly, if that happened, I would not hesitate to throw Erza under the train. People think that just because she’s the best, her word is law. Her status as a mage would be ruined because she left people to die. If you were in my country’s military, that’d be dereliction of duty and desertion. Both grounds for a court martial and a dismissal.”

Erza was about to retort but Makarov raised his hand. “I’ve heard enough. He has a point, Erza. Natsu may have been reckless in taking the mission, but he saved the island and prevented a further catastrophe. He _will_ be punished for taking a quest above his skill level without approval, but not as much as he normally would be. The consequences _and_ the intent behind them count very much in cases like this. He, along with Grey and Lucy, will be on probation for the next two months and their next 4 paying jobs will be halved. Drew, you are dismissed. Tell those brats good work. Erza, stay.”

Drew nodded and walked out. He walked out into the bar area and spotted Natsu and Grey arguing. “You two, calm down!” he demanded, getting their attention.

Lucy smiled in greeting as he walked over. “How was the meeting?”

“It went well, though don’t be surprised if Erza will be on the warpath. Anyway, you guys got off light. You, Natsu and Grey are on two month probation and for your next four jobs, whatever you make will be cut in half.”

The blonde sighed. “Guess it’s better than getting kicked out…”

Natsu walked over to Lucy and wrapped an arm around her, getting her to blush. “Cheer up, Luce, we can still do missions. It’s like another big adventure!”

Drew turned to the pink-haired boy, frowning. “You’re lucky that I convinced the Master to get you that punishment.” At Natsu’s frown, he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your heart was in the right place, but you need to think about your actions. You’ll be a great warrior one day, but you’ll never improve unless you learn from your mistakes. That goes for you too, Grey,” he added, glancing at the ice mage.

Natsu nodded, a slight look of bitterness crossing his expression. “Thanks, man. When are we gonna go train?” he asked, eyes pleading like a puppy.

“In a few minutes. I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Drew told him. As he sat down to dig in eggs and ham, the door to Makarov’s office slammed open and a feeling of dread descended over the room... Most of the mages started to shake in fear as Erza stomped out of the office, looking incredibly pissed off. She scanned the room and spotted her prey. She marched over to Drew, who had started eating breakfast, a look of predatory menace on her face. While those around him were frightened, he was concentrating on his breakfast. Until he looked up and saw Natsu cowering. He sighed as he finished his bite. “Can I help you Erza?”

“You embarrassed me in front of the Master…And now I’m the one with the bigger punishment…My reward was taken from me and he lost confidence in my leadership…” Erza leaned her head against a wooden beam, a gloomy aura hanging about her as she mumbled to herself.

“Oh, is the queen upset that she got in trouble?” Drew huffed mockingly, taking another bite, “Can’t say you didn’t deserve it; you interfered in a mission that could have gotten people killed.”

The redheaded woman scowled, turning towards the source of her bad mood. In a rash move, she shoved the plate to the floor, scattering the food and getting the guild’s attention. Slowly, deliberately, Drew swallowed his food. “You know, I was enjoying that.” He pouted, lamenting the lost breakfast.

“Shut up! You have the nerve to undermine my authority! I demand satisfaction!” she growled.

Drew finally turned around and his smile had disappeared. “Are you a soldier?” At Erza’s confusion he continued. “Are you a mayor? A king? No? Then shut up about authority. The only person I have to listen to is Makarov. Respect and authority is _earned_ , and not demanded.”

Before Erza could respond, there was the sound of a hand hitting a cheek, then a body crashing into the wall stopped all activity. Everyone turned to see Ash standing in front of May and Laxus was smarting from impacting the wall. Next to them, most of their friends were ready to attack and Misty was running up to pull May away. Drew stood up and shoved Erza out of the way. “What the heck happened?”

May turned to Drew and he could see she was tearing. “Laxus tried to hit on me and when I refused he tried to g-grope me! Ash stood up for me!”

Drew growled and turned to the blond mage. “I thought I told you to stay away from us!

Laxus stood up, seemingly unaffected by the blow from Ash. “I believe you mean, stay away from the girls that were taken,” he corrected snidely, smirking self-assuredly, “Mouse-boy here is with the redhead bitch. And come on, a girl showing off their body like that is asking to be felt up.”

Ash growled. He knew he wanted to tell the truth, but he didn’t know how they would react. He glanced at Drew, who sighed and nodded, then turned back to Laxus, jaw set. “Misty is my girlfriend. So are May, Anabel and Dawn.”

At this revelation, there were series of gasps, groans and growls. Laxus was among those that growled. “You have four girlfriends?! Don’t make laugh! How can you satisfy one, much less four?”

“A relationship isn’t just about that,” Ash denied, staring him down, “It’s about the compassion and commitment to each other. And in our relationship, that commitment has made us stronger. I loved them enough to lay my life down for them and I know they would do the same!”

Those who were into love like Mira and Lucy squealed at the declaration he made. Before he could continue, his aura sense went off and he ducked, just barely avoiding a sword that streaked over his head.

He turned to see Erza charging at him. “You womanizer!”

Before she could make contact, Drew fired off a fireball, forcing her to dodge. “You really are starting to piss me off, Erza!” he yelled. “If you want to fight Ash for dating multiple women, then I suggest going after me too, ‘cause I’m dating Tori and Gabby!”

Erza spun around at that revelation and snarled. She summoned another sword and moved strike him down. Just then, Makarov, who had heard the noise, had entered the hall to see what was causing the commotion. “What the hell is going on here!?” he demanded angrily.

Misty, who had been hugging May close to soothe her, spoke up “Erza was mad at Drew and she decided that she should ruin his breakfast. Laxus, here, tried to hit on May and grab her, so Ash knocked him into a wall. Laxus blasted some very insensitive comments and when we revealed our relationships, Erza got mad at both of them and called them womanizers.”

Makarov’s face soured as he glared at his two S-ranked mages. “I am disappointed in you two. You are supposed to be setting an example for your fellow guild mates! Instead, you’re harassing them and acting like a worse version of Natsu!”

“Oi!”

Erza glanced away for a moment, then glared Drew straight in the eye. She held up her sword, pointing it dramatically at him. “Your disregard for authority cannot go unabated. I challenge you to a duel!” she declared. The whole guild gasped, Erza was challenging someone to a fight, and this was serious.

Drew shook his head. “You’re not exactly helping your case by challenging me. But, if it’s a fight you want, I accept your challenge!” he replied. He glanced over at Ash, who was shooting daggers at Laxus. “Let’s make it more interesting. Make it 2 vs. 2. You and Sparky vs. me and Ash!

Laxus grinned. “You two versus the best mages in the guild? You got guts! But you are fools! If you want to lose that badly, I will be happy to oblige!” he said sinisterly, walking away laughing. Erza put away her sword and walked off as well.

Makarov sighed and turned to Drew. “Are you sure you want to go through this?”

“If they’d apologized, then I could have brushed it off.” Drew growled. But Laxus crossed the line trying to harass May and Erza needs to be served some humble pie,” and marched away with Ash to plan their fight. Makarov shook his head. One way or another, someone’s pride would be hurt.”

End Flashback

Now Makarov stood between the fighters, looking like he rather be somewhere else. Off on the side, Lucy and Natsu sat with Drew and Ash’s friends. Lucy turned to Misty. “Do you think they can win?”

Misty, who was holding May’s hand, gave her a reassuring smile. “I think they will be a lot tougher than those two think. We’ve been through enough that two entitled punks won’t do anything surprising.”

“Three things that will probably be in their favor. One, Erza and Laxus don’t know how Drew and Ash fight. Two, their teamwork is the best out of all of us,” Gabby boasted.

“What’s the third?” Grey asked next to her.

Gabby smiled and took Tori’s hand. “They’re protecting us and our honor.” Then she frowned. “That’s more than I can say about their opponents. Sure, they have the power, they wouldn’t be S-class otherwise. But from what I can tell Laxus pisses off everyone here and thus won’t work well with Erza. Also hurting them is that Erza’s in full rage mode and Laxus is cocky. They’ll probably make some mistakes and Drew and Ash will exploit them. Basically, it’ll come down to whoever makes the fewest mistakes to win.”

“Y-you’re sure reading into it a lot…” Lucy muttered, sweatdropping.

“Oh please, that was nothing,” Gabby scoffed, waving her off, “You should watch our sports and how they break them down.”

On the field, Makarov looked at his grandson with a critical eye, along with Erza. “Are you two sure you want to go through with this?”

Laxus smirked. “These two need to be shown their place, I ain’t leaving.”

“This is a matter of pride, Master. I can’t stand by and let someone do what they want,” Erza growled.

Makarov turned to the two boys, who didn’t even look at him.

“Start the match, Master,” Drew told him.

“We’ve been itching for a real fight for a while,” Ash finished. Pikachu leapt off his shoulders and ran into May’s arms. The mouse would have helped his master, but he sensed that this was a personal matter and ran over to comfort the brunette.

“Alright, whenever you’re ready, Begin!” Makarov said then leapt out of the way. The tension could be cut with a knife as the two teams stared each other down.

(Play Pokémon Gym Leader Music from Diamond and Pearl)

Laxus broke the silence with a smirk. “You know, I’m feeling generous. I’m gonna give you one free shot, right here!” he boasted, pointing at his chest, “Not like you could-“ he was cut off as Ash was on him in a flash, hand already in position on his chest.

** “Force Palm!” **

The glowing blue palm struck Laxus hard and sent him skidding back a few feet. Laxus coughed as he stood up. “Lucky shot punk. Next time I won’t be so generous!” He growled. Before he could continue, Ash was on him with another punch. The much smaller boy was quicker than the S-ranked mage and Laxus was forced onto the defensive.

Meanwhile, Erza and Drew clashed, her large sword colliding with Leonid’s sheath. The two backed away and Erza charged again. Drew spun, using his momentum to swing his blade by the sheath’s strap and parry the horizontal slash. Then he flipped it and tried to jab the edge into her stomach. Erza quickly blocked the lunge by striking from above, making the attack go into the ground. They both backed away looking ready for more

“I’m impressed you’ve lasted this long. But you will not beat me!” Erza declared, “Draw your sword and face me like a real warrior.”

“I don’t draw Leonid against my allies; despite this, we _are_ on the same side,” he declared. Then he narrowed his eyes, “But if you keep pushing, I’ll draw it…and you won’t like the power I wield.” Then he thought of something. “How many weapons do you have?”

Erza wondered where this was going. “I have hundreds of weapons and armors. I won’t need them all to win!”

Drew sighed. “Too many to name and care for. I assume you haven’t mastered your weapons either.” Her silence gave him the answer, so he continued. “Each individual sword, axe or lance has certain attributes you need to master to truly wield, doesn’t it? That’s the difference between us. You have hundreds of weapons at your disposal, but you don’t have one weapon you truly call your own. Leonid and I have been together for years. I trained with this for hours to the point my body can instinctively know how to strike or defend. Leonid may be a weapon, but it’s _my_ weapon and it will _be_ my weapon until it can’t serve me anymore!”

He gave a battle cry and charged. He drove the sheath’s point into her wrist to knock her sword loose. In a quick motion, he spun around and drove the handle into her armored stomach making her gasp for breath, before reaching down and grabbing her by the waist. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ash knocking Laxus back. “Ash!” The Aura master turned at his name being called. “Power bomb time!”

Ash grinned and channeled electricity into his arm, then sprinted towards Drew. At the same time, Drew hoisted Erza onto his shoulders. The redhead, still stunned, could only watch as Ash leapt up and slammed his forearm down on her throat. ** “Lighting Lariat!”**

At the same time, Drew snapped his arms forward, falling as he did so. ** “Tiger Bomb!”**

The combined attack drove Erza into the ground. From the electrical shocks that danced across her body to the pain in her head and back that came from the impact. The two boys high-fived each other for the takedown. They turned and waited while their opponents recovered, pounding their chests ready to for more action. Both of the fallen mages got up about the same time, Erza being the first. She decided to stop fooling around and summoned a magic circle donning her Heaven’s Wheel Armor.

“Dance, my swords! **Circle Sword!”** Hundreds of blades appeared above and around her, which she then directed to fly at the two seemingly defenseless mages.

Drew smirked, not even looking at his partner. “You know what to do.”

Ash nodded and put his hand on the hilt of Raikou. In an instant, his arm was a blur of motion, each slash passing through the blade storm before, with a click, his own sword slid home. The swords flying at him deflected into the air as if hit by an invisible force and crashed to the ground.

Lucy gasped. “Whoa! Ash took out all of Erza’s swords!? How?”

“Being the Guardian of Lighting, he is extremely fast,” Anabel said from behind her, “This is all thanks to the training he learned with his pokémon, which focused on speed. It complements the Iaijutsu style. The art of unsheathing the blade, striking fast and replacing the sword. Of course, that style is designed for fatal strikes, not battles between comrades.

Lucy turned back to the field watching the two Riders fight. The more she thinks she figured them out, the more questions she had.

On the field, Erza was in shock that Ash had deflected all her swords. The shock was brief before she growled and she charged in with her twin swords. Drew was about to move in front of Ash to tank the hits, when…

 **“Lighting Dragon’s Claw!”** He was forced to block the blond man and move away from his friend. He landed and had a surprised look. “You’re a Dragon Slayer?”

Laxus grinned. “You got that right. But unlike pinky over there, I’ve got a Lacrima planted in me. You can call me a true Dragon Slayer, ‘cause I’m the strongest there is!”

Drew shook his head. “You may _think_ you’re the strongest here…honestly I don’t think you’re even in the top three!” Grabbing the guild master’s attention and making most of the guild to gasp in shock. “From what I’ve seen, the order is Makarov, then Mystogan, then Natsu, and then Erza! Course, I doubt I’ve seen everyone in this guild, so I could be wrong.”

Laxus growled. “You think lizard boy’s stronger than me?!”

“Honestly, I think half my team could beat you in a fair fight,” He boasted.

“I’ll show you! **Lighting Dragon’s Javelin!”** He formed a large bolt that turned into a spear in his hand and threw it with considerable strength at the boy. It was too fast for Drew to dodge and he was forced to cross his arms to block most of it. He grunted as the javelin drilled into him, making him skid back from the momentum. “Not so cocky now, are ya, punk!?” Laxus laughed.

Drew shook his head as the electricity coursed through his body, gritting his teeth. “Please…I’ve been hit harder than that. Though, it looks like I’ll need to take things a bit more seriously after all,” he muttered morbidly. He grabbed his hat and threw it towards Gabby, then did the same with his cloak and tossed it to Tori. He pounded his fists together and aimed them at the Dragon Slayer. ** “Pyro Shotgun!”** The attack sounded like a cannon going off and was extremely fast. It momentarily blinded Laxus, allowing Drew to close the distance.

Laxus blocked his kick, only to take a fist to the stomach. He doubled over, but recovered quickly and grabbed Drew’s shirt, to the younger boy’s surprise. He lifted him and then sent him to the ground knocking the air out of his lungs. Then he grabbed him by the shirt, hefted and tossed him towards the crowd. He reared back, gathering energy in his mouth. ** “Lightning Dragon’s Roar!”**

Drew was helpless as the laser-like attack rocketed him. He crossed his arms to brace for impact. Inches from his face, it stopped in mid-air, then pulled away, to everyone’s surprise. He landed on the ground and watched as the attack sprinted towards Ash. It hit him, but felt no effects which surprised the onlookers. Other than some ruffling of his clothes, he looked none the worse for wear.

Moments prior

Erza and Ash collided again, sending up sparks. The redhead, still clad in her Heaven’s Wheel armor, was struggling at the speed of Ash’s strikes. The Aura user kept slashing with near reckless abandon, exploiting every little opening Erza gave him. His speed kept the knight off guard and as a result, she could not counter as effectively as she could. She forced herself to jump away

“You’re quick. But all that speed means you probably lack the defensive strength of my armors!” she deduced. Her body glowed and her Heaven’s Wheel Armor had been swapped out for her Black Wing Armor. She quickly charged at Ash and swung, forcing the Aura wielder to block. The force of the impact was felt by the crowd as it made him slide back.

“My Black Wing Armor can power up my sword strikes for devastating blows. Not many can survive multiple hits from the power this sword can produce,” Erza told him, holding her sword so that the point was at Ash’s face.

Ash grinned despite the pain. “Well then, I guess I need to get serious as well!” He tossed his own hat and cloak over to his girls and gripped Raikou harder. ** “Fury Cutter!”**

Erza barely flinched as a quick sword slice struck her unarmored stomach. “Is that the best you got?”

 **“Fury Cutter!”** he roared, striking again, this time from the right.

That time she felt a knife’s-edge running over her skin. “Huh?” Erza looked down to see part of her armor nicked. She noticed a red welt that followed along the path of the strike

 **“Fury Cutter!”** he commanded a third time, this time coming from underneath her line of sight. She actually felt the attack across her stomach and was even stunned by the residual damage.

“You noticed it, huh?” Ash smirked. “Fury Cutter starts off weak, but every time I successfully use it, the power doubles. I just struck you three times, so the next blow is going to be eight times what it was before!” Ash charged in again. **“Fury…”** Erza tried to block her left hip, where the attack was coming from, but he smirked and swapped the hilt by flipping it to his left hand. **Cutter!”**

Erza gasped in pain as Ash’s blade finally cut through her armor, almost breaking it and knocking her down. Still feeling the attack’s effects, she raised her head to see Ash preparing another strike, presumably waiting for her to stand. As he set his stance, he saw Drew get flung around and Laxus leaning back to attack. Acting quickly, he sheathed Raikou, then withdrew the first few inches. ** “Lightningrod!”**

Laxus’s beam stopped in mid-air, then barreled straight towards Ash and struck him head on. Despite the power, he felt no pain as it coursed through his body. The lightning crackled audibly, lighting up the area around him in an aura.

Once the attack died down, he let out a breath. “Whoa, what a rush!” he laughed. At his opponents’ shocked looks, he smiled. “Please, Lighting is my element, remember? You think I wouldn’t have something that could redirect Lightning away from my friends? Lightningrod helps cover them. Unfortunately, because of the way the spell works, the attacks have to be close to me as well. If they target me, I can always redirect it.

Drew used the distraction to get back on his feet. “So glad you learned that, man, I think my goose would’ve been cooked…” he sighed, legs shaking and heart pounding.

Laxus snapped out of his stupor and pointed a shaky finger at them. “What the hell are you two? We’re S-ranked mages on par with the council! How are you still standing?”

Ash smiled and coughed wincing in pain. “We have seen much tougher things than some guy trying to perv on our girls and a woman looking to enforce her rules! Thanks for the energy boost!” he said cockily.

However, he felt Drew’s hand on his shoulder. “Hold on, Ash. Before you lay the smackdown on them, I got an idea. Let’s show them our teamwork.”

“You want to use that?” Ash asked him, his smile widening.

“Yep.” He grinned and turned to Erza and Laxus. “You want me to use Leonid? You’re gonna get it!” He pulled Leonid out of his sheath and planted it in the ground. Ash took Raikou out and did the same. As one, they palmed their hands began to build up energy.

Misty smiled. “It’s over,” she declared confidently. At Lucy’s questioning look, she explained, “Our greatest asset, outside elemental magic, is our teamwork. Without it, most of our victories would never have happened. What they’re about to do is the result of our training as partners.”

The two Riders started to power up. Red Aura flowed from Drew, Blue from Ash. The combined power wowed the audience as it became visible and darkened the sky. These looks turned to surprise as the two Auras began merging together, mixing into two purple armors.

“When two of us combine our energies, we not only combine our spirit, but we also our powers. Drew shares his power, while Ash can lend his incredible speed. I don’t know our full limits, but we do know what to call it. We call it... Overlay!”

(Cue Advance Wars OST: Dual Strike)

The two felt their powers combine and increase tremendously. In their mind’s eye, they saw their emblems sending out pulses of light between them. They cracked their eyes open, revealing incredible power in their depths. “Let’s go: **Overlay!”** They shouted together.

They each grabbed their swords and like a rocket they dashed forward. Laxus attempted to block Ash, who had targeted him. Rather than using his sword Ash suddenly leaned back on his heels and kicked the Dragon Slayer heavily in the stomach. The impact could be felt by the audience and Laxus felt like his stomach was run over by a train. Not letting up, Ash pulled back his hand arm. It glowed blue as he clenched it. **“Sky Uppercut!”** he yelled. He struck the dragon slayer square in the jaw, sending him flying. The power of punch shook the ground, the impact sent Laxus flying onto his back and skidding on the ground. He may not have been unconscious but his body was in shock from the powerful blow and couldn’t get up.

Meanwhile Erza was looking worse for wear as Drew’s speed overwhelmed her with his sword flashing across her. Each blow seemed to hit her with the force of a train and they came so fast that she couldn’t even move to defend herself. “You have no right to lecture me!” He struck across her shoulder, making her cry out. “About who to love!” A kick to the stomach made her cough and the air in her lungs “If you never had it in the first place!” A punch to the jaw finally wrenched a scream from Erza as she collapsed heavily. She struggled to stand, holding back tears of pain and humiliation. “If you don’t change, eventually you’re going to die alone on the battlefield. All I wanted was an apology from you, but instead you challenge me to a fight and underestimated me.”

As he lectured her, she struggled to stand up, defiance in her eyes. “You may defeat me, but you’re just proving what I said was true! You didn’t deserve to lead that mission and you’ll never have the respect of the guild, you idiot bastard!”

Gabby facepalmed. “Now she’s done it,” she sighed. The others looked at her for elaboration. “If there is one thing Drew hates, it’s being called an idiot.”

Drew twitched and turned up the heat. “Idiot…did you just call me an idiot? Lady, you’re asking for it!” he roared, igniting his right arm, “I hope you got a bed picked out in the infirmary, cause you’re not leaving it for a _loooong_ time!”

A rustle and crackling from behind her made Erza turn slowly. What she saw made her blood run cold: Ash was charging up his arm with electricity, face set. Drew glanced down to show where his friend was going. As one, both charged at her, Ash gunning for her legs and Drew for her neck. Erza braced for the no-doubt powerful impact.

(End Song)

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Makarov’s voice boomed. The two attackers stopped, inches from possibly injuring one of his best mages. “I’m stopping this match. The winner is Drew and Ash!”

Both boys glanced at each other, digesting Makarov’s words. Then they powered down and relaxed their stance. Grateful, Erza finally collapsed fully, relief and shame warring within her. Drew had one more thing to say. “I’m not without mercy. Get your head checked out, I might have given you a concussion on the powerbomb,” he offered helpfully, turning away. “When you’re ready to apologize, I’ll accept it.”

Erza struggled to stand up despite her injuries, her head hanging and teeth gritted with bitterness. She lifted her head to see Brock and Dawn approaching her fallen form .Brock took a light and shined it in her eye. She nearly panicked when he flashed over her right eye, but the dark skinned boy said nothing as he continued his examination. “Looks like you’re okay. Dawn, do your magic.”

Dawn nodded and held out her hand. A pale pink light glowed from the hand and she waved it over each bruise and cut. Her wounds disappeared under the warm light, the feeling making her eyes close sleepily.

“There we go. Feeling better?” asked Dawn sweetly.

“Yeah…But, why did you help me?” replied Erza, feeling confused.

“Just because you fought Drew, doesn’t mean you aren’t a part of our guild. I always help my allies,” answered the cheery girl, “Besides, Drew asked us to heal you first.”

Erza looked down in shame, to which Brock patted her shoulder. “Give it a day or two to let Drew blow off some steam before apologizing.” She said nothing, not even looking at Brock.

After finishing up with her, they moved onto Laxus. The lightning Dragon Slayer was being helped by a brunette in a green dress that exposed the top of her chest, a green haired man in noble-looking red clothes and a man in a knight’s helmet.

“You okay, Laxus? Let me take a look at you,” Brock began.

But Laxus only growled at him and waved him away. “Get away from me. I can take care of myself! Don’t need you and that patronizing little shit sucking up to me!” With some effort, the three surrounding him helped him up and he walked away.

“Please let us look at you. Head trauma isn’t something to take lightly,” insisted Brock.

The green-haired man suddenly glared at Brock and leveled his sword threateningly at young man’s face. “If Laxus doesn’t need help, then you're not helping him!” he declared. Brock put his hands up, showing he didn’t want to fight.

Makarov walked up to them. “Freed, relax. Dawn here is doing her job. But if you want another doctor that bad, then go.”

Laxus thought about it and then scoffed and headed towards where presumably the guild’s doctor was with his lackeys in tow.

Dawn huffed. “He could be a little more accepting of us!” She stomped back to where Ash was sitting. He was talking to Lucy and Natsu about the fight as she approached.

He spotted her and smiled. “Erza and Laxus okay?” Dawn nodded and brought her hands up. Instead of hovering over Ash, she placed her hands on his chest and let her healing light do its work. Ash sighed in happiness as the pain disappeared. “Just what I needed. Thanks, Buneary.”

Dawn nodded and hugged his arm, making everyone chuckle at the adorableness. “Guess you were worried huh?” Ash asked amusedly. At her nod, he stood up. “Alright, let’s go spend some together. You, me and our lovely girlfriends.” With that they walked off, May and Dawn on his arms and Misty and Anabel guarding their sides.

Drew moved to follow suit when Natsu stopped him. “Was that true, about me being one of the strongest here?” he asked.

The Fire Guardian chuckled. “I wouldn’t have said it if it weren’t true. You might not be an S ranked mage, but you probably have the biggest potential for growth in this guild. Your father Igneel trained you well, but there’s still a lot there to bring out.” He turned to Lucy. “You also have huge potential, Lucy. But unlike Natsu, you’re more of a clean slate. Something we can mold to be a great warrior.” He turned back around and then had a thought. “I wonder…oh well. We can train tomorrow Natsu.”

With that everyone left save Erza who was still kneeling on the ground. A few moments later, she picked herself off and headed back to her dorm with a lot to think about.

Next day

Erza awoke in her room at Fairy Hills, the female mage’s dorm. Her room was the largest in the dorm. It was actually made of five different dorm rooms, all combined together to house the armors and clothes she couldn’t fit into her requip space. Doing her morning rituals, including bathing and brushing her hair, she dressed in her normal armor and skirt. Walking through the dorm, she realized that she was the only one present. In her mind, this was her saving grace, as she didn’t want to have to endure the others’ pitying looks. Stepping out, she pondered what to do in the quiet morning. She thought about going to the guild, but shook her head.

Instead of facing the scrutiny of her guild mates, she headed towards the woods to clear her head and ponder what had happened the previous day. As she walked through the forest, she heard someone impacting the ground and moans of pain. She jogged over to the source of the noise and saw that Drew was staring down Dawn. She was in a fighting stance, hands loose and her legs constantly moving. Drew was in a similar pose, but with his right arm brought back. The sweat on their faces indicated they’d been at it for a while. Dawn launched a kick, which Drew blocked with his own leg, turning to further deflect the blow as he smoothly ducked and swept her other foot out from under her. The quick action made her lose her balance, which was helped by Drew tapping her on the forehead, sending her sprawling in an undignified heap. She yelped as she landed and groaned in disappointed.

Drew chuckled, holding out his hand. “You alright?”

Dawn nodded as she sat on her knees. Drew reached down and helped her up. He glanced around and saw the others wrapping up their spars. Ash was clashing bokken with May, Misty was dancing with Anabel, Gabby was sparring with Max, and Brock and Tori were bowing to each other. Natsu and Grey were heating up their brawl and Lucy was catching her breath off to the sight after her workout with Happy floating above her. “Alright, everyone finish up and then go clean yourselves up.”

Everyone nodded and bowed to each other. They all began heading out, when Drew called out. “Natsu, Grey stay for a couple of minutes.”

The two mages stopped and looked at Drew curiously as they watched his friends head out. “Have a seat.” The two did so and wondered what he had to say. “You two and Lucy have done great the last couple of weeks. But I want to discuss something that’s been bugging me.” He turned around and crossed his arms. “Why do you two like fighting with each other so much? I’ve personally had to break up two fights today and the others are getting tired of your constant bickering. So tell me, why’re you always at each other’s throats?”

The two boys looked away at that. They had fought for so long, they never really thought about _why_ they kept fighting

“I guess, ‘cause Ice boy here is so standoffish about everything, he makes himself appear like some sort cool guy who’s above everyone,” Natsu admitted.

“Tch, like that’s hard. I’m surprised your stunts haven’t gotten you thrown out of the guild,” Grey retorted.

Natsu was about to argue against Grey’s assertions but Drew held up his hand. “Guys, relax.” Unlike Erza’s demanding voice, his gentle command was listened to. “I get it, you don’t like each other’s attitudes or each other. But I’ve seen you guys work together quite well against Lullaby. I think deep down you guys are closer than you think.” The two looked at each other and looked away though it seemed less angry.

Drew sighed. “You know, as Riders, its okay to have a rivalry like yours. It’d make you both competitive and push your limits. But _not_ at the expense of fighting each other when the cards are down.” He started pacing. “You know how Overlay works? It takes trust in each other and your abilities to pull it off successfully. Your abilities may be the opposite of each other but you can still do it. Tori, who has water abilities can Overlay with me, and Max and Brock are each other’s best links, even better than May is for Max.” The mentioned boys nodded in agreement and acknowledgement. “The effect depends on how strong our individual bond is, and Ash and mine are considered one of the best.”

He glanced at the two. “If nothing else, can you try to get along for our sake? Get to know each other, you might find something interesting out. That’s all, head on back.”

The two mages stood up and walked out of the clearing civilly, or at least as civilly as they could being near each other.

Drew watched them go and then glanced over his shoulder. “You can come out, Erza.”

Stunned at being caught, the red head slowly walked out into the clearing. “How did you know?”

“Everyone has a unique Aura. “According to Anabel and Ash, your aura has the power of a Category 4 hurricane enough that even those with weak Aura sense like me and Gabby could sense it. But right now, that power couldn’t even knock over trees,” he explained.

Erza was confused at the terms he state, but waved it off. She cleared her throat. “Drew, I want to, ah…”

“I want to apologize for my actions yesterday,” he interrupted, catching her off guard, “I want to apologize for the wringer I put you through.” He turned around and his face looked like what she’d faced the day before. “But, I won’t apologize for why I did it.” He held up his hand and raised a ginger. “You came in thinking you could push me around. I pushed back and it devolved from there. You also tried to attack my friend, my brother because of their relationship, when he was defending May against someone who was possibly getting too close for comfort.” He looked her dead in the eye. “If I’d let Laxus do what he did because he held seniority, then I would’ve seriously looked for another guild. If he had pulled that same garbage back home, he’d be branded a pedophile,

Erza looked away. “I...was so blinded, I just couldn’t think straight. By the time I realized I was wrong, I was staring down your charge.”

Drew lessened his stance and looked up to the sky. “Look, what you’ve been doing is you’ve been scaring the guild. The guild shouldn’t live in fear of two members that hold all of the power over them. To me you’re like the final boss. The thing is about final bosses, fear doesn't last. All it does is make you look like the villain. And one day, some 'hero' is gonna stand up and tell you 'no more,' and then that's that. If you try and crush them back down, that'll just make someone else angry. And so it'll continue, until you've got everyone under you against you. At that point, no one will fear you...because you are what they need to beat. Just be glad it was me and not a person with a vendetta against you.”

He turned around. “I know you want to apologize. But I’m not ready quite yet and I don’t think you are either.”

Erza looked down and headed back towards town. “Erza.” He called out getting her to turn around. “Don’t let the past hold you down. You learn, you adapt and you keep moving forward.” He said going the opposite way. Erza watched him leave, digesting his words slowly. When he disappeared, she left as well, going in the opposite direction. She would take the long way back to town…

It was past midday when Erza finally made her way into Magnolia proper. Not being on a mission or having to deal with the idiots at the guild gave her time to appreciate the town a bit. Passing by her favorite cake shop, she spotted Ash, with May and Dawn in his arms. Now that she was not so angry, she took a look at their outfits and found herself impressed at the girl’s outfits. May’s outfit consisted of a green top that exposed her cleavage and matching skin tight pants, showing off her long, gymnast legs. The outfit was capped off with a pair of black slip on shoes.

Dawn wore a pink and white corset-skirt combo, with matching shoulder length gloves and thigh length stockings with pink ballet shoes. Erza had to admit, they looked good and felt jealous. _‘They look so comfortable, being themselves. What’s their secret?_ ’ she wondered. She watched them head to the park and in moment’s thought moved to follow at a distance, making sure Ash at least respected them.

Ash, with his girl in arm brought them over to a tree in the park and sat down, the two girls cuddling into his arms. “This is nice, huh?” He asked.

“Yeah. Wish we had more places back home. Shame our pokémon aren’t with us.” May agreed.

Dawn just smiled and nuzzled her head into Ash’s chest. “I could stay like this all day, the breeze feels so nice.” As she said that, the wind blew through her combed shoulder blade length hair.

“I was referring to being with our boyfriend and my pretty girlfriend. But the scenery is nice,” May giggled teasingly. Dawn blushed under her make-up and tried to burrow into Ash’s side. Despite her optimism, whenever someone complimented her, she turned humbly shy. Compared to May, Misty and Anabel in her mind, she considered herself the least beautiful. They spent the next few minutes digesting their lunch and watching the trees sway in the breeze.

“Hey Ash?” May asked

“Yeah, Skitty?” he asked, using her pet name.

“You think you can get us some ice cream at the shop we passed?” she asked sweetly.

Ash laughed. “Sure, if my arms can get their feeling back in them!” A few moments of squirming later, he was free and headed out of the park.

“Now he’s gone, I get to talk to you alone,” She whispered into Dawn’s ear, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her on the cheek. “I heard about that S-ranked mission and your role in it. I’m so proud of you and Anabel,” she gushed, loving the smile Dawn was sporting. “I see you went and did your face after we finished training. You look so pretty today.” Indeed after training the girls had cleaned themselves up. Dawn had added blush to her lipstick and blue eyeshadow. Her appearance already cute with her outfit, was complemented with the soft colors on her face. “When are we going to your fashion day?” Fashion day was a day set aside for Dawn and the girls to hang out. They would go try out clothes Dawn had designed and created or go shopping with Delia. More often than not, this resulted in them dressing the blue haired girl up like their personal mannequin and practicing their makeup skills on her. She enjoyed the sensation a lot and was more than happy to let them treat her like some sort of doll.

“Soon, I promise. Say, why don’t we bring Lucy along for the next one?” Dawn inquired.

“Oh yeah! Gabby had some great shots of Lucy as a maid! She would be a great model, even if she’s bashful about her looks,” May agreed enthusiastically.

Dawn nodded, then glanced at her friend and frowned. “How are you really feeling, May? Your smile’s not as bright as usual.”

May dropped her smile and looked away. “What Laxus said…it really hurt. He said I was nothing but a two bit slut who dresses like she was asking for a guy to…I can’t even say it without nearly throwing up.” She lowered her voice. “Do…do you think I dress like those p-prostitutes on T.V?”

“No!” Dawn told her firmly, making her blink and look at her normally shy friend. “You dress the way you do because you’re a free spirit! You love to show your body off. Heck, you like to walk around in your birthday suit at home. And you know what, we don’t care. In fact, I wish I had your confidence, to strut around showing off my body like that. You’re already over a D-cup and you said yourself that you’re getting bigger by the week! You and Misty are easily the biggest we have and you’re competing with the girls here.” she sighed “I’m jealous I’m not that big yet. But you have the confidence to walk around like you do and you don’t care what people think. Don’t let that jerk face tell you otherwise!”

May, who had been on the verge of crying looked at Dawn with wide eyes. “Dawn…you silly little rabbit. You _are_ beautiful, in your own way! Look at your hair, it’s like the night sky with how dark and sparkly it is. Your clothes make your cuteness explode, making people want to drop everything and hug you. You may not have my breasts, but I think you’re just a late bloomer. I truly believe you will be a beautiful swan for years to come. Even your shyness adds to your appeal. Never change yourself to compete with me, because you’re just as pretty as anyone else. Ash can see it, Misty and Ana can see it, and I can see it.”

Dawn’s smile brightened, happy that her little speech got a smile out of her energetic friend. She waved her arm and a wall of vines appeared and blocked them from the public eye. “Besides, you don’t think I’d kiss just _anyone,_ right?” And she leaned down to kiss the Lolita. Dawn’s eyes closed as she felt the softness of the gymnast’s lips. She easily fell into the lip lock, tasting peach lip-gloss. The kiss lasted for a few moments, but to them, it felt like hours. When they released, they were out of breath.

“W-wow,” Dawn gasped, taking a moment to steady her breathing.

May nodded and dropped the vine wall, then grabbed the smaller girl and nuzzled her silky hair. “I need a teddy bear right now, do ya mind?” she asked softly.

Dawn shook her head, feeling a little dazed, and the brunette pulled her to her chest and squeezed her like said stuffed animal. Dawn sighed and let her focus drop. One of the benefits about being able to stay still for long periods was she was a great cuddler. Allowing them to squeeze their frustrations out made her happy. For a few minutes, the two rested against the tree, as if the world didn’t matter.

“Hey, you two.” Ash’s voice called out snapping them out of their hug. “Don’t mind me, just some delicious ice cream for my lovely ladies.”

The two girls giggled and accepted their cold treats: a chocolate vanilla cone for May, a strawberry for Dawn and straight chocolate for Ash. The two enjoyed their treat, with the two girls ‘accidentally’ spilling some of their ice cream on the other’s faces, only to lick it off. Ash grinned at the two being their playful selves as he held them close.

In the distance, Erza watched almost transfixed at how the two girls were acting around each other. Then she saw May’s vine wall and she blushed at the implications of why they would need privacy. The blush brightened when she was suddenly bombarded with images of her and Lucy of all people in the same spot. ‘ _No, I like boys! But, why is it I can’t get the image of the two kissing out of my head? Why is it wrong yet feels natural? I need to figure this out._ She watched as Ash approached them with ice cream. Her blush died down somewhat and her frown turned into a smile at their interaction. She turned away from the private moment. _Maybe I misjudged them. They look so happy together…_ Her thoughts suddenly cut off when she heard terrified screams coming from the market. Summoning her sword, she rushed towards the screaming to fight whoever was there.

Behind her, the three lovers heard the noise. They stood up dropping their ice cream to face the commotion. “Darn it, it was such a good day too,” May pouted.

“What are we going to do? We don’t have our belts and Erza is going to get hurt if we don’t do anything?” Dawn asked Ash worriedly. They’d decided to forgo their belts today, wanting to have their date without interruptions. Something they wouldn’t do again in the future.

“We may not have our belts, but I know the others might. Come on! We need to get back to the guild and get the others!” Ash told them as they sprinted back towards the guild.

In less than ten minutes they reached the guild doors and busted through the doors. The noise caught everyone else’s attention. “Ash what’s wrong?” Anabel asked.

“Another Kaijuu attack near the park. We didn’t have our belts with us. Erza’s fighting them, but I don’t know if she can handle the monster!” Ash said in a rush.

A glass slamming the table made them turn to Drew, who stood up. “God damn that self-sacrificing woman. Brock, Max let’s roll!”

The two boys quickly stood up and followed their leader to where Erza was.

“Come on, we need to go help Erza out!” Natsu declared.

“Wait a minute,” Misty’s calm voice called out causing Natsu to stop and turn to her. “Let’s not be hasty. Erza, while she did lose, she _is_ still an S-ranked mage. If we go help her now, she will see it as being weak and possibly lash out at you.”

“Then why would Drew go?” Lucy asked.

“Because he was the one who pushed her to take this risk. As much as we feel she is terrorizing this guild, she’ll still fight for it. And it’s because of that, Drew feels guilty putting her in danger.” She smiled at the celestial mage. “Don’t worry, Erza will be fine.”

Lucy watched the door and held her chest, hoping Erza would be okay.

With said Mage

Erza panted and swung her large, flame-red sword, cleaving through the crowd of troopers. She was garbed in her Flame Empress armor, which consisted of an orange and brown breast plate that exposed her cleavage and shoulders. Her arms were encased in skin tight elbow length gauntlets, formed of a red and black material and resembling dragon’s claws, protruding near her hands. Red greaves adorned her legs with orange knee plates that appeared as if they were a dragon’s legs. Her hair was done up in two ponytails with black ribbons.

She scanned the area with a critical eye. While she’d already cut down the troops gathered, it had taken quite a bit of effort. Her weapons weren’t doing as much damage as she would have liked.

 **“So, even the great Titania can be overwhelmed, I applaud your fighting spirit,”** a gravelly voice rasped. She looked in front of her and saw a large golem like creature standing twenty feet away. It glowed an eerie red, which seeped through cracks in its joints and its empty eye sockets. This was Volcanic Idol. **“But, defeating you will make me the greatest mage in Fiore!”**

Erza growled and leaned on her sword. “You’re insane if you think I’ll let you destroy this town!”

Totem laughed. **“Your armor might protect you against my flames, but sooner or later I will break through and then I will melt you alive**!” He roared and charged at the redhead, arms held wide and ready to seize her in his molten, clutching hands. She sucked in a breath and held up her sword to block…

*CLANG*

But it wasn’t her sword that met the fist. She saw that Drew had flashed in front of her from out of nowhere and blocked the blow without flinching. Before Idol could react, Brock came in behind him and slashed, cutting deeply across its back. He landed next to Drew, along with Max, who landed shortly beforehand.

Drew turned around and regarded Erza. “Two things. First, don’t hit me, but you look pretty good in that armor,” he complimented her, causing her to sputter a bit, “Anyway, you okay?”

“I’ve been better,” she said, shrugging, “It’s taking more power than I expected to cut through these things and fight that Kaijuu. The fact that he is spewing fire is why I switched to Flame Empress Armor. It’s becoming too much at the moment. No wonder other mages can barely fight these things.”

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know how they would, but I’m impressed you were able to do even this much. Now then, want to help us clean up?”

Erza looked at him stunned. “Huh? But...but, I haven’t even apologized!

He groaned, rubbing the back of his head agitatedly. “Still stuck on that? Honestly, I would’ve accepted it in the clearing but I just needed to cool my head. When this is over we’ll talk, alright?”

Erza nodded, knowing she would have time later. Brock chimed in pulling out his belt. “As much as I like helping each other out, can we finish these guys off?”

Drew and Erza turned to see the remaining troopers and their kaijuu opponent with bored expressions. Drew chuckled. “Brock, Max, take care of the small fry. Me and Erza got the big guy.”

“How? Your element is Fire,” asked Erza, confused.

“Erza, there’s a good reason why my Rider Form is called Zodiac. Let me show you,” he replied, pulling out his phone. He pressed a button on the bottom left of the phone, embossed with the image of two parallel jagged lines.

**STANDBY: AQUARIUS**

**HENSHIN**

**COMPLETE/EVOLVE**

Brock and Max transformed into their regular armors, but Drew’s armor was considerably different from his powerful Leo Form. Zodiac was now clad in a dark black wetsuit, rather than metal plates. He wore a pair of dark blue boots, an attached set of clear pumps extending from his heels to a large tank mounted on his back. The torso had a light blue armored chest and gloves that matched the boots. Connected to his wrists were another two pumps, connected to the same tank. Rather than a fiery red, the armor was colored in a powerful cerulean blue, almost like a storm whipping up the ocean.

 **“Zodiac Spirit of the Storm: Aquarius!”** declared the Rider, taking a stance.

Erza gave the armor a critical eye. “Interesting. It looks like you’re part of the sea itself.

“Yeah. Kind of funny that this is supposed to be air, not water,” he admitted, much to her shock, “This is primarily a propulsion based form, one of two that would let me to fly. Or at least leave the ground.”

Totem snarled at being ignored. **“Grr…How dare you stand around chatting when _I’m_ right in front of you?** **Damnation Blast!”** Four streams of lava-like particles spewed out of its mouth and sped towards the defending mages.

Zodiac held up one of his wrist-mounted water launchers, pointing at the incoming attack. **“Delaware Burst!”** he barked, triggering his pumps. Immense pressure built up, then released in a large stream. While not as powerful as Misty or even Ash’s Water based attacks, still packed a powerful punch. The water cut through the lava and struck Totem, pushing him back with a grunt of pain as his stony chest cracked and split.

Play Fairy Tail Theme

“Ace, Onyx, show no mercy,” ordered Zodiac. The two nodded and charged into the rampaging horde. Meanwhile Erza heft up her sword, having regained her strength hefted up her sword. Zodiac turned to her, quickly saying, “I’ll block, you hit!”

Erza nodded and both launched towards Totem. The Kaijuu, while powerful was not fast. The only reason he’d even been able to wear her down was with the number of troopers. With Ace and Onyx taking care of the troopers, he was now at the mercy of the Titania and Zodiac. Still, he would not let this be the end of him. He attempted to block Erza’s sword strike but the blow stunned him and even cracked some of his armor. Staggering back, he saw Zodiac leaping up into the air, pointing downwards. ** “Downpour!”** he cried. This time he fired a larger, much more spread-out attack at the body, showering the golem-like monster with a cold spray. Instantly the water cooled the arm, cracking it audibly.

 **“W-what the-?”** Totem gasped in pain. The gasps turned to screams as Erza slashed at the offending arm, causing it to shatter like crystal. He staggered back, clutching the hardened stump of his limb as he cried out in pain.

“Magma is can be a powerful force, but when cooled it turns into obsidian, a sharp but extremely fragile material,” Zodiac explained, “As long as it remains hot, magma can easily melt steel. But given that you’re not burning up the street, I doubt you will ever get that hot.

Totem blankly stared at his now deformed arm in shock. He panicked, then turned jerkily and tried to flee, but Zodiac held up his arm again. He fired another water burst which struck him in the back hardening the lava. Erza wasted no time and slashed through the weakened armor several times, taking parts of it with her. By the time she got done, the kaijuu had been cut down to less than half of the size he began the fight with and his once confident visage was now cowering at the sight of the two armored warriors.

 **“No…have Mercy!”** Totem panicked.

Zodiac shook his head and pulled out his phone. “Sorry, no mercy today,” he said idly, pressing the Aquarius button again.

**STANDBY FINISHER: AQUARIUS**

He held up his hands and bound them together. He then focused his power into his wrist mounted guns, glowing at the same time.

** “Aquarius Pistol Breaker!” **

He thrust his fists out, firing multiple beams right into Totem’s chest. Each beam parts of the remaining rock that made up the golem’s armor, shattering it with a solid crack. One last beam pierced the Kaijuu’s chest, blowing a hole straight him. Totem gave its death knell, sparkling like a blown fuse, before exploding into a massive fireball.

(End Song)

“Guess that was too much pressure for ya,” quipped Zodiac, turning around and cocking his cannon. He looked to see Ace and Onyx finishing the other troopers off. He glanced at the body of the former Kaijuu to see a young brown haired man with a black and red shirt and grey shorts. “Recognize him at all?” he asked Erza.

The redhead shook her head as she returned to her Heart Kreuz armor. “No. He must have been a normal mage looking for some glory.” She approached Zodiac as he powered down. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I would’ve done this regardless. But I appreciate it nonetheless.” Drew nodded. He nudged his over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s head back.”

“No,” Erza said suddenly, stopping him, “You go back. I have some…preparation to do, before I face the guild.” At his curious look, she elaborated. “I…have more to say than just an apology.”

Drew looked at her, searching for any tell. Then he shrugged. “Fine by me. Come on, guys.” He waved over Max and Brock, who followed him, leaving Erza to her thoughts.

Two hours later, back at the guild, Drew wrote in his journal while teaching Natsu how to play Chess. He explained to the dragon slayer that learning to strategize in this situation was part of being a better fighter. The fact that he could split his focus showed the skill difference between him and Natsu.

Natsu moved the knight cornering one of Drew’s rooks. While he might have had some reservations, Lucy had been helping him in the last two games. “When’s Erza gonna come back? I want to go on a mission!” he whined.

“Erza’s going through some…soul searching. No one’s ever had the guts to call her on her faults. When she comes back, I want you to at least respect what she has to say,” Drew said, moving his Bishop to take Natsu’s Knight, getting him to curse.

“I hope she will be alright,” Lucy said in worry looking at the board and pointing at the queen. Natsu moved the queen to where Lucy was directed. Then Drew countered with a Rook. “Check.”

Natsu looked at the board and, deciding he’d had enough of the game, tilted his king. Drew raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Huh. You two did alright. Honestly, the way I was playing, if you were paying attention I might have been in trouble. We can try again later, or Lucy, if you want to go a couple of rounds.”

Before the blonde could respond, the guild doors opened to reveal Erza. Rather than her normally stern demeanor, she was more subdued, almost like she was ill. She walked past the silent guild, only the clanking of her boots making a sound. Makarov looked at one of his strongest mages. “There you are Erza. Is everything okay?”

Erza nodded. “Yes. I would like to say something to the rest of the guild,” she told him getting the rest of the guild’s attention.

(Play Fairy Tail theme violin version)

“My fellow guild members. What happened yesterday, was a fault of my pride and my ignorance. I unjustly accused a member of something that I perceived as wrong and when we fought, I was soundly defeated, only being spared serious harm by the graces of our guild master. After being healed and allowing me to think on my actions, I wish to make this to my friends and family.”

To the shock of everyone, she kneeled and put her head to the floor in a dogeza. “To Drew and Ash, I apologize for my actions and the actions of my fellow S-ranked mage. My intentions were supposed to be honest, but my actions dishonored them. And to my friends, my family, I ask for forgiveness, not only for my actions in the last week, but for my behavior since I came to the guild, years ago. You don’t deserve to live in constant fear of me, or my anger. I will try to change, to be a better woman, more tolerant of others. And to change my ways so that you can come to this guild, to enjoy what being a Fairy Tail mage is about!” she declared, her face lowered in despair, so they wouldn’t see her tears.

The guild was dead silent at the sight of their tough and often volatile Titania, begging for forgiveness like she committed the worst of crimes. Drew, having seen enough, walked up to her and knelt down. “Erza…get up. You’re embarrassing yourself.” She looked up, thinking he would be disappointed. Instead, he saw a smile. “You guys don’t do anything halfway do ya?” he asked, reached out his hand. “Consider this apology accepted.” Erza blinked through the tears and looked at his hand. Then she smiled, taking the offered up. He helped her up. “We all have different stories but what matters is the here and now. I hope one day, I can fight alongside the famous Titania. Let this be the first step towards a future we can all enjoy.”

Erza nodded and looked at her guild members. Instead of frowns, there were smiles all around, as if supporting her decision. “Thank you all. I will do my best to change to be a person that can be called a Fairy Tail member!” She thrust her hand up into the guild hand symbol, a backwards L that acted like a perch. Everyone else cheered and did the same, throwing up their hands.

Drew chuckled as he walked over to his friends. _This world may be different than Earth. But there are somethings that don’t change,_ he thought as he sat down. _Maybe the most important is that family isn’t the blood that flows through your veins._ He looked over at Natsu and Grey laughing, the dragon slayer hugging a blushing Lucy close. _It’s the company and the connections you make._ He closed his eyes and smiled.

Gabby noticed and nudged him. “Whatcha thinking about?”

“Hm? Oh, just thinking about how much this guild has impacted us.”

Gabby smiled and looked at the comradery of the rest of the guild. “They’re one of a kind.

Drew nodded and watched as the guild seem to pick up in energy. “Yeah, they are.”

Fairy Tail has endured the fall of Erza Scarlet’s pride, but what rose was a mage inspired, thanks to Drew and his friends. What will happen now? Find out next time on Nakama United.

End of Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UO: I thought I could get this out earlier but not as bad this time.  
> NS: Yeah, now we’ve only got…one? To catch up on.  
> UO: At the rate I go, I think that’s the best you’ll do until your friend arrives.  
> NS: *Cackles evilly*  
> Preview: Fairy Tail Wakes up to find their guild destroyed by an unknown mage. When it’s determined that another guild attacked, what lengths Fairy Tail will go to avenge their own. And what do these mages have to do with Lucy? Find out, next time


	10. Guild War: Phantom Lord Strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guild is attacked by malacious foes, looking for a lost heiress. Fairy Tail rushes to defend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Hey guys! (Sees destroyed set) WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THIS TIME!  
> Ash: What are you yelling at? (Sees set) Okay what happened?  
> UO: That's what I want to know. Where's Fairy Tail?  
> Natsu: Hey guys (Sees set and then UO's face) Not me this time. I was actually with Lucy doing something.  
> UO: Ash where are the others?"  
> Ash: (On Phone) Calling them. Misty where are you guys?  
> Misty: (Walks in with the girls and Brock and Max in tow) Right here. what the heck?"  
> UO: I don't know…Wait. (Sees symbol on wall) Grrr…Damn it, we were broken into. And I know that symbol, it’s someone one of my co-writers knows. Someone do the disclaimer, I need to talk with him. And I also need to do a headcount.  
> Erza: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own Pokémon, Fairy Tail or Kamen Rider. He makes no money and only owns the plot.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 10: Guild War: Phantom Lord Strikes

July 21st X784 10:30 AM

When we last left Fairy Tail, Erza and Laxus had been challenged by Drew and Ash after insults were thrown about. The two confident S-class mages were summarily beaten by the coordinated Riders. While Laxus went to stew over the loss, Erza went into a period of depression and thinking about her actions. After helping defeat a kaijuu attack, Erza had apologized for her past transgressions and vowed to change her attitude about many things including the fear she had inadvertently inflicted on her guild mates.

In the clearing where Drew had taken the guild to train, he was proctoring a sparring match between Lucy and Natsu. The blonde was in a white tank top and silver shorts that she’d borrowed from May, along with a white helmet. Natsu, meanwhile, wore a brown and red gi. The Celestial mage was bouncing on her legs her hands near her chin spread shoulder wide. After consulting with several of the others, they’d decided to teach her the martial art of Kickboxing. This was mostly for the power of her legs and the ability to think on her feet. With her magic being spirit dependent, it would help keep her opponents off balance by attacking without her spirit magic.

Meanwhile, Natsu seemingly mirrored her stance, but there were a couple of differences. For one his legs were stationary, his right foot angled and behind his left. His fists were at level eye level and closer together. Finally, his body was hunched slightly, as if preparing to spring forward. Being a guy that loved to get in close, Drew and Brock had decided to teach him Muay Thai, a well-known striking art. Seeing that the art involved multiple ways to hit people, Natsu was immediately sold on it.

Natsu grinned at Lucy, who looked like she was having fun. Bouncing around like she was on a sugar rush "You tired there, Luce?"

"No way, this is fun. Give me your best shot!" retorted the celestial mage.

Drew shook his head. "Take it easy you two, save your flirting for after you spar."

This made both of them sputter and break apart, flailing in denial. "We're not flirting!" they chorused.

Ash, who was having his shoulders massaged by Misty, glanced at Brock. "Were we ever that bad?"

"No, at least _they're_ civil. You guys were at each other's throats," replied the dark skinned man, smirking.

Misty giggled. "Well we got somewhat better, right Ashy?" purred the redhead. Ash only goofily grinned and snuck a kiss onto the red head getting their fellow mates to giggle as well.

Back in the spar, Lucy recovered and saw Natsu was still distracted by his thoughts. She launched her right hand. Natsu recovered enough to block her fist. He then tried to bring her closer launch another fist at her but she lifted her leg to kick him in his chest. The impact separated the two briefly, before Natsu launched a padded elbow at her head. Lucy blocked the strike but this allowed the dragonslayer to close in and grab her. A few moments of struggling later, Lucy reached to kick his leg. The impact caused both of them to fall forward with a thump.

Recovery from the fall, Lucy looked down and her face turned red. She’d inadvertently landed on Natsu and from an outside perspective, straddled him. She gasped, flailing her arms in a panic. "N-Natsu! I'm so sorry!"

Natsu groaned. "Geez Luce, that hurt, you ever think of losing weight.

Lucy's embarrassment turned to anger. "Shut up, pervert!" But despite her anger, for whatever reason, she didn't move off of him.

This got Drew to chuckle. "Having fun?"

The question finally got Lucy to get off of Natsu. "No, we uh…" Both of them blushed as they scrambled away from each other.

Drew shook his head, smiling ruefully. "Whatever. Let's call it a day and head to the guild after we clean up and change."

Everyone agreed and headed back into town. Stopping at their respective apartments, they met up next to Lucy's apartment. Sniffing around, Dawn held her nose.

"Natsu! Seriously, did you even take a shower?" she groaned, gagging.

"Does bathing in the river count?" he asked cluelessly.

Sighing, Brock reached into his bag and pulled out a red can. "Here, use this. It's deodorant; just spray it over your body. It’s not perfume, and you should smell fine."

Natsu took it hesitantly and sprayed it into the air, taking a sniff out of curiosity. He gagged. "Geez, that's rank!"

"Sorry, hygiene is a big thing where we come from."

Having dealt with the smell issue, they all headed towards the guild. As they approached, however, the people around them started to whisper as they walked by.

"Something seems to have spooked the townspeople," Tori observed, frowning.

"It seems like…pity, sadness? Do you think something happened to the…guild?" Anabel trailed off as everyone stopped in shock. From this distance the guild hall was visible and it had definitely seen better days. They rushed towards the building to see the full extent of the damage. Large metal poles had skewered the walls from the inside. They could only assume it was a complete mess on the inside.

"What the heck happened?" Misty gasped, holding a hand up to her mouth

"It was the Guild Phantom Lord," Mira told them walking up. "They attacked overnight when no one was here. Most of the building is trashed inside. Come on, we're downstairs."

Mira lead them to a door that led underground. Inside most of the guild was acting like nothing had happened. Natsu growled and stomped up to Makarov. "Old Man! What the hell? Why aren't we going after these Phantom Lord bastards?!"

"Calm down, brat,” huffed Makarov, waving him off with a bored expression, “The hall may be trashed but no one was hurt. That’s why we won't do anything; it’ll make Phantom Lord look like cowardly wimps."

"What's keeping us from going over there and retaliating?" Ash asked.

"The fact the Council made it illegal for legitimate guilds from fighting each other," Mira told them worriedly. "There may have been skirmishes between guilds in the past. But outright war between them is illegal and could lead to both guilds getting disbanded.

Drew sighed and rubbed his head. "Do you mind if we look inside the guild? I want to see the extent of the damage."

Makarov regarded him critically, but nodded, motioning for Mira to go with them. Upstairs the guild looked much worse than it appeared outside. Tables were ruined, the bar had several gaping holes smashed through it and the empty glasses littered the floor. The walls looked ready to cave in, great chunks ripped out of the wood entirely. In short, it looked like a twister had come in a blown out the guild using the metal bars as missiles.

The Riders saw the destruction and had to shake their heads. Whoever did this had a strong vendetta against the guild

"So, what do you plan on doing in here?" Mira asked.

"Where we come from, there is a group of people called that get called in for this. Basically police that specialize in looking for things that stand out at a crime scene to catch the culprit. We're just doing something similar," Drew answered. He turned to his friends. "Guys, if you have smaller pokémon, you should go ahead and release them."

Ash, Dawn and Max nodded and let out their pokémon. Giving them quick orders, the creatures quickly scurried away to find clues. Brock examined the poles and traced their length. "Let's see. Most of them seem to radiating out from…here." He slowly made his way over to a spot where the free ends of the rods all seemed to point. "Looks like whoever this wasn't trying to be subtle. Mira, any magic you know that can do this?"

"I can think of one. It might be Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer," Mira theorized.

"Iron Dragon Slayer? Like Natsu?" Lucy gasped, looking at her friend who could only grin at the challenge.

"Yes, though unlike Natsu who eats fire, he eats metal."

Before they could continue, a small squeak and a crash caught their attention. Dawn groaned. "Piplup, can you ever stay out of trouble?" She grumbled as she walked over to the penguin who had fallen over and caused some of the wood to fall on him. Clearing off the wood, she saw he had swirls in his eyes. She shook her head and hugged him. Standing up, her eyes spotted something. "Uh guys? Over here?"

The group walked over to where Dawn was looking. Over what used to be the bar, on the wall, was a painted logo, depicting a black sword planted tip-first in the ground. Perched on the pommel was a large eagle with its wings spread. If he didn’t know better, he could have been looking at a symbol from his world.

Drew looked over to Mira. "That Phantom Lord's symbol?"

The white haired girl shook her head. "No, I know all the legal Guild marks. That’s not theirs."

Drew hummed and motioned Gabby to take a picture of it. He turned to see Tori stiff as a statue, standing in the middle of three smashed tables. "Tori, you alright?"

Tori didn't hear him. Instead, her mind was flashing multiple images through her eyes. Instead of the guild hall, it was a crater with metal rubble. Firefighters and policemen were scavenging the wreck, looking for people trapped underneath.

"Tori!?" Drew's voice broke through and her mind returned to reality. She flinched and looked around, alighting on him with frightened eyes. He sighed. "This is not that day. No one was hurt. Just calm down." Tori didn’t speak, but took a deep breath, while Drew wrapped her in a hug. "It's okay. I remember that day too. Too vividly."

Lucy looked to Gabby for an explanation, who had closed her eyes. "We've…seen something like this, but far worse. Seeing this triggered the memory in Tori."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine…the guild hall destroyed, even more than this, with people trapped in it, some never being found. Then imagine us younger than Romeo," she told her.

Lucy and Mira gasped at the imagery provided. Gabby walked over to the hugging pair. "It's a dark spot for all of us. Tori still has nightmares about it, Drew still gets angry over being useless that day and I developed a fear of flying.” She got close and hugged the pair to her and for a few moments there was a solemn silence. Drew lessened the hold. "Come on, nothing else we can do here."

He led the group out. Lucy trailed behind, feeling sad about what she’d heard.

A few hours later

Despite the guild being a wreck upstairs, the members were as lively as ever. Lucy, figuring they weren't going to anything, decided to head home. As she walked out, Ash called out to her. "Lucy, wait up!"

She turned to see him and his friends walking up to her, confused. "What are you guys doing?"

"With what happened today, we figured it’d be best if we walk in groups. We can escort ya home."

Lucy smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys."

The group formed up around her and headed towards her apartment. Arriving there, Lucy bade them farewell before entering. Shortly after, they heard her screech, causing them to rush in with weapons drawn. Inside they found Natsu, Happy, Erza and Grey all in her apartment, with Lucy trying to kick them out. Erza was in her PJ's having seemingly gotten out of the shower, and Grey had unsurprisingly lost his shirt.

Drew growled, putting Leonid away. "Natsu, what the heck?! Erza, come on! You’re setting a bad example! And Grey, for Christ's sake put your shirt on!"

Grey panicked at his missing shirt, while Erza decided to speak up. "Our apologies, we thought it would be best if we all gathered at one location, because Phantom Lord might know where we all live."

"And Breaking into my apartment was your idea of safety!?" Lucy screamed frustratedly.

"Relax. If they wanted to get into your apartment, they would have to get through us," Grey boasted, holding onto Lucy's papers.

"Don't touch those!" demanded Lucy, kicking him into the wall, "Can you three just _leave?"_

"What!? How come they get to stay?" Natsu whined, pointing at Drew and the others.

"’Cause they walked me home and came when you three broke into my house! Now get out!"

Drew rubbed his head. "Much as I hate to agree, Erza has a point. Lucy, do you mind if we crash here?" He waved at his friends.

Lucy's features softened. "You guys can.” Then her features hardened and jabbed a finger at Natsu. “They can't!"

"But Lucy, we were worried about you!" whined Happy.

All three got on their knees. "Please let us stay!" they begged.

Lucy sighed. "I…jeez, I'm such a softy. Fine, you four can stay as well."

The groveling trio thanked Lucy, with Natsu hugging her. The hug made the blonde blush. Drew turned to the others. "Brock, Max can you go get some overnight stuff?"

The two nodded and left. Misty and Dawn did the same for the girls. A half hour later they were back, with bags of what Lucy presumed were clothes and other stuff.

"It might be a tight fit, but please, _please_ try not to wreck anything," Lucy pleaded. That plea went out the window as Natsu and Happy started to raid her fridge. Erza, on the other hand, started going through Lucy's drawers. She opened one drawer and her face began to match her hair as she held up a large pink bra. "I…never knew you had such daring underwear…"

Lucy groaned. May put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I know your plight. Erza, you can tell this is private for Lucy."

Erza just put the underwear away, mortified at being caught. "M-my apologies…you may hit me for my transgressions."

Lucy just facepalmed as her house seemed to nearly be swallowed up in bodies. Eventually everyone calmed down enough for a talk and had dressed into their bed clothes or in Grey's case stripped down to their boxers. The guys and Erza were playing a card game Drew's grandma taught him where they had to deal with an increasing amount of cards.

"So Erza, what’s this whole Phantom Lord thing all about?" Brock asked. He drew a card, made a face and put it on the discard pile.

"They’re a guild that’s considered on par with Fairy Tail, in terms of strength. Their guild master, Jose Porla, is one of Ten Wizard Saints," she explained, taking a card and keeping it, discarding the Ace of Spades.

"Wizard Saints?" asked Max as Drew picked it up, discarding a card and said 'Pay me,' getting the others to swear.

"Yes, the magic council is considered the government of mages. But the Ten Wizard Saints are the most powerful mages in Fiore. Master Makarov and Jose are among their number. They make these kaijuu we have faced seem like ants."

"Unfortunately, they seem to not care, otherwise they would have stepped in," Brock noted, finishing the round and tallying up the points. Max was leading, as this was a game about the lowest score and he only had 33 points. They shuffled the cards for the new round.

"Anything else we should know about Phantom Lord?" asked Ash.

Erza nodded as she dealt eight cards out. "Outside of Jose, they also have the Elemental 4. They are rumoured. to be the strongest mages in their guild."

"By their name, I would think they would control Water, Earth, Fire and Air," Drew theorized dryly.

"Correct. They’re led by Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer."

Natsu crumpled up his cards, before Ash hit him for nearly ruining them. "Gah, alright, sorry already! But, a Dragon Slayer, huh? I can't wait to fight ‘im."

"Flame Brain, you know we can't do that,” scoffed Grey, “The council will be on our ass like Cana at Happy Hour."

“Aye!”

The two were about to fight again but Erza stopped him. Drew shook his head and turned back to the game.

Meanwhile, the girls were gossiping while helping each other with their hair. "Dawn and Ana weren't kidding, your hair is so soft, Lucy!" Misty gushed.

Lucy blushed under the attention she got. "It's not that good. Your hair looks like a campfire; much prettier than mine…”

"Oh trust me, with the amount of swimming I do, I'm lucky it's like this," Misty waved it off. Then her voice turned sinister. "So what was that earlier today? It looked like you were enjoying being on Natsu's lap," she teased.

Lucy sputtered and was temporarily relieved when Erza summoned a sword to take Natsu’s head for threatening Lucy’s honor. Only Ash and Drew grabbing and restraining her calmed her down. Once the crisis passed, Misty reiterated her question. "Well, Lucy?"

Lucy blushed and mumbled something.

"What was that?" May asked, eagerly leaned in.

"I said I liked it, okay? But Natsu’s as dense as a rock! I doubt he’d know the difference between fighting and having a girlfriend."

"Don't be so sure of that,” Anabel chimed in, “The fact he made you a member of his team after only a few days says something."

The blonde looked away thoughtfully. "I guess so."

"Why don't we try to help you out after this Phantom Lord thing is taken care of?" Dawn asked as May started to hug her close.

Lucy smiled gratefully. After that particular talk, the mood began to lighten as they moved onto other topics.

A few hours later, everyone had gone to sleep. Natsu and Happy were snoring on her bed, Grey was sleeping in the kitchen next to Erza. Drew, Gabby and Tori were on one side of her bed, while Ash, Misty, May, Anabel and Dawn laid on the floor next to her table. Brock and Max were on the other side of the table.

Lucy went around the apartment killing the lights. She was about to do the same in her room when she spotted a brown box on her dresser. She walked up to the dresser and opened the box. Inside was a silvery gem that reminded her of moonlight. It was a gift from her mother, a gem that had apparently been passed down through her family.

"Mama, what would you do here?" she asked the gem, almost begging it to giving her the answers. The moonlight seemed to shine off the gem, giving it an ethereal glow. Figuring she had nothing to lose, she put the necklace on, praying for her mother to protect her from bad dreams. She turned the last light off, then nudged Natsu and Happy off the bed to take her spot. She fell asleep the moment she hit the pillow.

The Palace (Play Zelda's Castle from Wind Waker)

Lucy opened her eyes, thinking that morning had come already. Instead, she found herself standing in a large hallway. Though she could see some color, she could tell they were dulled out with a lot of grey mixed in.

"Where…where am I? Oh no! Was I went through just a dream and I’m back at my father’s mansion?"

"I can assure you, whatever you have gone through has not been a dream. It is your own mind that brought you here, Lucy Heartfillia," a mystical voice intoned. Lucy snapped around to see the speaker. It was a young, regal lady, with mid-back-length silver hair and a long silver dress.

Lucy panicked and pointed a shaking finger at the woman, eyes wide. "W-who are you? How do you know my name?!"

The girl curtseyed, smiling disarmingly. "My apologies. My name is Tsukihime, Princess to a Fallen Kingdom. And I know your name, your true name, because I've been watching you, my future Guardian."

Lucy realized who this was. "Wait. You're the sister Drew talked about?" Tsuki nodded. Lucy blushed. "Wow, when he was talking about his sister I never imagined someone so…otherworldly." Then she scratched her head sheepishly. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't be talking like that to a princess!"

Tsuki giggled. "You would not be the first nor the last to praise my appearance, male or female. Come, let me show you something."

Lucy followed her curiously. They stopped at a painting that made Lucy gasp. It was a blonde woman whose hair looked like it had diamonds. Her outfit consisted of a blue tunic top and black leggings with knee high boots. On her right hip was a metallic whip, while around her neck was a familiar pendant.

Lucy gasped, grabbing at her mother's necklace around her own neck. "That's…!”

"The Silver Crystal: the Gem of the Metal Guardian. Your maternal bloodline passed it down through their daughters and now it is time to awaken your destiny."

Lucy turned away. "But, compared to the other Guardians, I'm weak. I rely on my spirits and I'm a runaway from home. And now I know people are hurt because my choices!” She nearly screamed at the end. She looked at the necklace and thought about giving it to Tsuki.

The silver haired woman grabbed her hand and closed it around the gem. "Do not think you are unworthy of this gem,” she said softly, “Your bloodline is strong. Here, Let me show you something." Tsuki led Lucy over to a long cylindrical object, standing on three legs.

"I’m sure you know what this is. On Earth, we have telescopes much larger than this, that can see into the vast distances of the cosmos. Please, take a look at the star in the scope."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told, looking through the telescope. Close up, she saw that the star in question was actually a white, glittering orb that stood out against the blackness of the castle.

"Wow…what _is_ that?" she asked, amazed.

"It’s a star that was found recently. Or rather, what’s left of it. You see, eventually a star when it reaches the end of its life cycle goes through a death process where it heats up its core and then sheds its atmosphere leaving a core. They determined that, over the years, the core cooled so much that it turned into a diamond. Tsuki explained.

"That's…a diamond!?" Lucy gasped, “A sun-sized _diamond?!”_

Tsuki nodded. "Yes. If there was a value to it, I could easily rebuild my Kingdom a thousand times over. Do you know what they call it?" At the blonde's negative answer, she smiled. "It's named for a song that talked about the sky. That name…was Lucy."

Lucy gasped at the realization. Tsuki continued. "You have the potential to be brighter than that star. To stand with your fellow guardians. To fight against the darkness that threatens to swallow the universe."

The mage looked back at her gem. "I'll do it. I'll do it, to protect my new family! And Fairy Tail!"

Tsuki smiled. "Then come. It is time to embrace your destiny." She led Lucy over to a large door. Lucy was curious about the emblems on the door and noticed that four were glowing.

"Show your gem to pass through the door," Tsuki intoned, as if in a trance.

Lucy grabbed her gem and held it out in front of her. An emblem on her left near the bottom glowed. Then the door slowly cranked open groaning as years of dust shook throughout the room. With some trepidation, she followed the princess down the stairs beyond, noticing a set of torches lighting the path. They approached a large circular stone room, with a light shining down in the center. Like the door, there were four areas glowing brightly, occupied by four familiar images of her friends.

"Ten Elements, ten gems, ten Guardians. Present your gem and accept your destiny!"

Lucy gulped and approached the pedestal and held the gem aloft.

(Play Pulling the sword.)

The gem glowed and she was surrounded by a bright white light. When it died down, Lucy looked at her hand in wide-eyed wonder. Where her gem had been was now a rectangular belt. The center looked like a scope mirror with a black rubber outline. On its side was a keyhole, that twisted something inside the belt.

(Play Zelda's Lullaby)

"Wow," Lucy murmured in wonder, turning it over, "It looks so pretty."

"This is your belt, Princess Lucy of Metal. Take care of it and it will take care of you."

"What…What do I do with it?" she asked.

Tsuki smiled as she began to fade away. "When the time comes, you will know. One last thing Lucy: what you know about your father is not the entire story."

Lucy reached her hand out in a panic. “Wait! What do you mean? Tell me!” But Tsuki had faded completely by that point and light poured through the room forcing her to cover her eyes.

End Song (Back in her apartment)

Lucy cracked open her eyes, feeling surprisingly warm. She looked down her stomach to see familiar tanned arms around her stomach. Blushing at the warmth, she desperately wanted to stay in the dragon slayer's embrace, but she would be teased endlessly if the others caught them. She none too gently nudged Natsu off the bed again. She was about to sit up when she felt something in her lap. She pulled the covers and saw the belt she saw in her dream sitting there.

"U-unbelievable. Last night really happened," She whispered.

"What really happened?" Happy's sleepy voice asked.

Lucy smiled. "Nothing, you little fur ball, just go back to sleep."

As she said this the others began to wake up. Natsu groggily woke up from his position on the floor.

"Whaa…why am I on the floor, I thought I was on the bed," he mumbled.

Unfortunately, Erza was awake enough to hear it and slammed the door open, waking everyone else up shouting something about taking Natsu’s manhood. After calming down, they all got dressed and cleaned up to head towards the guild. As they walked, they passed by a park where a group of people were standing around a large tree. Walking up to it, they gasped in horror. Dawn, Tori and Lucy were close to tears. Crucified against the tree were the three members of Team Shadow Gear: Levy, Jet and Droy. Between their heads was the same sword symbol that was spread across the ruined guild. Across their scarred bodies was the Phantom Lord symbol.

"This is…horrible!" Lucy cried.

"This is beyond degrading!" Dawn yelled.

"Phantom Lord needs to pay!" Brock growled furiously.

Makarov had arrived shortly after they did. He watched the three mages hanging from the tree with anger distorting his usually jovial expression. "My children…why?” Even with his small stature, his grave words shook the atmosphere with thunderous presence. “Phantom Lord, you've gone too far! If you want a war, you got one!”

His anger was matched by the intense Auras given off by Drew and Ash. Drew spoke in a low voice. "Grab your gear. We're going hunting!" He turned around and headed towards the guys’ apartment, with his friends in tow.

"Hold it," Makarov called out, still with that ominous sense of danger. Before Drew could argue, he said. "Wait for us, because we aren't taking this lying down. Erza! Go get everyone and prepare for a fight!"

Erza nodded and sprinted away. Makarov looked at the tree and waved the nearly ruined stave at the restraints releasing them. He slowly brought the three down and had Grey, Natsu and Lucy carry them. Natsu looked at them, fury in his eyes "Don't worry guys, we'll be these creeps for hurting you!"

They didn't answer, but quickly followed Erza and Makarov.

Two Hours Later Outside Oak Town

On the hills outside of Oak Town rested the headquarters of the Phantom Lord guild. It was an enormous castle with yellow and white bricks, orange domes and two imposing towers. The entrance was a metallic silver door with a purple cross on it. Inside, the guild was in a jubilant mood as they celebrated their perceived victory with drinks and food.

“Man, those wimps were total pushovers! You should’ve seen their faces when their little guild was destroyed!”

“All thanks to our boy Gajeel!” They all laughed at the thought of Fairy Tail’s despair over their precious home being destroyed.

These celebrations were silenced when their door was blasted open, crushing the three behind it and sent others into the wall. When the smoke cleared, it revealed the entire guild with Drew and Natsu leading, punching the doors in. What's more, the entire guild was there ready for a fight

As one they all roared, "WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!" and charged.

Phantom Lord, caught completely flat-footed by the invasion, gathered their wits and charged in to face them head-on.

Everyone in Fairy Tail got their shots in as they launched their attacks almost simultaneously. Macao summoned purple fire to trap his opponents in a ring of flames, snagging more and more people by the second. Wakaba blew smoke from his trusty pipe to form several fists out of the smoke. He then controlled them to knock out the mages around them. Alzack fired off his Spark Shots spell to stun several attackers while Bisca, standing behind her teammate, sniped at another group. Even Happy got in on it, summoning fish out of nowhere and slapping the enemy mages, stuffing them full of fish and other food. "That's what you get for underestimating Fairy Tail Mages!" He cheered.

Meanwhile, Makarov was surrounded by another group of mages. They were sniggering at his height.

"Haha, look at this old man! He’s so tiny!"

"There won’t be much left after we squash him!"

They all charged at Makarov, oblivious to the man’s anger. His eyes glowed yellow along with the rest of body. His body grew to the ceiling. With one wave of his arms, he smashed through opponents.

"JOSE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" he roared, "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!"

A sinister laugh cut through the guild hall. The mages paused in their fighting to turn to the balcony, to see a tall, dark-haired man looking down at the chaos. He wore a purple coat that was open to reveal a plaid shirt and a red tie. On his back were two bat wings. This man was the guild master of Phantom Lord, Jose Porla.

"Well now, the entire Fairy Tail guild, here to fight my guild. How utterly predictable."

"Jose! You will pay for what you did to my guild!"

Jose laughed. "Well I wanted a fight with you, and now I shall get one. Come find me upstairs! As for your guild…" He snapped his fingers. Shadows began to slither and converge in front of them, revealing Shadow Troopers armed to the teeth. “You really should’ve brought more.”

The group charged passed the fallen Phantom lord mages towards the front of the Fairy Tail line which happened to be Erza in her Flame Empress armor. Before they could reach her, a purple shield and a pink barrier formed in front of her and the others. She looked over to see Anabel and Dawn glowing in their respective colors, holding their hands out.

A shout from above turned her attention upward to see Drew swinging his sword and crashing down, creating a large circle of crushed trooper parts. He turned to Erza. "Keep the remaining mages off our backs,” he ordered, “Natsu, Grey, time to bust some heads!"

"Alright, I'm all fired up!" Natsu cheered, pulling out his Hand Ring and summoning his belt and flipping the hand on the belt.

**DRIVER ON! PLEASE~~~! SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN~~!**

Grey grinned. "These guys are going down!" he cheered, summoning his ring and belt.

**DRIVER READY!**

As they did this, the others got out their belts and got into their stances.

As one they shouted. "HENSHIN!"

**EVOLVE**

**ORION**

**KAMEN RIDE: SIRIUS!**

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

**COMPLETE**

**FLAME, PLEASE! HI! HI! HI HI HI~!**

The Fairy Tail mages watched, amazed as their fellow guild members glowed and transformed into their armored forms. Learning about them was one thing, seeing them in action was another thing entirely.

(Play Kingdom Hearts OST: Desire for all that is Lost)

Zodiac pointed Leonid at their opposition as he spoke to the guild. "Keep up the momentum! Let's go, guys!" He immediately charged in, his friends close behind him.

Kyokan swung her chakrams around, dancing past blows with her flexible body as they sliced through dark armor. Next to her, Hanabi was firing off several Ice Shards from her sword

"Hanabi!" The empath called out.

The pink Rider nodded and ran towards her, activating a card as she did so.

**BOUNCE**

Kyokan raised her chakram above her head. When her friend landed on the raised chakram, she hurled her towards the ceiling with her telepathic blast. Now in the air, Hanabi quickly flicked another card into her hand and scanned it.

**DISCHARGE**

She thrust her sword down, launching streaks of lightning down on the troopers shocking them out of existence.

She landed and cartwheeled out of the way of Kyokan, who had her chakram spinning and powering up in front of her.

**FLASH CANNON**

The blast caught the rest of their assigned group unaware. She swung the weapon around and looked at Hanabi. They gave each other a thumbs up and leaped into another group.

Kusa ducked under an axe strike and slashed at her attacker’s knees. Stabbing it in the heart she back-kicked another Trooper, then went into a backflip and struck another in the chest. She reset her stance, shuffling her feet in a rhythmic pattern. Her constant movements threw off her attackers by making it hard to predict where she landed. This allowed for counter attacks with her legs and swords. Triton meanwhile was weaving through each attack, summoning balls of water and blasting away at groups of enemies. She spun Lugia around and slammed the butt into the stone beneath her. **"Tidal Surge!"** she cried. A wave of water spread out from the point of contact, roared out in a sudden torrent, colliding with a line of enemies in front of her.

Kusa leaped up and scanned a card as she flipped.

**VINE WHIP**

She thrust out her sword, sending several thorny vines into the crowd. She landed next to Triton and stood back to back with.

"You doing alright?" Triton asked.

"First big fight in a long time, I'm doing great!" Kusa replied cheerfully.

"Don't get cocky, we haven't found those Elemental Four yet,” said the Guardian seriously.

Kusa nodded. "Right. Lead the way!" They turned and leaped back into the fray.

Orion locked blades with a trooper. The blades caused sparks to fly into the air. She pushed down and then used the leverage to disarm the sword. She then backhanded the dagger into the trooper's neck, making it disintegrate. She watched with some pride as her partner got into the fray. Meanwhile, Sirius blocked a lance strike, then spun to launch a stream of water at another opponent. Orion spun her knives and formed her bow to snipe one approaching her friend in the head.

"Siri, how are you holding up?"

"Could be better…this is getting ridiculous!" moaned Sirius. She glanced behind Orion and quickly pointed her staff. **"Lagoon Burst!"** A small ball of water struck the trooper’s head, knocking it off balance and letting the huntress finish it off.

"We'll pull through this, don't worry," Orion assured her, blind firing another shot. Sirius nodded. Then she waved her staff glowing blue before starting providing buffs and healing.

Draco pumped Urvan's handle and blasted four troopers away. "This is awesome! That's 28 for me, wolf boy!"

Lupus, whose weapon had transformed into a smaller version of Bisca’s weapons, picked up two more. "That's 30 for me. Are you sure you’re a Guardian, Scale Face? Your little cannon can't fire that fast!" It was true. Grey's weapon, Tundra Claw, in gun form was a short rifle almost like a machine gun, which according to Drew was more accurate than Natsu's shotgun and could hit at longer range. But as he found out, he didn't have the kick the shotgun had, requiring more shots to put his opponents down.

"Damn you, stripper, you're not gonna beat me!" Draco growled as he fired off another round blasting two more. As he did so, three more Troopers tried to sneak up on the two. A stab to their necks ended them quickly.

"Guys, you need to pay attention!" yelled Ace, flying in. He slashed another Trooper, "By the way, that's 35 for me!" he taunted, leaping away. This got the two rivals to swear and pick up the pace.

Aura Force Palmed one of the troopers away, allowing Zodiac the room to swing. Then the aura Rider followed through with his own blade to wipe out a line in front of him. Aura quickly jumped up and held out his hand. A large bolt of lightning that completely cleared out the group in front of them.

"Something's wrong. If the Elemental Four were the strongest here, then why haven't they showed up yet?" asked Aura.

Zodiac shot a couple of troopers over his shoulder. "That's a good question. They would defend this guild even without orders. Why risk having our entire guild here?"

Before they could figure it out, the ground shook as something large and heavy smashed into the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. The fighting stopped as a tall figure stood up from the smoke. The figure turned out to be a man, with long, greasy hair, red eyes and metal piercings in his face and arms. He wore a black jacket with matching gloves, white pants and black metal boots.

The man laughed. "So, you guys are the Kamen Riders of Fairy Tail. You look like a bunch of posers. Especially Lizard Breath over there!" He pointed at Draco .

Draco growled. "Watch it, Metal Brain! I can destroy you anytime!"

Erza planted her sword in the ground and pointed as well, though in the man’s direction. "So, you’re Gajeel Redfox. The Iron Dragon Slayer."

Gajeel laughed, throwing up his hands in ‘guilty as charged’ sort of way. "You got that right. But I'm not just the Dragon Slayer of Phantom Lord." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of rings. Rings that was similar to Draco and Lupus's, only in black and silver. The Riders all gasped.

"No way…Gajeel is a Rider?" Hanabi voiced everyone's thoughts with a gasp.

"Not just a Rider, girlie. The best Rider in Fiore!" boasted Gajeel, giving a grin that showed off a set of shark-like teeth. He placed the hand-shaped ring on his right hand and brought it to his waist, lifting his shirt to reveal a small black belt.

**RAISE ANCHOR…!**

The mechanical voice of the belt sounded as it expanded to surround his waist. It sounded near demonic, like a pirate ready to carve up a ship. Gajeel flipped the hand and put on his other ring, emblazoned with two swords crossed over a ship's anchor. He raised the ring to eye level, then then clenched his fist and flung it to the side. "Henshin!" he yelled, grinning madly. He dropped his hand over of the belt, the ring glowing grey.

**ARGO! SETTING SAIL!**

A grey magic circle formed behind Gajeel and covered him. After a moment it dissipated like a deadly fog, leaving behind a black and grey armored figure. His helmet looked like a tricorn pirate's cap, with large, yellow eyes. His armored form resembled a ship captain. It was colored grey with yellow stripes around the chest. The armor looked like a naval officer’s uniform. It was capped off with grey metal boots and black gloves.

"The Name is Kamen Rider Argo. And I’ll crush you!” the now-named Argo announced.

The Fairy Tail Riders stood in stunned silence as the newly revealed Rider stood before them. The silence was broken as Draco hefted up his axe and charged at the black Rider with a roar.

Argo smiled behind his helmet and reached for the sword on his waist.

Back at Fairy Tail

Lucy squeezed the water out of the cloth she was holding and put it to Levy's clammy forehead. She looked sadly at the small girl's body, covered in bandages. Looking at Jet and Droy, she had to hold back tears at their condition.

Brock, who was putting his medicine bag away, gave the blonde an encouraging smile. "They're strong, Lucy. As long as we keep taking care of them, they'll pull through. At least they could walk. I remember one time Dawn and Tori nearly broke some bones thanks to our opponent negating our armor’s protections and then did enough damage to knock them out of the armor.This particular one held a grudge against Ash. Bet we'll see him again."

Lucy looked over at Levy. "She was my first real friend at the guild. You guys were nice and all, but Levy was the first one I could connect with. She loved to read and I promised that she could read my novel first!" She began to sob. "Levy…why did you suffer so much? Why you three?!" She tried to wipe away her tears, but they flowed nonstop. "W-whoever did this will pay!"

Brock nodded at her conviction, smiling slightly. Then he noticed a change in lighting, as the skies outside darkened. He looked outside and saw rain beating a pattern against the windows. "That's weird…It was supposed to be sunny all day."

Lucy watched Brock as he walked towards the storage door. Something moved out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t identify it, but on instinct she screamed, "Brock, look out!"

He turned at her shout, only to be hit by a large stream of water and sent flying to crash into the barrels. Lucy gasped in horror and turned to see two figures, a man and a woman. The man had green hair, a mousy mustache and a monocle. He was dressed in a brown suit and carried himself with an arrogant flair. The woman had blue hair curled into a set of ringlets. She dressed in a blue greatcoat, with a matching shawl and a black ushanka hat. Her appearance was capped off with a pink parasol.

"Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…Juvia asks Monsieur Sol, is this our target?" the now-named Juvia asked her companion.

Sol laughed. "Oui, Madame Juvia. We ‘ave found Mademoiselle Heartfillia. Now zhen, young mademoiselle, my name is Monsieur Sol of ze Land, and zis madam is Juvia of the Deep. We are ze Elemental 4.” The man’s jovial smile shrank, becoming sinister. “I suggest you come quietly."

Lucy gripped her keys. "So you're with Phantom Lord?! Good, then I know who’s butt to kick!”

"Non, non, non. It was Monsieur Redfox who did all of _zis,”_ corrected the suited man. “But we were all contracted to take you away.”

Before Lucy could respond, she was suddenly trapped as a sphere of water trapped her. She struggled to break free, but with the lack of oxygen, she slowly faded into unconsciousness

"Pitter-patter, pitter-patter… Juvia's Water Lock can't be broken. Now then, Juvia and Sol shall depart and complete our mission."

The two Phantom mages departed as Brock pulled himself out of the wreckage of the barrels. He slammed his hand against a barrel cracking it. "Lucy…Damn it. I failed her!" he bit out, holding back his anger.

Back at Phantom Lord

Argo and Draco clashed their weapons causing sparks flying. Argo's sword was a large cutlass. It was grey in color that curved near the tip of the blade and had a bronze handle with a metallic hand guard. Argo jumped back and held out his hand with a bark of, **"Iron Dragon's Club!"** His arm morphed into a large metal pole, which extended with blinding speed to strike Draco.

The Dragon rider grunted as the blow shook his body but stayed standing. "You call that a hit? Erza hits harder than this when she isn't even trying!" he taunted. He swung Urvan so the barrel faced Argo. "Have some lead! **"Fire Dragon's Buckshot!"**

Three shots struck Argo in his chest, pushing him back but otherwise showing no visible damage. "You call those shots!" he shouted back. In reality, the shots had penetrated, but not broken through the scales underneath. Truth be told, he was about ready to scream in pain. In his mind’s eye, he should have been equal with the other dragon-slayer. So why was he struggling to do damage? Was Draco really that strong? Argo shook his head. _No way is Lizard Breath stronger than me!_ He reached for his gun, a black flintlock pistol with a reasonably sized barrel. He fired it off, hitting Draco in the shoulder with a large iron ball.

Draco shrugged it off, barely even noticing the impact, then unloaded two more shots into Argo, making him stagger. It quickly became apparent that while both weapons could fire up close, Draco could fire off more before having to recharge it. This was because Urvan’s shotgun was a more modern weapon than Argo’s flintlock. Draco swung Urvan around to decapitate the pirate. Argo barely blocked, grunting as the force behind the blow created a shockwave behind them, splintering the ground. The clash was cut short when a body crashed into the floor of the guild, forming a crater. Draco watched the dust clear and gasped. It was Makarov, looking sickly green and half dead.

"Gramps!" shouted Draco, instinctively reaching out towards his Guildmaster. His distraction allowed Argo to pull back the flintlock on his pistol and shoot him in the back. Draco screamed in pain as the shot connected. He staggered where his guild mates were watching in disbelief that their guild master had fallen.

Erza snapped out of her trance. "Fall back!" She ordered. She saw her guild mates hesitate. "Makarov has fallen, we need to get out of here and regroup! Everyone fall back, now!"

With great reluctance, they all began to retreat in an orderly fashion. Argo chuckled and pointed his gun at Draco. Slowly and deliberately, he pulled the hammer back and pointed it at Makarov. He pulled the trigger, snapping the hammer to fire the shot, intent on inflicting a fatal wound. Suddenly, his target was ensnared in green vines and yanked away. Kusa, seeing the downed man, had launched a Vine Whip to wrap him up, leaving the bullet to smash into the ground where he’d lain. She flicked up to Ace, who was flying away, and started to fall back as well.

Argo growled, but before he could react, another mage approached him; a tall man with a black afro, tan skin and a blindfold. He wore a green jacket, orange sweater and brown pants. "Master Gajeel, our mission is complete. We have Miss Lucy."

Draco overheard the conversation and growled. He turned around and grabbed a down mage. "Where is Lucy?" He demanded, holding his axe to the man’s throat.

The mage shook at the anger being felt from the armored dragon slayer, but remained silent. Draco turned up the heat and the guy relented. "I-in the fortress behind our guild!"

Draco threw him away and charged out of the building. Zodiac glanced at Aura and Triton. "Aura, cover the retreat! Triton, come on, we’ve gotta help Draco!"

"Right!" Aura replied, running off.

"Right behind you!" answered Triton, following behind Zodiac.

Outside, they saw Draco looking around frantically. He was trying to find anyway to get into the tower that housed Lucy. His ears caught something and he looked to see a figure falling.

"NATSUU!"

Draco recognized the blonde hair and realized it was Lucy falling from the tall tower. Pouring power into his legs, he rocketed towards the falling girl.

Moments Earlier

Lucy groaned as she opened her eyes. Sitting up she realized she was in some sort of cell. She tried to move her arms only to find them tied. She leaned back and sighed. ' _Great. I got kidnapped by a lunatic rain woman and some mousey businessman. Could this get any worse?'_ She thought. The door opening proved that it could worse. She looked to see Jose walking through the door with a smug grin.

"Ah, Miss Heartfillia. So nice to finally meet you," he greeted, his voice full of fake politeness, "Are these accommodations to your liking? I could always change them. Put you in the best room we have in the guild."

Lucy looked away, not even acknowledging him. "You're the ones that attacked my guild. I want to know why you did it. Why hurt my friends?" she demanded

Jose tsked. "Silly girl. Attacking Fairy Tail was a _bonus_ for us. We were actually requested to bring you home. By your own father, no less." Lucy gulped in fear, prompting Jose to chuckle. "Of course, right before we came up with this plan to kidnap you, we received a much better offer to take you to _them._ I don't care what they plan to do, but I’m getting paid triple what your father promised. It’s a win-win: I get paid from him _and_ my new partner." He looked at Lucy with a manic grin. "So, you just sit there and look pretty while we take you to them.”

Lucy glared defiantly. "I won't go back and I will tell you this. Your little plans? They will fail. Not because Fairy Tail is stronger than your guild but because they won't abandon me to such a fate."

Jose glared. "You best shut up for your own good. I have powers beyond your imagination."

Her expression never changed. "So do they, and they can kick your ass!" Jose scoffed and turned to leave the jail. However, Lucy had one more thing to say. "Wait!"

"Now what?" snapped the guild master.

Lucy put on an embarrassed face. "Um…well, if it’s not too much to ask, could you get me something to go to the bathroom in?"

Jose growled. "You think you can fool me? The moment I walk out of here, you're going to make a run for it."

Lucy sighed. "Fine, I guess I'll go here." She then proceeded to squat down and mimic the action.

Jose twisted his face in disgust. "You have no shame you spoilt little bimbo! Fine, I'll get you your bucket. Damnit, they’d better have-THAAAT!?" While he was distracted, Lucy snapped her leg and kicked him between the legs. As he rolled around in pain she quickly fled down the hall. She ran until she came to a balcony and had to stop herself from falling over.

Jose, who was still recovering from where she kicked him, hobbled after her. “Y-you…can't run! This little cell is several stories high…! I must admit, you did a number on me." He glared at her furiously, his eyes bloodshot. "You’re not going to get away with this…You…you must be _punished!”_

Lucy glared at him defiantly, then over the edge, then back at him, plan set in her mind. "I rather die free than be a captive for whoever sent you!" Then, to Jose's shock, she tilted back and leaped off the balcony. She closed her eyes as her speed picked up, the wind whipping by her. And yet, there was no fear in her heart. _Natsu...I know he's here!_ She opened her mouth and screamed out. "NATSUUUUUU!"

Draco saw the falling girl and poured more energy into his legs. "LUUCCYYY!" he roared, leaping forward. Just when it looked like Lucy might hit the ground, he caught her in his arms. He turned around so his back collided with a nearby wall. He skidded to a stop as his momentum slowed down.

Happy flew behind Draco and saw the two on the ground. "Whoa. It's raining Lucys!"

Draco groaned and glanced the blonde. "You alright?"

Lucy nodded. "Thank you. I know you would save me."

The two stood up and Natsu cut the ropes away.

Zodiac and Triton ran up to them. "Thank goodness you're alright, Lucy," Triton breathed in relief.

"Yeah. Good job, Draco. Come on, we need to regroup."

"What? We're leaving? But the guild's right here!" Draco complained.

"Erza ordered a retreat. Makarov is down and so’s our morale,” Zodiac told him, “This isn’t a full retreat, but we need to go back and regroup!"

Draco started to argue with Zodiac, while Triton sighed and turned to see Lucy shaking. "Lucy? What's wrong?" she asked.

(Play Fairy Tail Sad music)

"I'm…sorry. I'm so sorry. All of this was my fault!" She began to tear up. "All of this, everything is my fault! I don't want to leave…I love being in Fairy Tail…I love being with everyone!"

Draco looked at her concerned. "What do you mean leave? You don't have to leave, you’re one of us!"

Lucy began to sob harder and hugged the armored dragon slayer, shuddering helplessly. Zodiac sighed. "As much as I want to watch this moment, we need to get out of here. Draco, can you carry her?"

He nodded and put her on his back. She sniffled as she laid her head on his armored shoulders, tears staining her face. Without a look back, they ran back to the guild.

End Song

Two Hours later

Lucy blinked her eyes open. She had fallen asleep crying on the way back to the guild and they’d put her down a small bed. She sat up and saw Tori standing by her bed. The brunette smiled. "Oh good, you're awake. How’re you feeling?"

Lucy looked around. The guild was in a depressed funk; the energy she was used to was gone and most were close to crying. "How is everyone?"

"Most of them are doing okay. They’re depressed because Makarov’s not doing so well. From what I gathered, they used a powerful Magic Draining spell on him and it nearly killed him," Tori sadly explained.

Lucy looked down almost ready to cry. "It's all my fault. Everyone's hurt because of a stupid thing I did."

"Why's it your fault, Lucy?" asked Natsu curiously as he walked over. She tilted her head and saw Tori's friends, Erza and Grey approaching the bed.

She looked away from her friends. "I haven't been truthful to you all. My name, my full name is Lucy Heartfillia, f-former Heiress to Heartfilia Konzern."

"Heartfillia what now?" asked Natsu, tilting his head in confusion.

"Heartfilia Konzern is one of the most powerful trading conglomerates in Fiore and Earthland. They have a near monopoly on the railways," explained Erza, seeming unsurprised by the blonde’s confession, "If you're the heiress, then why did you run away?"

Lucy nodded sadly. “I…ran away because he wanted me in an arranged marriage."

Drew looked at Anabel, who shook her head. "You're not telling us the full story," he pushed. Lucy blinked at his tone, surprised at being caught. "Anabel here can feel and see emotions remember? She can use that to discern the truth."

Lucy shook. "I ran…because someone came to my dad one day and they wanted me for some reason. Their plans just gave me the reason to get out of there, ‘cause I'd been wanting to run for a long time.” She started to tremble again, brown eyes gathering tears. “And now, because I was such a coward, Makarov is hurt and the guild is destroyed. And it's all my fault!" She covered her eyes and began to wail.

Natsu not knowing what else to do, walked over and hugged the crying girl to his chest clumsily. "It's…gonna be alright, Luce,” he offered, tentatively, “No one’s gonna take you back to your dad, _or_ his cronies. Who cares if your family has money. See this?" He pointed at the guild mark on her hand. _"This_ is your family. You can be Lucy of Fairy Tail! And this family will protect you to our dying breath!"

Lucy looked at him through teary eyes, expression twisting in distress. "No…no! Don't die for my sake. I'm not worth it!" she sobbed. Natsu didn't know what to do and turned to his friends, who had to smile at the couple's interaction.

"Just sit there and comfort her, alright, Natsu? She really needs it," May told him, "We’ve got to talk about something." Natsu nodded and squeezed the crying girl closer.

May walked over to the others, who looked concerned about something. "What's going on?"

"Something came up. When Lucy mentioned her name was Heartfillia, Max got my attention. Max, what’ve you found?" Drew asked the smaller boy.

"When Lucy said her last name, I thought it sounded familiar, so I looked at that list you got us. Take a look at the name I found," he told him, handing over the transcribed information.

Drew scanned the names on the list. Max had been able to track down one of the account numbers, which was listed under the name Heart. He taken a pen and added the rest of the name to reveal Heartfillia. "All the money listed in this account started appearing two months ago. Before then, they were bleeding money. Now all of his debts are cleared and he's in the black, approaching levels from two years ago," Max explained.

"So they weren't providing money. They could’ve providing equipment to transport all of those weapons," Anabel realized.

"That leaves two questions,” Ash theorized, “One, was this willingly? Two, how much would Lucy know?"

Drew sighed. "I don't know. But if, and this is big if, he did in fact help them willingly, then we would have to handle this delicately.”

Misty looked at Lucy, who looked comfortable in Natsu's arms. "Yeah,” she began sarcastically, “Not exactly the best time to say, 'Oh, your dad is supplying terrorists and we may or may not have to kill him.' I would _love_ to be in that conversation."

Dawn frowned. "I just hope we can keep this from spiraling out of control."

Drew nodded. "We can figure it out later. Right now, we may have another problem. I think Gajeel is one of us."

This left the others stunned. Natsu broke the silence first. "What? Metal-head is a Guardian!?" he shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.

"How can you tell?" demanded Erza.

"First off, calm down. Second, he’s not a Guardian, he’s a Knight, there’s a difference,” Drew replied, ”Third, I know through two ways. For one thing, the Rider name, Argo, was a constellation. Draco and Lupus are also constellations. If there’s a theme to your world’s Riders so far, it’s that they’re star-based,"

"And the second way you could tell?" Gray crossed his arms.

"He was struggling against Natsu and yet he was the guild Ace. Either Natsu is clearly stronger, or Gajeel is not only one us, but also under Natsu's command," Ash answered. "There’s a built in mechanism for Knight Riders that prevents attacking their two Guardians. A Rider should have been able to match a normal mage even those who are considered S-ranked. From the brief moments I saw you fighting, you were dealing way more damage to him. The only reason you got hit was because you were distracted. Either he just got the belt or something was holding him back. I bet there are consequences for attacking Natsu repeatedly." His thoughts were cut off as the building shook.

"Anyone get a feeling we're in Jurassic Park?" asked Gabby. Not needing an answer, everyone scrambled out.

Drew was about to follow when he saw Mira talking to a Lacrima and near tears. "Please, Laxus, help us!"

" _I'll help you, but it's gonna cost you! The drunkard will have to a do striptease and blondie is gonna date me!"_

Mira teared up at the callous demands when Drew grabbed the Lacrima out of her hands and glared at the image. "Here's my answer bastard!" He dropped it on the floor and stomped on it cracking the crystal in two. "He'll be talking to my fist when I see him next!" He turned his eyes towards Mira, his expression softening. "Guess getting help is out of the question?"

She nodded sadly. "You saw what Laxus wanted and Mystogan is nowhere to be found. I feel so useless!” There was no trace of her gentle happiness to be found as tears poured down her cheeks. “I to be out there, helping everyone, but I can't even use my magic anymore!"

Drew widened his eyes with realization. "That last S-class mage…it's you isn't it?"

The young woman nodded, burying her face in her hands. "Two years ago…I lost my baby sister on a mission,” she whispered, every word painful to bring out, “I…lost my will to fight, after that."

Drew put his hand on her shoulder. "Your sister wouldn't want you to be sad. I bet somewhere out there, she is rooting for us to save our home."

Mira sniffled. "Even so, I can’t fight! If I couldn’t stop her from dying, how could I protect Lucy?"

"Just because you can't fight, doesn't mean you can't help." Another tremor shook the building. "Tch. That's my cue. Don't worry about us." He turned around and headed out to join the rest of the guild. He moved to the front of the build to see something completely unexpected. Looking up, they realized by the emblem on the walls that Phantom Lord’s base was walking straight towards the guild on giant metal legs. In the middle of the tower was a large cannon ready to fire.

" _Hehehahaahah!_ Hello Fairy Tail! I hope you enjoyed your guild. Because today's the day you die! Fire Jupiter Cannon!:

A purple circle emanated from the front of the barrel of the gun. It glowed menacingly as it finished powering then paused briefly before unleashing a dark purple beam straight at the guild. The beam cut across the lake splitting the water in two as it roared towards the assembled mages.

Before Drew, Anabel and Dawn could do more than flinch, Erza flew in front of them and glowed white, requipping into a new armor. When the glow died down, she was covered from head to toe in blue and white spiked armor leaving her face the only part exposed. On her arms were two half guards that extended the length of them. **"Requip: Adamantine Armor!"** she roared. She quickly planted the shields in front of her with a slam, generating a transparent green barrier over the metal slabs. The beam struck the two head on, shaking everyone with the resulting shockwave. A few moment later, the beam tappered off as Jose waited for the inevitable destruction of the guild. When the smoke cleared, Erza remained standing, but her armor was cracked, almost completely ruined and her eyes were glazed with pain.

"Erza!" Natsu cried out, running over to her. He arrived just as she collapsed, her armor disappearing. "Are you alright?!"

Erza groaned. "That blast…was n-nothing! I would t-take any shot for my family."

Drew shook his head at how she took the blow without care. "You really are a stubborn fool… Dawn, Tori! Heal Erza as best as you can!" he ordered. Brock and Natsu quickly helped the red head to their healers.

Meanwhile, Jose dropped his jaw in shock. He couldn’t believe that a Fairy could take a shot from the cannon. He growled. "You…How dare you flies survive my Jupiter Cannon?! You have fifteen minutes to turn over Lucy Heartfillia, or this cannon will fire again!"

Natsu looked at Lucy, then back at the walker with a serious expression. "Forget it! She's one of us! And she’ll go with you over our dead bodies.

Lucy teared up as the rest rallied to Natsu's call raising their fists into the air. "Natsu…"

"Fine, then. Since I'm feeling generous, I'll give you a choice on how you die. You can give up Lucy, or in fifteen minutes my Jupiter Cannon will fire again. This time I don't think your precious S Ranked mages will take another blow for you. Or even better, you can die to my shades and legions of shadow troopers!" At this, magic circles appeared across from the Fairy Tail mages. They formed into armored knights that marched in formation. To their side, hundreds of Shadow troopers also appeared, ready to fight and kill.

Drew pulled out Leonid, face stony. "How about option 3? We destroy your shades and troopers, defeat your Elemental 4, your Rider and then you."

"I’d like to see you try! Clock's ticking, Fairy Tail!" Jose taunted laughing maniacally.

Drew observed his guild chomping at the bit for a fight. "We're not dead and we're not defeated yet! We will _fight_ to defend our home! Now, who are we?!"

"Fairy Tail!"

Drew smiled and pulled out his phone. "That's right! Ready guys?" He was answered but his fellow Riders all pulling out their belts. As one, they activated them and shouted, "Henshin!"

**EVOLVE**

**KAMEN RIDE: SIRIUS**

**ORION**

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

**COMPLETE**

**FLAME, PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI~!**

The morale of the guild skyrocketed at seeing their friend's Rider forms. Zodiac looked at the Riders. "Aura, Draco and I are gonna bust through and destroy that cannon. Take these guys down and keep them off our back!" They all nodded in affirmation. He raised his sword over his head, before giving one final order. "Oh and guys?” he got his friends attention, “Don't be afraid of going to level two." Draco tilted his head in confusion, but the Aura Riders all grinned behind their mask. Then Zodiac pointed his sword dramatically towards the enemy guild building. "LET'S GO!"

The guild roared and charged into the fight. Aura and Zodiac powered up an attack in their arms.

** "Inferno Rocket!" **

** "Aura Blast!" **

They held out their hands and fired a red burst of flame and a blue streak of aura. The two attacks merged into a large, red and blue beam, which blasted a hole straight through the shades and Shadow troopers. They ran through the crowd of dissolving mooks, with Draco and Lupus following them.

Behind them, Lucy was about to run in and join them when Kyokan walked up to her. "Sorry, Lucy." Her eyes glowed. **"Hypnosis."** The sleep attack entered the blonde's eyes, causing them to dull, before she collapsed limply.

Kyokan looked at Mira. "Do you know where we can protect her?"

The white-haired girl nodded reluctantly. "I’ve got her, just get in there!"

The Rider nodded, unfolding her chakrams and dashing into the fight.

Mira turned to a large, brown haired man. "Reedus, take her to the fallback shelter!"

The man nodded and, using a paintbrush, summoned a large carriage, which he put Lucy on and sped away. Satisfied, Mira turned back to the battle and, using what magic she had, she transformed into an exact copy of Lucy. "Now to do my part!"

At the Phantom Lord's headquarters, the four infiltrating Riders had reached the cannon's control room in little time. They saw the cannon was 10 minutes from firing.

"That's gotta be it," Aura pointed out.

"One destroyed core, coming up!" barked Draco, igniting his fist. He hurled his flames at the machine, only for it to stop in mid-air and rebound back to him. Growling, he smacked his failed attack aside and looked around the sound of laughter caught his ears. They turned to the other side of the room to see a black and white-haired man in a karate gi, with a katana in a brown sheath strapped to his waist. On his face was long scar across his nose.

"So, you're Fairy Tail," the man observed, "I can't let you destroy the Cannon. I'm Totomaru the Great Flame and member of the Elemental 4. I can control any fire, including a dragon slayer's magic!"

"Shut up! **Fire Dragon's Claw!"** Draco roared, throwing his fist at the mage’s head. Totomaru blocked it and sent the fire back at him, doing some damage but not phasing him. The two went at it, clashing with their respective weapons. It was clear to the observers that they were at a stalemate. Draco would try to unleash his fire, only for Totomaru to knock it out of the way or otherwise redirect it.

"You’re good, Salamander, but as long as I can manipulate the flames, you can't beat me!"

Draco growled and opened the hatch in his helmet. Rearing back, he caught the swordsman off guard when, instead of breathing fire, he spat in his face.

"Gah, you bastard!" cursed Totomaru, recoiling. Whatever else he might have said was cut short when Draco decked him with his elbow, then kicked him in the chest, knocking him down. He then proceeded to pummel Totomaru’s unguarded face repeatedly until it was hard to tell where one bruise started and another ended. Satisfied that the man was knocked out, Draco stood up and walked over to the others.

"Took your sweet time, flame brain!" Lupus taunted

"Shut it, droopy eyes!" Draco snapped.

"Draco, just blow this thing up please, we got like 40 seconds," sighed Zodiac, rubbed his forehead irritably.

The Earth Guardian nodded and took a deep breath. **"Fire Dragon's Roar!"** he bellowed, letting loose a torrent of dragonfire. The white-hot flames struck the core of the cannon and melted the shield, causing it to self-destruct. Outside, the cannon suddenly stopped charging and broke off, tearing free of the guild’s walls and taking a good chunk of its innards with it. The destruction was welcomed by the Fairy Tail Defenders, their morale boosted by the sight.

Jose snarled as his watched his cannon fall into the lake. "Those pesky flies. Ready the Super Mage Phantom Mk 2!" He ordered.

On the battlefield, the Shades and the troopers retreated, making the Fairy mages confused at the retreat. That was until the guild began to shift. It fell onto its side, only to be lifted by two more giant legs. Many of the towers detached and formed several arms. Gears could briefly be seen turning as a giant head formed out of the top of the main hall. Where the guild once stood was now a large humanoid robot.

Jose laughed as a giant magic circle formed beneath him. "You have pushed it this far, Fairy Tail. In ten minutes, my Abyss Break spell will obliterate you all! AHAHAHAHHAHAHA!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Good lord that took a while but not as long as 2nd Magnolia.
> 
> Riders
> 
> Argo: Gajeel's Rider form that Tsuki gave to him for some reason. Whether or not this was a good choice or not seems moot at the moment. The name Argo comes from the only constellation that isn't one anymore, Argo Navis, the ship of the Argonauts. It was too large and was split into Carina the Heel, Puppis, the Poop Deck or Stern and Vela the Sails.
> 
> Preview: As the war with Phantom Lord continues, the Riders face the Elemental 4 and then Master Jose himself. But they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves and could spell disaster for them all. Its up to the one person the war is over to fight and awaken her true destiny.


	11. The Fifth Guardian: Break Free, Pleiadies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the War between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord heats up, Lucy must break her chains to find a new power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: Okay let’s make this quick so we can back to the action. ACTOR CHECK!  
> Lucy: Ready  
> Natsu: Fired Up!  
> Grey: Ready (Down to his boxers)  
> Erza: Grey your clothes!  
> (Grey panics)  
> May: Geez, even I keep track of mine (In a tight black bikini)  
> Dawn: (Mumbles) Some of us don’t wear much else  
> May: What was that Dawn? You want me to get Anabel to pose you in a Victoria’s Secret outlet in their skimpiest attire?  
> (Dawn shakes her head blushing.)  
> Lucy: What’s Victoria’s Secret?  
> Drew: Think a lingerie store and then picture models showing them off like Mira. May is essentially threatening her to make her pose in her underwear in a public store and make her unable to do anything.  
> Anabel: I wouldn’t do that.  
> Misty: But Ana, she is already our dress up doll, why not show her off?   
> (Anabel looks at Dawn who is being squeezed by May, and was discreetly playing with her corset strings  
> Drew (Turns to Lucy) See the storm you started?  
> Lucy: Not like I would do…that (UO shows her the manga in which she was an underwear model) Damn it Hiro  
> May: (Glances at Lucy) Hm…I wonder if Lucy would like to be one of the angels  
> Lucy (Shakes head at May’s gleam) N-no (Runs away.)  
> UO: Damn it, someone do the disclaimer (Sees the nosebleed of Natsu, Grey and Brock) And someone clean up the blood  
> Gabby: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

“Dialogue”  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 11: The Fifth Guardian, Break Free Pleiades 

When we last left Fairy Tail, Phantom Lord had declared war by attacking the Fairy Tail guild hall. During their attempted counterattack, Makarov had been struck down and their true plans were revealed. Their target in their rampage was Lucy, as they were under orders from her father and another force that supplied the guild master Jose with the troops and the money to take her. After rescuing her, Jose ordered another attack on the guild, only with Shades and troopers. With the Riders backing them, Fairy Tail began the defense of their home.

“The moment Abyss Break is charged, your guild is history. Turn over Lucy now, or face our wrath!” Jose’s voice crackled.

As the four Riders in the tower finished listening, they got a call on their comms. Zodiac answered. “Zodiac here, what’s up?”

“ _It’s the spell! Mira just told me you have ten minutes to take it down or we will be looking at a crater!”_ Kyokan told them frantically.

“Then we got to move!” Zodiac ordered. “We have to split up!” He told the others. He looked down and saw Draco feeling his motion sickness. “Damn it! Triton Come in!” Zodiac barked as the three conscious Riders split up.

 _“What’s up?”_ She asked as she struck down another shade.

“The tower is moving and it set off Draco’s issue! We are gonna need help to take on the final boss!”

_“Seriously? Fine, I’ll be there in five minutes!”_

“Five minutes, this will be over in two! Get on it!”

Triton hung up and turned to Kusa. “Handle things here, I got to go!”

Kusa nodded and both pulled out a new card. Triton’s had an image of a deep sea diver that had the word AMA on it. Kusa’s had a picture of a white sprite labeled FAIRY. They both scanned the cards over their belts.

**AMA**

**FAIRY**

The armors glowed, an ocean blue for Triton and a dark pink for Kusa. When they died, their armors had changed slightly. Triton had gained additional fins on her gloves, boots and ears and had a diving weight on her waist. This was Triton Ama Form.

Kusa meanwhile had her skirt lengthen to her knees and gain a more leafy appearance. Her armor also took on a darker shade of brown However, most of the attention was directed to the two large pink butterfly wings on her back. This was Kusa Fairy form

Those not used to their transformations gasped in amazement at the armor’s changes, in particular Kusa’s wings.

“This is what Zodiac meant by level two. Most have access to multiple powerful forms beyond our base form,” Onyx explained. “Triton’s Ama form increases her water powers and allows her to dive and fight underwater. Kusa’s Fairy form allows her to fly and increases the abilities of many of her attacks including some moves she couldn’t access in her base form.”

Before the two armored warriors could fight, another figure walked up in the middle of the fighting. It looked like Lucy, but she was dressed in Mira’s red dress. She spread her arms out.

“Please stop! Its I, Lucy Heartfillia. I am ready to turn myself in. Please stop hurting my guild and I’ll go with you!” She said approaching the guild

The battle temporarily stopped as Jose took a look at ‘Lucy.’ The mad man laughed. “You think I’m stupid? That pitiful disguise won’t protect your identity, Mirajane Strauss!”

‘Lucy’ gasped and her face turned backed into the white haired barmaid. She teared up as she felt her uselessness pile on her and collapsed onto her knees. Jose used this distraction to launch its arm to grab her and raise her into the sky.

“HAHAHAHA! Now I have your precious S-class mage, you can watch as I destroy your guild!”

“We’ll see about that! Kusa, Kyokan let’s get her down!” Triton ordered.

The two nodded and Kyokan cartwheeled over to her friends. She levitated her chakrams behind them and they jumped on. The empath built up power and then sent the power straight into the weapons. The force propelled the two Riders high into the sky. The momentum waned and while Kusa had her wings which unfurled to keep her afloat, Triton had no luxury in this form. Fortunately, she had the solution.

**AQUA JET**

Scanning her card, water surrounded her and propelled her towards the arm, specifically the elbow joint. She scanned another card, this one showing her Dewgong firing Ice Beam.

**ICE BEAM**

Still spinning, she thrust Lugia out in front of her. Cold blue beams spread from the points of the trident fired straight at the joint. In moments, the joint had completely froze. Continuing her flight, she began to spin like a drill. With a loud cry, she crashed into the joint. Weakened by the cold, the arm broke in two and started falling. Mira, who was in the hand, fell with it and widened her eyes in panic. Before she could scream, Kusa caught her. They watched as the arm fell into the lake and caused a large splash.

Kusa sighed and turned to Mira. “You alright?” Mira nodded. “Good.” The Rider flew down to their comrades. As they flew, they saw Triton enter the building through a hole that was blasted in the wall. They also observed that Abyss Break had shrank a substantial amount.

“The Abyss Break spell! It’s weakening!” Mira pointed out.

“How?” Kusa asked as they landed.

“Abyss Break is a forbidden spell for a number of reasons,” Mira explained. “One of which is it needs an insane amount of magic power. There is not a lot of mages outside the Saints that would have that power, so the alternative is to power it with mages that control of the four elements.”

Kusa realized what she meant. The Elemental 4 could power it and if had weakened then one of them had been beaten. She reached up to call the Riders in the tower.

Moments before (Play Desire for all That is Lost: Kingdom Hearts 2 OST)

Zodiac took his hand of his helmet and walked further into the room. He knew if they didn’t find the power source…

An image of a crater filled with metal debris flashed through his head. He shook it off. “Let’s pray that never happens,” He muttered. He walked further down the hall and found himself in a large room. He placed his hand on Leonid, something didn’t feel right about the room. That extra second of paranoia saved him as he leapt of the way of several rocks rocketing towards him. He unsheathed Leonind and turned to face his opponent. It was a large brown and white badger creature that was a good foot taller than he was. His hair was an unusual shade of green and his right eye had an indentation that looked like a monocle.

“ **Hon, hon, hon. A Fairy Tail Kamen Rider. Salut, je m’appellee Monsieur Blaireau. And you will fail in stopping us!”** The badger kaijuu spoke in an annoying French accent

Zodiac groaned. “A French badger. Reminds me of my teacher.” He held his sword up. “You hurt my friends, your entire guild will fall!”

 **“Non, non, it will be you that will have the pleasure of falling at my feet!** **Roche Concerto”** A shower of rocks formed and launched towards the armored rider. He swung his sword to destroy some of them and then tanked some of the shots as he charged closer. Getting closer, he lunged at the badger, only to watch in surprise as the Kaijju stretched around the slash.

“ **Non, non, you won’t touch me with such deplorable attacks. Eat this**. **Sable Dance!”** Blaireau swung his arms. The wind kicked up and a large sand storm surrounded the room. Zodiac watched as his opponent disappeared. Figuring he was planning on something powerful, he reached for his phone and pressed the one that looked like an M.

**STANDBY CHANGE: SCORPIO**

His armor glowed and changed. His torso was bulkier, in exchange for thinner armor on his legs and arms. His eyes became narrower like an insect’s. Instead of a sword, he had two gauntlets that when he clenched his fists, two knives came out of the wrists. Inside the gauntlets was a chamber with various liquids.

 **“Zodiac of the Scorpion: Scorpio.** ” He whispered.

He held up his fists, knives drawn, the barrels rotated to the yellow chamber. He scouted the sand storm trying to find a glimpse of his opponent. A shadow out of the corner of his made him turn to meet a giant. The spell drove him into the wall with enough force blast a hole in it. He coughed as the fist pulled back.

**“Such power. It’s magnifique. We vere warned about you Riders. But you simply non match for moi!”**

Zodiac stood up shakily and charged at Blaireau. The kaijuu stretched out of the way and then wrapped himself around the armored form. Zodiac cried out as the pain from the fist was intensifying by the anaconda like vise. A few moments of struggling later, Blaireau let him go. Zodiac collapsed to his knees to catch his breath.

**“Hon, Hon, that’s about where I expected you Riders to be, on your knees. Now you can stay there as you watch your worst memories come to life!”**

He held his hands to being casting a spell and the armored rider’s body began to glow. Blaireau began to laugh at what his opponent must have been going through. Then he felt it. His feet were first then his legs, then his arms. They all began to feel numb almost like he was slowly being electrocuted. His arms collapsed and he fell to his knees, causing the spell to cancel out. **“Vhat, vhat is happening to moi?”**

Zodiac laughed despite the pain. “I was wondering when they’d kick in. Scorpio, for your information is known as the scorpion. Most scorpions have a different toxin that affects their prey.” He held up his gauntlet and rotated the barrels. “My Scorpio form isn’t made for prolonged combat, it’s designed to slow my enemies down. And in this case, I used my paralysis toxin to get it into your blood stream.” He pointed at the badger who was trying to speak. “I bet your going to say in your heavy accent, ‘How did you get it into my bloodstream?’

 **“How deed you get eet eento my bloodstream?”** Blaireau asked in shock at being read like that.

“Simple. You see, each toxin coats the edges of the blades. When I retract them, I can change what toxin to use or recoat them as needed. When you struck me with that giant fist, I gave you a couple of quick nicks. Then when you wrapped me up, you were inadvertently cutting yourself on the blades. It was only a matter of time before the toxins did their work.”

Blaireau gasped as his body started to freeze up. Zodiac reached for his phone and pressed the Scorpio symbol again.

**STANDBY FINISHER: SCORPIO**

His gauntlets glowed blue as he crossed them in front of his face. He ran at the paralyzed mage. **Scorpio Strike BREAKER!”** He stabbed both knives into the kaijuu, one in its chest and one on its neck where the Drive was.

(End Song)

A few moments later, he removed them and turned around. “Au Revoir,” he uttered as the Blaireau collapsed and blew up. He turned back around and saw the man that transformed into the kaijuu and saw a very ratty looking man in a tan suit. He shook his head, such a waste. He heard a crash and looked outside to see Kusa catching Mira from the falling arm of the robot. He also saw Triton fly in using the power of her Aqua Jet.

“Zodiac, you alright?” She asked running over to him.

“Yeah. Damn bastard got me in ribs though. You think you can patch me up?” He asked wincing.

Triton nodded and summoned some water and placed it on his chest. As she did this, Zodiac’s radio crackled to life.

 _“Guys! Come in!”_ Kusa called, excitement in her voice.

Zodiac put his hand to his helmet. “What’s up Kusa?”

_“Its Abyss Break. It’s slowing down!”_

Zodiac smiled at that. “That’s great, do you know what did that?”

_“Mira just told me that it needs a lot of power and it could be gathered by using mages that control the four elements!”_

Zodiac looked at his opponent. “I think I just took care of Earth, and I think Draco took down Fire when we destroyed the cannon. That leaves Water and Air to destroy that spell.

_“Zodiac this is Onyx, can you provide a description of the guy you took down?”_

“Green hair, monocle, spoke in a French accent, brown suit. Why?”

 _“That was one of the guys that took Lucy. His name was Sol of the Elemental 4!”_ Onyx answered.

“Glad I took him down, that was revenge for Lucy.”

 _“Guys, did you say we need to take care of Water and Air to shut down that spell?”_ Lupus asked over the radio.

 _“Yeah why?”_ Kusa asked.

_“I think I just found the Water Mage.”_

Where Lupus was

As he spoke, the wolf themed Rider was standing in front of a blue haired mage with a pink umbrella to protect her from the rain. She had a gloomy look on her face as if the rain had etched her smile away.

“Drip drop drip, Juvia is a rain woman and a member of the Elemental 4!”

“It’s a girl. Blue hair, long blue jacket, pink umbrella, black hat,” Lupus described. “Gloomy face, though that could just be the rain.

 _“Yeah, that’s Juvia of the Elemental 4. She was the other mage that attacked and kidnapped Lucy!”_ Onyx replied

 _“Be careful, your magic’s could cancel each other out,”_ Triton replied.

Lupus nodded and ended the call. He pulled out his weapon, Tundra’s Claw and extended it. Juvia stopped walking. “I never thought two members of the Elemental 4 could be beaten so easily. But you won’t beat Juvia or Aria.” She held up a small blue drive and put it in her hand. Her body liquefied and changed. A moment later, her body solidified. A moment later, her body solidified. It was still human in shape, but now was blue like the ocean. Covering her body were pearlescent fish-scales, which left the top of her well-endowed chest bare, along with a knee length skirt. Her face was still human, but her lips were thinner, opening slightly to reveal a set of shark-like teeth.

 **“Mistress Undine will drown you all the same!”** The kaijuu said in a watery voice.

Lupus tightened his grip tensing for the inevitable fight. “Sorry, nut I don’t go easy on those who hurt my friends.

A few moments of standoff passed before Udine, her face turning purple from her blush turned away. **“I See. Undine has lost. Have a Nice Day!”**

This caught the Rider off guard. “Oi! What was that about? You can’t just leave!”

But Udine wasn’t paying attention. She was feeling her heart beat erratically. **“Udine get yourself together. Why is my heart pounding like this!?”**

Lupus ran after the retreating kaijuu. “Hey, get back here! You need to stop this giant!”

Udine looked behind her. **“Undine wants him to be hers. Udine can’t be stopped. Water Lock!”**

Lupus was caught off guard as he was captured by the large sphere of water. He grunted in pain as he tried to reorient himself.

 **“Oh no! Mr. Rider is hurt! What should I do!”** The kaiju screamed in panic. Lupus answered her by jabbing Tundra and freezing the sphere. Udine gasped. **“No way! He broke free from Undine’s Water Lock spell on his own?** Her eyes glazed over. **“This…is the true power of an Ice Mage!** Breaking free he glared at the kaijuu. Udine however was in lala land as she fantasized about him romancing her. He brushed off some of the armor on his chest, causing it to melt like snow. Udine was panicking **“He’s already stripping. Udine is not ready!**

It’s not in my nature to hurt a woman. But it looks like I’ll have to make you surrender quickly. I hope you can get out of the way of this!” He folded his gun into its Rifle form and fired off five rounds of ice bullets. To his shock, the ice passed through the Kaijuu, despite the speed of his rounds.

 **“Undine’s body is made of water drip drop drip** the kaijuu explained. She closed her eyes. **“Such fate that we are on opposite sides. No matter, Undine will overcome this.** She held up her hand forming a blue magic circle. **Disappear my blossom of love. Water Slicer!”**

Lupus was forced to duck as multiple cuts of water went sailing by him. The jets flew and sliced through the stone towers above him.

**“Drip drop drip. Don’t discredit my water spells as mere water. High powered jets of water can through steel.”**

Lupus ignored her and swung Tundra behind him. **“Ice Make: Battle Axe!”** He swung his weapon creating a large arc of ice that cut through Undine’s body. Like the gunshots, it passed through her doing no damage.

 **“You can’t hurt me. Physical attacks can’t hurt Undine, Drip drop drip.** She held up her hand. **“Surrender Lucy Heartfillia to me please. I can persuade the master to withdraw if you do.”**

“Quit spewing out your garbage,” Lupus growled getting her to look at him questioningly. “We’re too far in to back out now. And Lucy is my friend. If I have to die so she’s safe, so be it.”

Juvia had been frozen in shock. All she could here was Lucy was a friend. Her shattering mind believed that Lucy was Grey’s girlfriend.

‘ _Love Rival… Love Rival Love Rival Love Rival! LOVE RIVAL!’_ Undine screamed in anguish. **“Such tragedy! Such Cruel Fate Cannot be! My heart, its breaking into thousands of pieces! It hurts! IT HURTS!”**

Lupus looked on in confusion. “What’s the matter? Are you Sick?”

Undine looked up and her eyes had turned demonic. **“Undine will never forgive…LUCY HEARTFILLIA!”** She screamed

Lupus could only watch as his opponent broke down in anger. “What the…” He was cut off as a large stream of water barreled into him. He was knocked back and noticed the water was creating steam. “It’s boiling?” He looked at Undine. “Why the hell are you mad at Lucy?”

This made the kaijuu madder and she fired off another stream of water. “Damn, **Ice Make:”** He couldn’t finish the spell in time and was forced to dodge out of the way. “She’s fast, my creation magic can’t keep up.: He watched as the wave came back around and bullet towards him. He jumped out of the way but caught a puddle on the way down. Thinking quickly he formed his Halberd and struck the ground to halt his momentum inches from the edge. “That was close.”

 **“The rain has fallen on Undine since birth. As long as this rain falls, Undine is invincible,”** she hissed as she approached him. “ **Undine’s jealousy is boiling forth!**

She fired another stream of boiling water, this one had a demonic look to it. Lupus crossed his arms above his head. **“Ice Make: Shield!”** The shield formed and protected him from the water, but the high temperatures quickly ate at it and made it shrink. “Such incredible heat, I can’t stand it for long!”

 **“I told you, the rain is Undine’s world. As long as you’re in it, I can’t be defeated!”** She roared. The shield melted make steam rise above the armored figure. When it dissipated, he was gone, down into the window he broke to get up here.

**“He used the steam as a smokescreen. Gorgeous and smart. How wicked…”**

Lupus was running through the hall trying to get away from the kaijuu. “Damn, I don’t have time to fight her here.” He looked at the guild hall in the center of the robot. “I need to stop this magic fast!” He was cut off when a wave water flooded the hall. He yelped as the water brought him up to the roof. “The water is scalding!”

He was launched high into the air. Undine raised her hands. **“You’re Finished!”** She launched another geyser straight at the falling Rider.

Lupus had enough of her attacks. “You Bitch!” He put his hands out in front of him and summoned his magic. To Undine’s immense shock, he froze the water as he traveled down the stream. Before she could react, her entire body was frozen in ice.

‘ ** _How…Undine’s Boling Water was frozen! But moreover…’_** As the steam cleared, Lupus realized his hand was on her breasts. He panicked. “No w-wait, I didn’t meant that!”

Undine was still lost in her world. **_‘So bold…I could stay trapped in your ice forever.’_**

Lupus cancelled the spell allowing Undine to fall to the floor. She looked up shock, still enraptured by the perceived kindness. “Let’s start over!” He said stretching his arm out.

Undine shakily stood up. **“It’s impossible…I can’t beat you.”**

“So you’re admitting defeat?”

Undine didn’t answer him directly. **“Undine is stronger than Lucy. She can protect you.”**

“Protect? Protect me from what?” Lupus asked. At that sentence, the rain picked up. He looked up and sighed in frustration. “Man the rain really picked up. Geez it’s so depressing.” Undine froze as the word depressing echoed through her head. She dropped to her knees, causing a splash that caught Lupus’ attention. “What’s the matter?”

 **“This man…is just like all the others.”** Her eyes glowed demonically. **“YOU’RE ALL THE SAME!”** Steam poured out of her body. Before Lupus could react, hot water consumed him.

He struggled to get his arms forward. “Got to freeze this water!” He pumped his magic to form the ice but he couldn’t. “Is the water too hot for my ice? GAHHHH!!!”

 **“I DON’T NEED LOVE! I DON’T NEED IT AT ALL! After all Juvia is a depressing rain woman! But despite that, Phantom Lord accepted Undine as is! Undine is an Elemental 4. She is a Phantom Mage!”** She turned into a wall of water and charged at Lupus. **“DIE!”**

Lupus recovered and charged towards her. “I ain’t losing to a Phantom Mage!” He pumped magic into his arm and to Undine’s shock, the water froze. The spell knocked her how of her dive. The rain around them froze into ice crystals. **“No way! The Rain is Frozen as well!?**

**FINAL HUNT**

Undine widened her eyes as she saw Lupus’ body glow. He planted Tundra into the ground to summon an Ice Geyser. He used it to propel him towards Undine.

 **“ Frozen Wolf Claw!” **The halberd connect and tore through Undine. She hovered in midair before screaming and exploding into a ball of water. Lupus turned around and saw Juvia’s limp body fall to the earth. Cursing his nature, he angled to dive towards her. He caught her a few feet from the ground and landed with a crater.

He looked to the woman who had her eyes closed. “Are you alright?”

Juvia looked at the armored Rider. “Why? Why did you save me?”

“Just because you’re my enemy, does not mean you deserved to die,” Lupus answered like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Juvia widened her eyes as she teared up. Just then the rain let up and sun broke through the clouds. Lupus looked up. “Hey now, the sun’s out.” He chuckled.

“That’s… the sun?” Juvia stuttered It’s…beautiful. Thank you, Rider-sama,” she cried in happiness.

“It’s Grey, not Rider. Or Lupus.” The Rider grumbled. Juvia swooned and fainted making the Rider worry. He sighed and put a hand to his helmet. “That’s three down, one to go,”

 _“Roger, looking for him now!”_ Aura answered.

With Aura

He was running through the halls as he answered with Draco trailing right behind him. Aura looked over his shoulder “Does one of your gems give you the ability to fly?”

“Um…Don’t know, haven’t tested them all.” Draco said sheepishly. “Why?”

“In case you haven’t heard, Zodiac just beat an Earth themed Kaijuu and Lupus beat a Water themed one. My guess is the last one will an Air Kaijuu with the ability to fly. So we need to equalize the terrain. We may also need something against Jose as well.”

“What about you?” Happy chimed in.

“Don’t worry about me. If worse comes to worse I can go to the next level and hopefully be on par with whoever they have left. Though I hope we take him out quick, I want as much energy left for Jose.”

They came into an open room. Aura dialed up his radio. “How much time do we have left?”

 _”Mira says 10 minutes. Find that last mage and end them!”_ Kyokan replied.

“Right, no pressure. Not the worst thing I’ve faced. Be careful. All of you.”

 _“We will. We’ll see each other after this fight is over,”_ Kyokan enthusiastically said.

Aura hung up just in time for Happy to scream. “LOOK OUT!” The swordsman barely had time to pull out his sword and block the incoming strike from above him. The shadow passed over them and flew up into the rafters. The two rider got a glance at the shadow. It was a large bird, with grey feather a tan beak and had its eyes closes. Underneath its eyes were black marks that looked like tear streaks.

 **“It’s so sad,”** the bird kaiju cawed. **“It’s so sad to see two Riders of Fairy Tail fall before the Strongest of the Elemental 4, Aria of the Tempest. Or rather, Looming Tears will!”**

Draco gripped Urvan tighter in preparation for their fight. Aura though was formulating a plan. “Hey Draco, how’s your Earth manipulation?”

“Huh?”

“I need you to shoot rocks at him!” Aura ordered as Tears sprinted towards them.

 **“Have a taste of my magic. Zetsu!” **He flew between them seemingly missing with his attack. Before Draco could comment, purple holes popped in his wake. The holes caught up and sent the two flying to the sides.

“Damn, he’s fast!” Draco growled recovering quickly. He looked up to see the Kaijj flying in for another attack. “Not this time. **“ Fire Dragon’s Buckshot!”**

Draco fired a large burst of ten at the flying Kaijuu. Their opponent tried to fly through the storm but two of the sharp rocks got a lucky hit and struck near where the wings attached to the body. This impacted his ability to fly and the large kaijuu crashed to the ground.

“Stay on him!” Aura ordered. Draco rocketed towards their opponent, flames ignited. Tears however recovered quicker than expected and disappeared much to the dragon Rider’s confusion.

“What the? His scent vanished!” Draco growled looking around frantically. Aura was also trying to find where there opponent was by sending out his aura to find him. But its like he had vanished like a ghost. Moments later, he reappeared right behind Draco.

 **“Now, feel the power of the magic that destroyed your guild master! Metsu!” **He held up his wings, making them glow purple. Bright light glowed from underneath Draco as the draining spell worked to take effect. Draco tried to fight it, but was pulled into the light.

 **“Don’t bother escaping. Metsu drains the magic of my target. The greater the magic, the greater the destruction. It’s sad to see such a weak mage fall to me like this,”** Tears cried out. **“Now d—AUGGHHHH!!”** Before he could finish he was electrocuted by a million volts of electricity. His screams forced him to cancel the attack. Moments later, the electricity faded revealing burnt feathers and skin. He coughed and then keeled over blowing up as he did so. The smoke revealed Aura with sword still sparkling with lightning.

“Game over,” He muttered. He looked at Draco. “You alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Aura nodded. Just then, Triton and Zodiac ran into the room. “You guys alright!” Zodiac called out.

“We’re fine. We just took out the last member of the Elemental 4,” Aura grinned.

Triton checked the boys over as he said this. “Don’t get cocky, we still need to fight Jose and we need as much as power as we can get.”

Before Zodiac could respond, the building shook. Their eyes darted around to see what caused it. When the building shook, they were worried that Abyss Break was about to go off. Zodiac tried to think what could set Abyss Break off, when a random thought occurred to him. As he thought about it, it seemed more likely and he groaned. “Guys?” He got their attention. “How much do you want bet that Abyss Break was tied into the walker. And when we took that out, we ruined the stability of the building?”

Triton and Aura looked up in thought and though the others couldn’t see it, their faces paled at the realization that their leader was right. They dropped their heads. “Sucker’s bet! They chorused.

As they said this, the ceiling burst open raining down rocks. Aura quickly hugged Trion and dropped to the floor. Zodiac quickly pulled out his phone and hit the Virgo button.

**STANDBY CHANGE: VIRGO**

He raised the shield above his head and stood above the two Riders on the ground. He turned to Draco who raced over and summoned a large sphere that covered them and Happy. It was just in the nick of time as the ceiling fell on top of them.

Outside moments before

Things were heating up outside. Most of the mages were showing signs of fatigue, but their steadfast devotion to the guild kept them going somehow. In the absence of the four Guardians, Erza and Makarov, Orion had taken up unofficial command of the battlefield. While not as versed in the role, she knew someone had to take command and she had done it well.

“Kusa, we need to shore up the right side, our boys are getting tired! Hanabi how’re you and Sirius holding up?”

_“Could be better. If this battle goes any longer, we might have to retreat cause I don’t know how much longer we can keep healing!”_

“What’s Erza’s status?” A rain of swords of to her right caught her attention. She saw the red headed mage fly around and attack from above in her Heaven’s Wheel armor. “Never mind, she looks fine.”

“So, these are the power of the Kamen Riders,” A mysterious male voice pondered. She turned around and saw the mysterious mage Mystogan walking towards her.

“Mystogan? Where have you been?” Orion asked.

“My apologies, but I was held up by the rest of Phantom Lord,” he answered reaching into his cloak. Orion’s eyes widened as he showed her multiple purple flags with Phantom Lord’s emblem on them.

“These are the flags of Phantom Lord’s various divisions. All of them are defeated.”

Orion had to whistle at seeing the flags. “Guess you’re not S-ranked for nothing.”

“Yes. I’m also happy to report that Makarov is recovering and may be able to join the battle soon.”

Orion had to hold back her joy. With Phantom Lord’s and the Shadow troopers numbers down to a manageable level and two of their best mages joining or soon to be joining the battlefield, morale would shoot through the roof. This confidence came crashing down when her radio crackled to life. _“Orion! We got a problem!”_

“What? What’s going on!?” Orion answered.

_“Loke and Reedus just came in hurt! Lucy got kidnapped again by Argo!”_

Orion gasped and looked at the tower. Just as she did, the Abyss Break spell had stopped. The battlefield was quiet as the lumbering giant slowed to a stop. Then it began to collapse into the lake. If one could look at the hunter’s face, it would show sheer terror. She immediately got on the radio. “Guys! Come in! Are you hurt?”

Static cut across the comms, which was broadcast across their helmets. “Orion to Zodiac come in! Triton, Aura, Draco, Lupus someone respond!”

Away from the battlefield, Sirius saw the tower collapse and her reaction mirrored Orion’s. However, instead of seeing Phantom Lord’s tower collapsed, she saw another building, made of metal and on fire collapse onto the city below. She fell to her knees, getting Hanabi’s attention.

“Oh no! Orion, Sirius has gone into shock! What the heck is going on?”

Orion heard it and looked at the wreckage. She got on the radio again. “Guys, come in, what is your status? You’re making us worried!” She asked desperately

 _“…Rion? Orion are you there?”_ Zodiac’s voice finally broke through much to the two girl’s relief. Orion let out a breathe and calmed down. “Thank goodness, where are you all?”

 _“I made it off the tower before it collapsed. I have Juvia with me. Not so tight!”_ Lupus responded to the girl’s grip.

“ _We’re all together!”_ Zodiac answered. As he said this, the sphere that Draco threw up had receded allowing Zodiac to put his shield down and let Aura and Trion up. Other than some dust there was no visible damage on the armor. “We saw the building collapse and Draco came in with the save with his earthbending and my shield!” He then focused on Sirius. “Hey, we’re alright, we’ll be alright okay?

 _“…Okay,”_ Sirius sniffled.

Zodiac refocused his com to Hanabi. “Before we lost contact, you said something about Lucy?”

_“Argo found where we were keeping her! I think he brought her into the tower!”_

Zodiac looked at the others who also got the message. Just then some of the rumble moved. It feel aside to reveal Argo holding a familiar blonde haired figure.

“LUCY!?” The Riders gasped.

Moments before the collapse

Lucy grunted as she was kicked across the room. Argo snarled. “You’re not making this easier girly.”

Lucy coughed as she struggled to stand. “Yeah right. You know if they know I’m hurt, Fairy Tail will pay you back a thousand fold.

“SHUT UP!” He fired off a couple of knives that pinned her to the wall. “Fairy Tail is only coming after you because you got money. Once that’s gone, they’ll throw you away like yesterday’s garbage!”

Lucy giggled emotionlessly. “They never knew I came from a rich family, you metal brain buffoon. And even they did, they would be my friends regardless of how much my family has.”

Argo snarled and stomped away. He got a few steps then had to cough in pain. Lucy noticed this and had to smirk. “Something wrong, Kamen Rider Argo?” She asked spitting the name venomously.

“Shut your yap, you blonde bitch. My rider armor is superior to your friend’s armors and you know it!”

Lucy shook her head. “Yeah, you would be, if you didn’t have one glaring weakness.” She was immediately grabbed by the throat. Argo gave her a hard stare. “Your lucky we need you alive.” He growled. He let go and walked a few steps away. “You said I had a weakness…tell me right now so I can punch that Salamander into the ground!”

Lucy shook her head. “You do that and you’ll be weak forever.”

Argo growled turning his arm into a chainsaw and holding it up to her face “Start talking, or that face of yours will ruined!

Lucy tried to move her head as far as she could in her situation. “I…don’t know the full details but I remember them saying something about you having trouble in regards to attacking Natsu. It’s because they believe your one of them. Specifically, a Rider under Natsu’s command. Something about a safety mechanism against…traitors!”

Argo said nothing as the chainsaw menacingly spun under her eye. Then he retracted it. “If that’s the case, then all I need to do is beat Salamander. That silver haired lady told me I’d be serving under him. I ain’t nobody’s Knight!” The pain in his stomach intensified nearly making him hunch over.

“I’m beginning to think there is some truth behind what they talked about. Drew is always talking about loyalty to each other. That’s why I know they will come for me. They won’t abandon their friends!” Lucy declared.

Before Argo could retaliate, the tower shook. Argo looked up making Lucy concerned. “What’s going on?”

“Abyss Break seems to be done. That ain’t good ‘cause it’s tied to our tower!” He marched over to Lucy and pulled out the knives. “Don’t think this is me being nice. We won’t get paid if you die!” Before she could respond he wrapped his arms and activated his Iron Scales. His armor took on a metallic sheen as the scales covered his body. He dropped to the ground as parts of the tower fell onto them.

Lucy watched as the stone ceiling fell around them and closed her eyes to await her inevitable fate. The rocks blocked out the light and for a couple moments she thought she was dead.

“Blondie you okay?” Argo’s gruff voice answered her. Lucy looked up see Argo none the worse for wear despite having several brick fall on him. She looked down and her face went from scared to angry. In the process of protecting her, Argo had inadvertently grabbed her chest.

“Pervert!” She yelled, kicking him in the stomach. Argo retaliated by punching her in the face. “Damn bitch, and here I was being nice to ya.”

Before he could do more, his enhanced hearing caught a familiar voice. “Some weapon, tying it into the tower!” Draco’s voice sounded.

“Yeah well I’m glad we’re alright. Last time I saw a tower collapse, some people weren’t so lucky,” the other voice grumbled. “Better call the others, bet they are worried.” He pressed his helmet. “Zodiac to outside, is everyone okay?”

The transmission was garbled but Argo could barely hear the reception. Lucy was about to scream but he slammed face into the stone. He then grabbed her by the hair and stood up clearing the rubble off them.

“LUCY!”

He grinned seeing the reactions of his opponents. “Hello Salamander, glad to see you still alive!”

The four Riders opposite stood in shock at how hurt Lucy was, none more so than Draco. Before they could stop him, Draco rocketed towards the pirate themed Rider. Argo tossed Lucy to the side like a ragdoll and pulled out his cutlass. The two weapons clashed, the force of Draco’s propulsion sending them into a nearby wall.

“Damn it Natsu, we need as much strength as we can get!” Zodiac grumbled as they approached the fallen blonde. Triton immediately went to work and healing the damage. Lucy groaned underneath the cooling liquid. “Hey, guys. Sorry for making you worry.”

“Don’t be, we’d do anything for our friends!”

Lucy looked away sniffling. “But…I’m he reason you’re fighting! I can’t be worth it!”

Before anyone could respond, they heard clapping. They turned to see Jose walking towards them, a manic look on his face. “You brats really are getting on my nerves. You should have handed Miss Heartfillia to us, I would have spared your lives!”

“You honestly think we would have let you get away with you had planned. Wanting Lucy specifically because Mr. Heartfillia wanted her back is foolish. Until two months ago, he was on the verge of bankruptcy, yet he could afford to find his wayward daughter? I think someone else is footing this bill,” Zodiac deduced.

Jose laughed. “You got that right! I’m getting paid not only by her father but by a benefactor who gave me this!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar object. It was a dark purple Drive that had the word SCARECROW in orange, with the S in Hay yellow.

“I’m giving you one more chance. Surrender Heartfillia or face the wrath of a Wizard Saint.”

In response, Zodiac took out his phone and pressed a button on the bottom of the phone. Aura, meanwhile, took out a card that depicted him with a loner belt that said ADEPT. He scanned it at the same time Zodiac pressed the button.

**STANDBY UPGRADE: VISCOUNT**

**ADEPT**

Both boys glowed in their respective colors. When they died down, both armors had changed. For Zodiac, his gear now contained gold stripes to go along with the crimson coloring. Along the arms, his armor gained gauntlets that were gold in color. His legs were encased in dark gold boots that came up to his knees. On his shoulders were two crimson metal plates that came to the bottom of his triceps. His helmet now took on a more regal appearance with a small crown on his head, with his eyes becoming more rounded and had small silt in them. On his back was a red cape that came to his shoulder blades. On his belt, the phone's face was now replaced with a screen that was lit up with Leo's symbol. This was the next level for Zodiac, Viscount form

For Aura, his armor had gained more definition in moth muscle and in coloration. His armor was a darker yellow, closer to gold, which made the blue stand out more. The chest plate had changed from lightning bolts to a bird with its wings out stretched. His boots had extended to his shins and his gloves extended halfway up his arm. On his back was a longer blue cape. The final change was his belt now looked like card table with six card slots. This was Aura: Adept form. He pulled out six cards of his loyal pokémon and put them in.

**PIKACHU/CHARIZARD/GIBLE/STARRAPTOR/BUIZEL/TORTERRA**

“We aren’t afraid of you!” Aura answered. “Lucy is our friend and she’s staying with us!”

Jose, who had covered his eyes from the light show, snarled. “You think a light show will stop me?” He jabbed the drive into his neck. Shadows came out of nowhere and consumed him. When they recede, Jose had changed dramatically. His skin had turned noticeably grey. On his noticeably thin body, he had a dark purple vest that bristled with dark energy. On his head was a blood red cap. His face was the most disturbing, it had a manic gleam that looked ready to harvest his opponents.

 **“If I can’t have Heartfillia, then I’ll make sure there is nothing for you to bury! I’m one of the Great Wizard Saints. With this power, I am Dread Crow!”** He hissed in a raspy voice.

(Play Kingdom Hearts OST: Vim and Vigor)

**“Now I will harvest your souls!”**

The three Riders summoned their weapons. They would need every ounce of power to topple on of the saints.

With Draco and Argo

The two clashed again, both them unyielding in trying to take the other’s head off. Draco launched a kick that Argo blocked. Draco propelled himself back and ignited his fists. Argo grunted stood up. “I knew you were coming, I could smell ya a long ways away.”

“Shut up you bastard! Your hurt Lucy and you’re gonna pay! He rocketed towards the pirate Rider. The punch connected again and sent him crashing into the wall. Draco landed and waited for the next attack. He didn’t wait long as a long iron pole tore out of the smoke. He caught it and lifted the rider straight up. He then swung his axe and fired off two rounds from Urvan’s barrel striking the opposing dragon slayer in the chest. As Argo landed, Draco kept up the charge, igniting his fists. **“Fire Dragon’s Claw!**

He closed in to strike the Rider’s head but Argo caught causing a small explosion. The two separated and then charged again fists flying at each other. The two impacted sending shockwaves across the rubble.

Off to the side, Happy had landed next to Lucy, who had a worried look on her face. “I-Is this for real? Is this Natsu?”

“Aye, I’ve never seen this angry!” Happy agreed. “But I know he can kick that Pirate’s tin can!”

Lucy looked at the blue cat and then turned back to the fight. She looked down and whispered. “I wish there was something I could do.” Unknown to anyone, the gem nestled in her chest began to pulse.

Back on the battlefield, Draco was caught by Argo and transformed his arm into a giant chainsaw. He brought in close to the Rider, but Draco kicked it away.

“Grrr…Hold still so I can cut you into pieces!” Argo growled swinging wildly. Draco nimbly dodged each swing. Then he reached back and fired an ignited punch at Argo. The impact was felt across the room as Lucy nearly fell down due to the wave. To Draco’s surprise, his hand hurt. He pulled it back to get feeling back into. Glaring at Argo, he saw Argo’s armor had taken on a metallic sheen.

“Heh, can’t get through my Iron Scales, Salamander? I think it’s time we finished this!”

“We’re just getting started, Metal Brain!”

Argo scoffed. “Your funeral. **IRON DRAGON’S CLUB!”** He extended his arm and a large metal column sped towards Draco. It struck him in the stomach stunning him for a moment. This allowed the pirate to close in and upper cut Draco. The Rider was sent flying but recovered and landed. He bent his head back and opened up his mouth piece. **“FIRE DRAGON’S ROAR!**

The white hot flames spewed forward towards Argo. The pirate grinned and mirrored Draco’s actions. **“IRON DRAGON’S ROAR!”** Argo let loose a black metal tornado. Both attack connected and exploded throwing up smoke. When it cleared both Riders were panting but looked ready for more.

“Now I see it. Your Fire Magic is strong enough to incinerate your opponents to ash, but it can’t melt steel,” Argo laughed.

“You sure about that?” Draco asked. Before could retort, Argo felt his helmet chip off revealing the metal skin underneath. “My flames are Dragon’s flames. With this armor and the power of a real dragon, I can incinerate anyone!” He made a bring it gesture. “There is only room for one Dragon Slayer in the sky!”

Argo said nothing and they charged at each other against each other. Colliding in mid-air, they couldn’t get a leg up on each other. Instead they started head-butting each other. If it wasn’t for their dragon heritage, they would have gotten concussions. Leaping back, they paused to catch their breath.

“Heh, bet your running on empty Salamander!” Argo boasted.

“You wish, I’ll kick your ass!”

“We’ll see,” Argo growled. He reached down and grabbed some fallen metal near him. His mouth piece opened up and he took a bite, much to Lucy’s shock.

“W-What? He’s eating the steel!?” She gasped.

“Argo is the Iron Dragon Slayer. I guess like Natsu eating Fire powers him up, Gajeel can eat Iron to do the same!” Happy theorized.

“Then we need to get him some Fire!” Lucy told the cat. She reached into her pocket to reach her keys but to her dismay, she could only find one.

“Damn it, that blue haired girl made me drop my keys. Better hope this works.” She took a deep breath. “I call upon thee, in the World of the Celestial Spirits! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the Gates. **Open Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!”**

The familiar bell sounded and a large human form came out of the gate. It was a man in a large horse costume wearing a green shirt and red tie. On his legs were purple pants with yellow frills. On his back was a bow with a large quiver.

“Moshi, Moshi. I am at your service!” The horse spirit declared in a formal voice.

Lucy stood up shakily. “Look, Sagittarius, I know we haven’t made a contract, but I’m desperate at the moment. Can we do it later?”

Sagittarius looked at the battlefield and nodded. “Very well, what is you desire?”

“Can you make fire? My friend needs it desperately?” Lucy pleaded.

Sagittarius shook his head. “My apologies, but I can’t create fire. My skills are in Archery not Fire Magic. I am sorry to waste your time!”

Lucy collapsed onto her knees, her last gambit seemingly failing. Draco staggered to his feet. “Lucy get out of here, you can’t do anything!”

Lucy was about to protest, but saw Draco staggering to his feet. She reluctantly nodded and tried to find a safe spot while thinking. _‘I’m pathetic, I can’t do anything!”_ The pulsing got stronger, but with all of the chaos, it went unnoticed.

Draco tried to attack again. **“Fire Dragon’s Sword Horn!”** He powered up Urvan, making a large spear pop out of the barrel. He struck Argo but it appeared to do little damage as Argo barely moved.

The pirate grabbed Draco’s leg. “You seem to be running out energy Salamander!” He chuckled. “Out of energy? Well then…EAT SOME STEEL!” He tossed Draco across the room and crashed into a wall. He stomped across the floor and grabbed the fallen Rider. “Take a look Salamander. Take a look at what you’re trying to save!”

Draco lifted his head to see a shocking sight. The guild hall was in shambles and the defenders were beginning to tire. His mind flashed back to when he joined the guild. When Makarov brought him to the guild, when he met Erza and Grey the first time, the difficulty that he had with reading that Erza helped him on and even Mira from long before she became the nice girl she was. The last thought was of a girl with similar hair and eye color to Mira, it was his old friend Lisanna who had been killed in a mission gone bad.

 _‘If I ever disappear, would you come after me?’_ Lisanna asked in his thoughts. He had promised he would and damn it, he was going to keep that promise.

He struggled to stand up, catching both Lucy and Argo off guard. “Draco stay down, it’s over!” Lucy pleaded.

“He doesn’t want to give up Lucy.” Happy told her. “But with all of the fighting today, taking down the Jupiter Cannon and fighting that Condor and Argo, he’s running on empty. If only we could create fire.”

Before Lucy could reply, Sagittarius spoke up. “My apologies Lucy, for I misunderstood your order,” he said getting Lucy to look at him. “When you asked me to create fire, I thought you mean if I could physically create it. The question should have been if I could generate it, in which case, I can do that,” He said getting Lucy to brighten. He pulled out his bow and notched an arrow. He pointed at Argo momentarily then aimed at the machinery above them. He powered up his shot and fired.

Meanwhile Argo was approaching Draco, intent on ending his life. “So this is how the great Salamander dies. Don’t worry, I’ll take real good care of your belt!” He turned his arm into a sword and prepared to stab Draco. An explosion caught him off guard, He looked up to see some of the gears had been blown up. He turned to see Sagittarius still in his archer’s pose. “When the hell did that freaky horseman show up?”

“Heh, thanks for the meal Lucy!” Draco yelled. Argo turned to see the fires of the explosion being sucked into the Guardian Rider. Draco’s armor glowed and he pounded his fist. Summoning Urvan, he blasted towards Argo and landed a strong blow against the pirate.

“Your little power-up doesn’t make you stronger than me!” **IRON DRAGON”S ROAR!”**

His roar sped towards Draco. Draco reached up and caught the spell to Argo’s shock. He flung it behind them destroying the wall and then marched towards his opponent. Argo tried to move and strike Draco down, but something froze him in place. As he watched Draco approach, he saw not the Kamen Rider, but a king. A Dragon King.

“You will pay for what you did to our guild!” Draco roared, flipping the switch on his hand and placing the finisher ring on.

**VERY NICE! FINISH STRIKE**

Draco glowed brightly, the image of a dragon roaring was heard throughout the hall. He braced himself and then rocketed towards Argo. The Rider braced himself but Draco got under his arms and sent an uppercut to his chin. Draco followed through and both of them were launched into the air. Reaching the opening in ceiling he let go and grabbed Urvan. The axe glowed a bright ried as he brought it above his head.

** “FIRE DRAGON’S: CRIMSON CRUSH!” **

He spun around and then barreled towards Argo. Collided, he send both crashing into the ground creating a large explosion the vaporized most of the ruins. Lucy and Happy had to cover their eyes from the dust. As it cleared, Lucy squinted to find Draco. When she saw him standing up, she had to smile. Draco had bits of his armor missing, but he seemed to not care as he stood over Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer had his shirt destroyed and much of his iron scales damaged or shattered. The biggest damage was to his belt. The explosion had forced him out of his armor. Now the jewels that powered it were smoking, their gems dull and grey, indicating the power was gone.

(Pause Song)

Draco snorted and turned his back. “Consider this payback for destroying our guild!” He walked away and approached Lucy. “You alright Luce? Happy?”

“Yeah! You kicked butt Natsu!” Happy cheered.

“Yeah…Thank goodness you’re okay,” Lucy gratefully said.

Draco shook his head. “Not out of the woods yet. We need to help the others!”

“Right!” Lucy agreed. Both of them felt shaking and looked in the direction of the fight. “I hope their okay?” Lucy asked worried.

Riders vs Jose 

Triton was knocked back and she rolled along the ground before bouncing back up. She looked to see Zodiac launching a bolt of fire from his hand. Dread Crow took the blow and shrugged it off. Then hefted his large dark scythe and swung. “ **DARK WIND!”**

The wind in the wake of the slash blew through Zodiac and Aura which caused damage and sent them back. They landed near Triton and sat up to their knees. Zodiac planted his sword. “Guess they don’t call him a Wizard Saint for nothing,” He conceded.

“Hard to believe he’s the same strength as Makarov. But can’t stop now. How are you guys on energy?”

“I’m good, but I really don’t want to take more hits like that,” Aura replied.

“At least your dodging them, I seem to be drawing his attention and getting pounded by his dang crows! A little electric therapy would be nice,” Zodiac snapped at Aura who had a tic mark under his helmet knowing what he meant. Before he could play, the Scarecrow cackled.

**“Trouble in paradise? This is why your guild is pathetically weak! Your constant infighting is a disgrace to the way guilds are run!”**

“Just because we fight, doesn’t me we don’t care for each other. Your lust for power is coming at the cost of your guild.

**“The guild…hehehehahaha. They are a means to an end. With this power, I can destroy your guild and rule over this hovel you call a town!”**

“Over our dead bodies, you bastard!”

Crow growled. **“That can be arraigned. Crow’s Murder!”**

He spun his scythe in front of him creating a portal. Flocks of crows appeared and flew at the Riders. All three defended as best they could but the birds became too much and they covered them peck at their armor. The birds dissipated and the three Riders were back on their knees.

Crow laughed. **“This is where you belong. On your knees begging for your life!”** He was so focused on them, he didn’t see the fiery fist coming from his left. But he did feel the impact as he was lifted off his feet and sent crashing into the opposite wall. The kaijuu shook from the impact and looked up to see Draco leaping back to his friends.

“Great timing Draco! That Pirate give you issues?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle!” Draco grinned rolling his shoulder. Triton, meanwhile, spun Lugia. **“Healing Aqua!”**

A cooling energy flowed over them, most of the wounds disappearing underneath the spell. “That should buy us some more time, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough to use it again with the spells we’ve been firing.

**“So you defeated Gajeel! Don’t think I’ll be so easy to defeat boy!”**

“That fight was a warm-up. I’m all fired up to kick your sorry ass.

Crow was about to speak but then spotted Lucy trying to hide on his left. **“Oh there you are Miss Heartfillia, have you come to watch your friends die?”** Before Lucy could answer, Crow was shot by Zodiac knocking him back slightly. “Your fight’s with us! Leave her alone!”

 **“Very well! She can see your execution!”** He roared charging at the four. Their response was to give a battle cry and charged in as well.

Off to the side, Lucy observe them match blows with the Wizard Saint turned Kaijuu. _‘They all are fighting for me.’_ She thought as Ash blocked a blow and let Draco punch Crow away. _‘Even after all the pain I caused!’_ She watched get flown back from the large swipe. _‘I want to help! I don’t want go home!’_ Her heart began to beat loudly, the gem she was wearing began to glow. “I WILL PROTECT MY FRIENDS!” With that shout the gem’s silvery light began to shine and surround her body.

In the ruined guild hall, Lucy’s keys laid where they fell. They began to glow the same light s Lucy. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared.

Out on the battlefield, many of the defenders were on their last legs. As they struggled to stand, Lucy’s light was bright enough to be seen from the castle. The Shadow troopers hissed in pain.

“What’s going on?” Erza asked in surprise.

“That light, is it a new Rider?” Kusa asked.

Orion watched the glow as she ran through her head who was still in the castle. “They only glow like that…if a Guardian appears! Guys, its Lucy! She’s a Guardian!”

The rest of the Riders perked up and were suddenly filled with renewed energy to fight. They charged in, knowing the end of the battle was near.

In the castle, the four other Guardian Riders stood as Dread growled. **“You can’t win! Hand over Heartfillia now!”** Before they could respond, each Rider’s chest glowed in their respective colors.

Crow snarled. **“What is that light? What are you brats doing?”**

Aura looked down at his yellow gem. “Hey isn’t this the same light that appeared when Draco appeared.

“Your right, a Guardian must waking up!” Zodiac concluded.

“But who could it be?” Triton asked.

“Unless…” Natsu snapped to the side to see Lucy glowing Silver. “Lucy!”

Everyone turned to see Lucy glowing. The glowing intensified causing Crow to turn away in pain. The Riders covered their eyes due to the brightness, but were otherwise unharmed. Moments later, the glowed died down to reveal Lucy with her eyes glowing. In her right hand were her keys, including the new one Sagittarius. In her left was a silver buckle with a black belt. She whipped the belt around her waist and connected it getting a metallic chime to sound. She held up her keys and let them drop until she had Virgo’s key in hand. She thrust the key towards Dread Crow and uttered a word that seemed familiar to her.

“HenSHIN!”

She did a complete circle in front of her with the key. Then swung her arm to her right and brought it to the belt. The key fit and she turned it.

**SUMMON MAIDEN SPIRIT**

Her body shined as her armor fit over her. When the glow died down, Lucy had changed. Her torso was covered with a form-fitting black metallic corset with a white apron colored on and a white frilly skirt. Her legs were encased in a white armor which resembled a maid’s stockings over a pair of black short heeled shoes. Her arms were encase in a similar color that ended in with a pair of white gloves and two black bracelets. On her face, she had silver helmet with blue eyes, on which she had a maid’s headdress. On her right hip she had her Golden Zodiac Keys, on her left was a metallic whip. In the middle of her belt was a face similar to Aura’s, only it had the symbol for Virgo on it.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Breaking free from her bonds,” she swung her arms over her head, then twirled getting her skirt to rustle. “I am, the Princess of the Metal Stars, Kamen Rider Pleiades!” She ended her twirl by thrusting her hip out and pointing her arm towards Crow.

(Restart Vim and Vigor from the Beginning)

The reactions varied. With the Riders, their reaction was very positive.

“Unbelievable, Lucy is one of us!” Aura said excited.

“That armor is so pretty, she looks powerful!” Triton gushed.

“Pleiades huh. Oddly appropriate for her,” Zodiac observed.

Draco though was still in shock. “Luce…I knew you were awesome, but this…wow!”

Dread Crow stood up after being burned by the light. **“So what if you are a Rider like these pathetic flies! You’ll fall like the rest of them. In fact, I think I can get more money taking you in!”**

Pleiades shivered at the tone he used, the man had clearly lost his mind. Before she could speak, Virgo’s voiced chimed in. _“Princess are you there?”_

“Virgo is that you?” She asked in surprise.

“ _Yes, princess. This armored form reacted with your magic. You can use our keys to merge with us and we can use our magic through you as a conduit. It’s typically a magic that’s only reserved for strongest Celestial Spirit Mages!”_

“That’s great! What can you do Virgo?”

 _“Just watch. Let me channel my magic through you!”_ Her arms glowed and two large metal drills appeared out of her hands.

“Whoa that’s cool!” She gasped in wonder.

 _“Indeed, my drills are yours to command!”_ Virgo responded as the drills disappeared.

This got the attention of her comrades. “Well, I can see a big difference between you and Pleiades already. Your Virgo is a defense form, the drills are in Cancer right?” Triton asked.

“Yeah, clearly there is a connection between her spirits and her. Let’s worry about that later, we got a boss to finish!” Zodiac ordered lifting up his sword.

 **“You’re finished! Crow Storm!” **Crow roared waving his hand. It caused rows to fly towards Pleiades in a line. She brought her hand down and grabbed her whip and flung it up to a ruined beam. The crows made to follow her, but both Draco and Zodiac fired spells at the crows burning them to ash. She pulled herself up then let go aiming her right leg at the kaijuu, turning it into a drill. She connected and pushed him back then landed next to the others.

 **“Gah! You stupid bitch!”** Crow roared. **“That’s it, I don’t care how much money I lose! Your carcass will be payment enough!”**

As they stood ready to attack the kaijuu again, Triton looked at Pleiades’ whip. “Pleiades, can I see the end of that?”

Confused, the new Rider did as asked. “Alright stand back guys!” Triton ordered as she pulled out her Aqua Jet card.

**AQUA JET**

The Water Guardian became encased on water. “Now, I need you to hold on and swing me around,” She explained as she pulled the whip to its maximum length.

“Wait what?” Pleiades asked in shock but Triton was already beginning her orbit. She instinctive held on and then started to get into the swing as Triton sped up. After about 6 rotations, the water bullet let go and charged at Crow. She drilled into his stomach causing him to cough up blood.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Aura replied as Pleiades brought her whip back. Thinking quickly he pressed the button next to his Pikachu card on his belt.

**VOLT TACKLE**

He grabbed the whip that was swinging around and knowing what Aura wanted, she quickly up her swing then launched him into Crow doing more damage.

“My turn!” Zodiac jumped up and grabbed it, then used his fire bending to propel himself before releasing the whip and doing several end over end rolls with his sword in his hand

 **“ROLLING THUNDER!”** His spinning looked like a chainsaw as he sliced into the kaijuu.

“Don’t leave me out of this!” Draco yelled. Instead of swinging, Pleiades snapped it to wrap around the dragon Rider. With a mighty heave, she lifted him up and brought him down, his axe crashing down on top of the crow’s head.

The new Rider fell on her butt, dizzy from all of the spinning. “Whoa, this is intense.

 _“Princess, may I suggest changing forms. One of the others can fight much better at close range,”_ Virgo suggested.

“Who should I ask?”

Then a male voice spoke up. _“Ebi. I can do it. My magic seems, super-charged ebi!”_

“Right!” Pleiades responded and pulled out her spirits key. She pulled Virgo’s key out and placed Cancer’s key in and twisted it. The face plate changed to the two nines that was Cancer’s symbol.

**SUMMON CRAB SPIRIT**

Her armor glowed as the maid outfit disappeared. It was replace with what appeared to be red Qipao that covered her torso and came her legs. On her helmet was two oxhorn buns that covered two yellow metallic hair strands. On her waist in addition to the whip was a sword the looked like one half of a pair of red scissors.

 _“Ebi, let’s rock this joint!”_ Cancer spoke in her mind. She grabbed the sword which was lighter than she expected. She charged into the fray passing by her friends.

Crow saw her charge as he struggled to get up. **“Yes! Come to your funeral! CROWSTORM!” **He launched the crows straight at the charging Rider. IN a blink of an eye all the crows were sliced to pieces, like they were made of paper. Crow panicked and brought up his scythe to block the charge.

CLANG

(Play Fairy Tail Theme)

The blade collided with the handle of his weapon. It held for a few moments before snapping into. The Rider kept up the momentum and quickly slashed the kaijuu before leaping back. Before Crow could taunt, eight slashes appeared and cut across his body. He was brought to his knees, his would bleeding and his body crackling with electricity.

 **“H…How? How are you brats beating me? I…I’m a wizard Saint!”** Crow coughed out.

“It’s because you threatened our home, now we will finish the job!” Draco growled as he pulled out his finisher ring again and placed it over his belt. Aura, Triton and Zodiac followed activated theirs.

**VERY NICE! FINISH STRIKE**

**STANDBY LEO: FINSIHER**

**AREIAL ACE: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**THUNDER: MAXIMUM ENERGY COM**

**COMBO: LIGHTING SLASH**

**AQUAT JET: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**AUORA BEAM: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: RAINBOW JET**

Pleiades meanwhile reached down to her belt and flipped the key towards her.

**FULL POWER**

A silver magic circle appeared. It had seven white stars clustered together like they were sisters. She then pulled the key out and placed it in a designated spot on the red scissors.

**PINCER: OPEN!**

The blade glowed red with magic power. It then unfolded and doubled the length of the blade. The new Guardian didn’t noticed as all five began to glow in their respective colors, Red for Zodiac, Yellow for Aura, Blue for Triton, Brown for Draco and Silver for Pleiades.

**ULTRA COMBO: FIVE STAR CRASH**

They stood as one as their power flowed through their bodies. Triton charged in first, spinning towards the downed kaiju. Before he could react, she drilled into his stomach. She drove him off the ground and then brought him into the air. Aura and Pleiades were next as they jumped towards the helpless crow. In a blink of an eye they cut past the kaijuu leaving dozens of slashes across his body. In pain from the impacts on his body, he could only look skyward as Zodiac and Draco rose above him.

** “LEO BREAKER!” **

** “FIRE DRAGON’S CRIMSON CRASH!” **

Both came crashing down slashing completely through the kaijuu. They landed next to their comrades, as their auras dissipated. Pleiades had one more quip as she stood up. “This prisoner, is a free bird!”

Crow stood in mid-air for a second and then gravity won out. He screamed as he fell to earth. On impact, he exploded behind the riders who were walking away.

Outside, the guild was preparing for a last stand. Orion was about to order everyone to fall back when the Shades and the Troopers screamed in pain. Before they could do anything, they exploded in a cloud of black smoke. A few moments passed in silence, before Orion chuckled. “We won.” She laughed. “We Freaking Won! Those guys did it!”

Her cheer got everyone to cheer as they raised their hands in their hand sign. The Riders sought each other out and hugged one another knowing they were all okay.

Back in the castle, the Riders had powered down. They saw Erza and Makarov had come back into the castle. Their guess was they would have backed them up because both of them looked like they had seen something impossible!

Drew laughed to break the tension. “So uh, yeah, we beat a Wizard Saint. How about that?” This got the other Guardians to laugh despite the pain.

Makarov shook out of his shock. “You reckless brats, Jose was too much for you. Especially you Natsu, you’ve been fighting nonstop all day!” Said dragon slayer laughed it off and winced in pain. Makarov cleared his throat. “But, I’m proud of you kids. You protected this guild and more importantly protected a comrade.” He spoke as he focused on Lucy. He looked at Jose. “This power, this Kaijuu power is dangerous. And I fear that if the wrong person got their hands on them, Earthland will be destroyed.”

“That’s why we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Ash said confidently. “All of us, including our newest Guardian!” He said looking at Lucy. “Welcome to our little brotherhood.”

Lucy blushed under the smiles. “I did it, because I refused to be on the sidelines while you put your lives on the line for me. It…was all…because…I love this guild and I…don’t want to leave,” Lucy trailed off as a wave of exhaustion overcame here. Natsu instinctively caught her. She looked up to the Dragons slayer, and both of them blushed. Lucy made no move to leave his arms and actually snuggled into him. Erza smiled at the interaction, then was bombarded with images of the five of them in regal clothing. Lucy looked especially beautiful in her outfit as she was carried by Natsu. She led the Riders out of the destroyed guild and back to what was left of theirs.

A few minutes later, they stood outside the ruined guild hall. Reuniting with their guild members they surveyed the damage.

“Its…all gone,” Natsu gasped.

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” Misty shook her head sadly.

“Glad Phantom Lord was beaten. But the cost was immense,” Ash pointed out.

“Its all my fault,” Lucy mumbled getting their attention. “It’s all my fault. They came after me, and the guild was destroyed because I ran away!” She screamed tearing up.

Drew walked up to Lucy and placed a hand on her arm. “Lucy, you couldn’t have seen the destruction they would have wrought even you turned yourself in.” He looked at the destroyed guild. “Buildings can be rebuilt, lives can’t.” He saw Max getting his attention. Walked over to a piece of the rubble and helmed him move it off. Underneath was a flag with the guild symbol still intact after everything that happened. Getting Brock to make a small pillar, the three boys placed the flag at the top of it and made sure it faced the town. The simple gesture seemed to brighten everyone up as they realized the same thing. They were still here, and that was all that mattered.

Tori began to tear up and covered her mouth. Mira, who was next to her, was shocked at the tears. “Tori? What’s wrong?”

“Its…nothing. Just, something similar happened in our world. And it was just as powerful then.”

Gabby saw the tears and slipped a hand into hers. In their minds, they weren’t watching their guild restoring themselves, they saw three firefighters lifting a flag in the crater of rubble.

Lucy has awakened her destiny as the Guardian of Metal and helped defeat Phantom Lord. But she still feels immense guilt at seeing the destruction. What will happen next? Find out next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Geez that took a while (looks at word count) NS is gonna kill me
> 
> New Rider
> 
> Pleiades: Lucy’s resolve to not be a burden awakened her destiny as the Princess of the Metal Stars Kamen Rider Pleiades. Her armor is based on the Time Traveling Kamen Rider Den-O, using her keys like in her Star Dress form instead of a train pass. That’s the key difference between Zodiac and Pleiades. Zodiac’s armor is more of a supplement like Keyblades from Kingdom Hearts, while Pleiades allows her spirits to help her in combat. Virgo in this case has the drills like in canon, while Cancer has the Scissor Blade from Kill La Kill. Thank NS for that idea.
> 
> As for her namesake, the Pleiades Cluster is a group of seven stars that while light years apart appear next to each other in the Northern Sky. Many cultures have stories that are around these stars. Most involve maidens being sought after and breaking free from their captors. There are still references to them today, the most visible being the Subaru car logo.
> 
> Preview: As the guild begins the rebuilding process, Lucy makes a choice that makes the other Riders chase after her. But when they confront her past, they make a startling revelation and are forced to fight their way home. What is it? Find out next time.
> 
> Next time: The Lost Bird Comes Home


	12. The Free Bird Comes Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the fallout from the guild war is felt, Lucy confronts the source of her anguish only to make a startling realization as a bigger threat show itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: (Looks around and sees destruction) …Why? What the heck happened this time?  
> Misty: Super Bowl Party. Got ugly when the Falcons choked.  
> Drew: GOD DAMN PATRIOTS! I didn't even have a dog in the fight. Thank god I stayed out of the betting  
> UO: I see your point. Where is everyone else?  
> (Natsu and Grey come in dressed like cheerleaders in blue and silver)  
> UO: Thaaaat's disturbing. Bet?  
> Natsu and Grey: Yes.  
> (Ash comes in dressed in a cheerleading outfit as well)  
> Drew: Is it sad that you can pull that off?  
> Dawn: He was my best work. (Giggle)  
> (Lucy comes in wearing a bunny outfit, teary-eyed): Why me?!  
> UO: Any other bets? (Waits for a few moments) Good. DISCLAIMER!  
> Tori: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot, otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

**UO: (Looks around and sees destruction) _…Why?_ What the heck happened this time?  
Misty: Super Bowl Party. Got ugly when the Falcons choked.  
Drew: GOD DAMN PATRIOTS! I didn't even have a dog in the fight. Thank god I stayed out of the betting  
UO: I see your point. Where is everyone else?  
(Natsu and Grey come in dressed like cheerleaders in blue and silver)  
UO: Thaaaat's disturbing. Bet?  
Natsu and Grey: Yes.  
(Ash comes in dressed in a cheerleading outfit as well)  
Drew: Is it sad that you can pull that off?  
Dawn: He was my best work. (Giggle)  
(Lucy comes in wearing a bunny outfit, teary-eyed): Why me?!  
UO: Any other bets? (Waits for a few moments) Good. DISCLAIMER!**

**Tori: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot, otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.**

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
_Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy.  
_****Attacks  
Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
_Yelling in head_

Chapter 12: The Lost Bird Comes Home

July 26th, X784, 9:30AM

When we last left Fairy Tail, the Kamen Riders had emerged victorious over Phantom Lord after defeated their Elemental 4, the Rider Argo and guild master Jose. In the process, Lucy found her courage and awoke to her destiny as the Guardian of Metal, Pleiades.

Lucy blinked her open as the sun light hit her eyes. She rolled over and sat up to stretch out the kinks in her arms. She looked outside to see the sun shining over Magnolia. ' _Hard to believe three days ago, Magnolia was attacked by someone hired by my father to take me away from my friends.'_

She headed to the bathroom and stripped out of her PJ's as she ran her bath, expression becoming melancholy. _If it wasn't for my friends I would have been captured,_ she thought, stepping into the tub. She scrubbed her body down and relaxed in the water. _I even helped take down that bastard guild master._ She looked down between her breasts to see the silver crystal. _Thanks to that girl, Tsuki, I'm a Kamen Rider and a_ Princess! _But, what did she mean by more to my father’s actions? I need to figure it out, before he hurts my friends again!_ She sighed sinking down further into the warm waters. Half an hour later, she got out and dried herself. As she dressed in an orange sleeveless shirt and blue skirt, she heard a knock on the door. Curious, she went to open it. On the other side she saw it was Misty, May, Dawn and Anabel.

"Hey Lucy." Misty waved with a smile in her red bikini top and blue short shorts.

"Hey Misty,” the blonde replied uncertainly, nodding in greeting, "Aren't you supposed to be at the guild?

"We sent the boys ahead, we just wanted to walk and talk with you."

Lucy hesitantly nodded nodded again and after getting her heels on she followed the redhead down the steps. They walked in silence, something they relished after what happened three days ago.

"So, Lucy. You're a Guardian now, huh?" Misty asked over her shoulder.

"Um, I guess I am. Does that mean anything?" Lucy replied.

"It means you are getting a lot more training. A Guardian is considered levels above their Knights," May replied to her left.

"So, more training then now? Great," groaned Lucy, "I guess I won’t feel useless.”

"That's the spirit Lucy!" Dawn chirped from behind her. "Just because some guild tried to kidnap you, doesn't mean you should be depressed.

Lucy looked down. "But, I was the reason people got hurt!"

"Yes and you were the reason we won," Misty countered, "You’re one of us now. We're a sisterhood. And Drew, Ash, Brock, Max, Natsu and Grey are a brotherhood. That means we protect each other. If one of us is hurt, you can bet we’ll make sure the culprit never hurts anyone again."

Lucy raised her eyes, relief flooding through her. "Thanks."

Misty nodded in approval and continued her walk. As they walked, Lucy let her eyes wander to the four girls walking around her. She focused on Misty first. Her taut legs and tight ass swayed back and forth, like siren drawing in her prey, her hair cascading like a river of fire. Looking to her left, she caught sight of Anabel and May. The brunette's long legs were encased in dark red leggings that clung tightly to her. Her matching top clung tightly to a growing chest, leaving her shoulders and arms bare. The purple-haired girl, meanwhile, had gone without her normal vest, leaving her in sheer leggings, top and veil. This left her flawless pale skin on an enticing display. The blonde watched as she danced to some unheard of beat, even getting May involved, twirling her around. Finally, she looked over to Dawn, in her white and black corset-skirt combo with matching elbow length gloves and thigh length leggings underneath her parasol. She was strolling along the canal like a regal lady.

Lucy had never realized how beautiful they looked. She shook her head. _This is insanity! Why would I be attracted to them when they’re with Ash?!_

"So, I recall you liked being in a certain dragon slayer’s lap. " May teased.

Lucy blushed, but realized that if she lied, Anabel would call her out on it. "Okay, s-so I _may_ like him, but, I don't know if I can approach him. He's so…dense, funny, destructive, strong…GAHHHH!" Lucy roared as her feelings played with her mind over what Natsu being her boyfriend.

"Sounds like a certain Pokémon trainer we know," Misty teased stopping her walk She turned around and held up Lucy's chin. "You know, it's not so bad, falling for your best friend."

Lucy's blush didn't die down, but as she stared into the red head's cerulean eyes, she couldn't help but be relaxed. Misty continued, reaching for the blonde's ribbon. "Sometimes, it happens naturally." She released the ribbon and rubbed at Lucy’s soft, golden hair. "Sometimes it takes a push." She held out her hand and summoned some water from the canal. She gently waved it over the blonde locks, the water adding to their shine "You look amazing, regardless of what people say," she said, adjusting her hair. "What do you say we help you with your confidence? I can get the boys to help Natsu with his…habits. While we take a day and make sure when we're done, he can't take his eyes off of you,"

"Your fashion day, right?" Lucy concluded. She felt her hair tingle, the tingling seriously messing with her head.

"That's right! Anabel and Dawn told you didn't they? We got one planned in a couple of days. Would you like to come?" Misty beamed as she finished tying the ribbon back.

"Yeah. Is it open invite to others?" asked Lucy.

"Not right now. We do a couple of things that…might be frowned upon," Dawn explained, "We're hoping to have one or two before we invite others. So right now, just us Riders."

Lucy nodded gleefully. "Sounds like fun. Can I get some hair tips?"

With that the conversation devolved into fashion tips and endless teasing. A few minutes later, they approached the ruined guild hall. The conversation died down as they did so. The rubble had been cleared the day before so they were now beginning the foundation for the new hall.

"There you girls are!" Drew called out, walking over to them. He wore blue jeans and a dark red shirt, wearing a weird white mask that went around his head. "Go get changed. I know you don't like it, but this is a work environment. Also, some of your pokémon could help here."

"Right!" the girls chorused, moving towards a temporary changing area.

Lucy looked confused. "So your pokémon can help out with construction?"

"Yeah. Pokemon can be used in a variety of fields, not just battling," Brock explained, hearing the question. He was wearing a green and black sleeveless shirt and jeans, "Construction work is typically left to the bulkier ones. With the ones we have, we can probably do a lot."

Ash looked at Lucy. "You still hurting from the fights?" he asked. Lucy wincing gave him the answer. "Look why don't you take care of some of the smaller pokémon. I'm sure they would want to cheer you up."

The blonde smiled sadly. "Thanks, I guess."

Ash walked away. The blonde sighed, feeling depressed. Some of the smaller pokémon had gathered by her. She looked down and saw their cute faces, wanting to hug them all. "Alright guys, let's see if we can't do something nice." With that she led them away.

Drew stood over a wooden bench looking at some plans. He heard a scuffle behind him and groaned at the familiar two people brawling "Natsu! Grey! What the heck!?" he snapped, seeing the two almost break into another brawl, "Erza will kill you two if you start fighting again, _especially_ now!"

The two gulped at the thought of the angering Erza and hugged each other out of fear. Drew sighed. "Alright, hand me that drill and some of the lumber," he told Natsu. The dragon slayer did as he was told and Drew sat down. "Alright, Erza wants some benches built so they could put them in the guild hall. You guys mind giving me a hand on that?"

"Yeah. So what does a drill do that a hammer can't?" Grey asked.

"Let me show you." Drew took some of the nuts and had the two boys hold up some the legs of one of the benches. In an instant, the nuts were drilled into place. He proceeded to do the same to the other side. In less than fifteen minutes, they were all drilled into place.

"See, cuts down energy, makes a more sturdy hold and you don't have to worry about holes hitting you in the butt, like a certain person who can’t keep their clothes on.."

Grey panicked and rushed to find his clothes. Drew shook his head and began another table. Natsu though was curious about something. "Hey Drew?"

"Yeah?"

"Why were you so fired up about our building being destroyed?"

Drew said nothing as he worked on the wood. Happy, having heard the conversation, put in his two cents. "Maybe he saw something get destroyed that was personal to him?"

"Happy, how about I introduce you to Mr. Drill?" Drew snapped, revving up the drill. This made the cat flee in terror. Drew returned to the task at hand, but Natsu pushed the point. "So what gives?"

The Fire Guardian sighed. "When Fairy Tail was skewered by Gajeel's Iron Rods, you remember what we told you?"

"Something about being Romeo's age and seeing a building destroyed…right?"

"Yeah." Drew looked away. "I was ten, Tori and Gabby were 11. We were starting our last year of elementary school, the first level of education. These horrible men that made Jose look like a saint, no pun intended, took four huge planes and crashed them into several buildings. Two of these, collectively called the Twin Towers, were not far from where we live. They collided in a giant fireball killing everyone aboard the planes and those on the floors they crashed." He closed his eyes. "Those towers…eventually collapsed."

Natsu gasped. "W…what? What do you mean collapsed?

"I mean, Fire, jet fuel and metal don't mix and they collapsed, killing almost everyone still in the towers. This included firefighters, policemen and even those brave enough to stay behind." He growled. "2,777 people, innocent lives lost because these men believed our way of life sucked."

"What about your powers?" Natsu asked confused.

"You don't think I would have used them?” he snapped, “I couldn't predict that attack. That was the first time I truly felt helpless since I got my Gem."

Natsu rubbed his head, looking guilty. "Sorry I brought it up. Guess you knew what it meant for your home being attacked. By the way, you said four, right?" At Drew's nod Natsu continued. "What happened to the other two?"

Drew looked up into the sky and leaned his head back. "One of them crashed into a building called the Pentagon, named because from the air that's how it's shaped. It's also the seat of our military like the Rune Knights. The last one, we believe was going after our seat of government. The passengers, having heard of the attacks, fought back and brought the plane down somewhere far away from the major cities."

Natsu looked at the downtrodden boy as he put the pieces of the table together. "That quote you said to that guild master I beat, when I became Draco the first time, it was talking about them isn't it?"

"Yeah. When you’ve got nothing to lose, you go all out," He replied. "It's a tough subject in our country. So, thanks for listening."

"No problem," Natsu responded. He looked over to see Lucy playing with some of the cuter pokémon and enjoying herself. In his chest, his heart pounded against his chest with an emotion he hadn't figured out.

He sighed, getting Drew's attention. The brown-haired boy chuckled, pin-pointing the source of Natsu’s feelings. "You like her don't you?"

"What's not to like? Lucy is well Lucy. She's so nice, but a little weird. She has this glow about her that I like. But I don't know what to do."

Drew stood up. "I have it on good authority that the feeling’s mutual for Lucy. So why don't we try setting you up on a date with her when some of the chaos dies down. In the meantime, we, meaning me, Ash, Brock and Max will teach you how to act like a gentleman."

Natsu nodded eagerly. They went back to work as construction proceeded smoothly.

Later that night, Lucy sat at her desk in her pink sweats and white tank top. She lifted the white material and wicned. She took a dab of the rubbing alcohol and put it on the bruise on her stomach.

"Damn, Riders can do a lot of damage to each other," she whispered. She sighed as she looked at the letter to her late mother. _Would my father really hire that creep to get me back? For that matter, who else hired Phantom Lord to undercut my father?_ She looked outside to see a momma bird feed its chick. She hardened her eyes. "I need answers, and there is only one place to find them." She brought out another piece of paper and scribbled a note before going to pack her stuff for the trip home.

Next Day

Drew, Gabby and Tori volunteered to get Lucy this morning. Walking up to the door, Gabby knocked on the door. She waited for a few moments and then knocked again.

"That's weird, she should be home," the tanned huntress muttered.

Drew decided to knock again. "Hey Lucy? You awake?" He called out.

"Maybe she went to get some breakfast?" Tori pondered.

"Nah, she isn't Natsu…or me. She would probably eat at home," he countered. He reached down to jiggle the handle and to their surprise found it opened. Looking at each other concerned, they pulled out their weapons. They entered the room, Drew holding his revolver, Brave, in front of him, pointed down. He motioned with his hand to search the rest of the apartment focusing on the kitchen. Slowly making his way, he pivoted back and forth, looking for anything out of place.

"Clear!" Gabby called from the bathroom.

"Clear." The same response came from Tori in the bedroom.

He sighed in relief. "Clear," he replied. He turned around. "Find anything?"

"No, there isn't anything to suggest she left under duress," reported Gabby, "In fact, I think she just left for some reason and planned on coming back,"

"Without telling anyone?" asked Drew skeptically.

"Guys, I think I found something!" Tori called out frantically. The two rushed into the bedroom to see her holding a note. "She's going home!" she told them, holding up the note.

Drew took it and saw the words. 'I'm going home!' in Lucy's neat scrawl. He frowned. "She's going home…to confront her dad!" he realized.

Gabby looked at her desk and noticed a letter. She picked it up and saw it was to the wayward blonde's mother. "These letters are to her mother, wonder why she hasn't sent them?"

"She said her mom was dead, so maybe this is a way to cope?" Tori replied. Before they could debate that, the front door was slammed open making them reach for their weapons.

"Natsu, are you sure Lucy's okay with you breaking in?" Happy's cheery voice made them relax.

"She's fine, she's our friend. Besides, the door was open!" Natsu replied.

"That doesn't mean you should break in flame brain!" Grey retorted.

"What was that Ice face?"

"Are you two fighting?" Erza snapped.

"NO MA’AM!" They both chorused.

The three detectives walked out to see Team Natsu walking around the apartment. Erza spotted them first. "Drew? Gabby? Tori? What are you doing here?"

"Was gonna ask you the same Erza, we nearly blasted you into next week," Drew replied. "As for Lucy, she's gone back home. Probably to confront her dad about what happened."

This made the team gasp, but it was Natsu that voiced their shock. "WHAT!? We got to get her back! Who knows what her dad could do!"

"That's what we were doing before you came in.” Gabby replied. Go get the others and tell them we're on a rescue mission. Make sure Mira and Master Makarov, if he's back, know,"They immediately scrambled to get their gear and chase after their friend.

Heartfillia Konzern

Lucy gazed up at what used to be her home. The estate was massive, stretching from where she stood in the garden all the way to the mountains in the distance. The mansion coming into view seemed like a house of a story book. It was three levels high that was made of white stone. The façade gleamed in the sun as it stretched for several meters to the left and right. It was beautiful, and if Lucy wasn't there on a mission, she would take the time to appreciate her former home. As she walked through the gardens, she spotted a middle-aged, purple-haired woman, cleaning a fountain. She wore a long green maid's dress with golden cufflinks and a white apron. She sensed Lucy approach and turned in that direction. The moment she caught sight of her old mistress she gasped in surprise.. "My stars in heaven, is that you Miss Lucy?"

Lucy smiled at the maid. "Hi, Ms. Spetto!"

The maid ran over and gave her a hug, tears streaming down her face.. "I'm so glad you're okay! Your father was worried sick about you!"

Lucy was confused but played along. "I bet he was," she answered carefully.

Spetto couldn't contain her excitement. "Everyone! Miss Lucy has come home!" Out of nowhere multiple servants appeared from every corner to greet the mistress of the mansion, overjoyed. Lucy laughed as she was bombarded by multiple all around her. With her dad the way he was, they were the ones that had raised her. There was Aed, the man who taught him how to cook; he commented on how she could have gotten a guy or two. Lucy had to blush, considering she was pretty close to having one. There was the librarian, Ribbon, who always knew what books to get her and even taught her how to write her stories. Then there was her celestial magic teacher, Bero. He was the one who taught her how to summon spirits when her mother passed away. All of them were happy to see her.

"Mistress Lucy, your father would like to talk to you. You can't talk to him these dregs," one of the maids told her.

She looked down. She was wearing a violet shirt with a black skirt and grey leggings. "These are dregs…but I suppose if I want to meet father." She was instantly dragged away to be prepared to meet her father. A half an hour later, she was brought back into the entrance hall. The blonde was wearing a magenta and purple floor length gown that hugged her body. Her hair was braided into a bun with a pink hairband.

"Oh my goodness, you look like your mother Lucy. Bless her heart, Layla would be proud of you!" Spetto gushed.

"Thanks. Though I wish I didn't have to wear this to meet father," Lucy pouted bringing up the hem of her dress.

"Now dear, you look great. Come on, your father is waiting."

 _Yes, my father,_ Lucy thought darkly, _I_ will _demand answers from him, one way or another!_

She was escorted down the hall to a large door, Spetto knocked on it. "Master Jude, your daughter is here!"

"Send her in!" he called back.

Lucy took a deep breath and opened the door. Her father's office hadn't changed much. Bookshelves, some of them with rare books, lined the walls. She walked down the green carpet towards the desk where her father sat, writing something. He looked up to see his daughter. "Lucy?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hello, father. I'm back," she greeted neutrally.

Jude said nothing and stood up, going around his desk. He stopped in front of her looking her up and down. Lucy was about to give him a piece of her mind when in a blink of eye he hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Whatever Lucy was going to say died her throat and for the first time in what felt like forever, she could her father love her. With some reluctance, she returned the hug and closed her eyes, embracing the feeling of parental love for the first time in forever They stayed in the embrace for a few moments longer then released. "My gods, you look like your mother."

Lucy blushed. "Yeah, Ms. Spetto said so." She shook her head. "Father, this isn't a social visit."

Jude sighed. "I figured. Come sit down," He motioned to a chair in front of his desk. Lucy did so taking care not to mess up the dress.

"I take it you're here about Phantom Lord?" Jude asked straight to the point.

"The guild master told me he was hired by you to get me back! In addition, your trains are being used to transport weapons of destruction. What is going on father?"

"It was for your own protection!" Jude snapped getting Lucy to widen her eyes in fear. "It was either let them use my trains or your life would be in danger!"

"What…? What are you talking about?" she asked, totally thrown by the sudden tone-shift.

"Lucy, the company was hemorrhaging money. I was in the process of getting you a suitor to take care of the debts when this…this girl approached me. She told me she would take care of my debts if she had access to my railways. When she explained her plans, I refused, _until_ she threatened you. It was either give them access or they take you away."

Lucy absorbed the information and was thankful for the chair. All this time, she’d thought her dad had given up on loving her. This new information blew that theory out of the water and now she was worried about what was hanging over her father’s head. Jude continued, looking away and wringing his hands. "A month ago, they came back and changed the deal. They wanted you for some reason and I told them you had left. It was just the day after you vanished. They were furious and now they are trying to extort money out of me." He looked at the guild stamp. "If I had known you went to Fairy Tail, I would have personally asked the guild master to at least let you come home. I made a mistake in hiring Phantom Lord. If I had known their dealings I would have looked for someone else!"

"Your mistake nearly cost your daughter's life!" Drew's voice called out, causing both to stand and look at the entrance. They saw not only Team Natsu but the other Riders, with Drew out front hand inches from his revolver.

"Who the hell are you?!" yelled Jude indignantly.

"Father, stop, these are my friends! Guys, what are you _doing_ here?" Lucy asked in a panic.

"Finding you. Now Lucy, do you know what your dad did?" Drew asked his gun in his hand and pointed at Jude's head.

"Yes. But he did it for my protection, he never wanted any part of this!" Lucy cried.

"Lucy, it's admirable you're protecting your father. But he could be lying to you," Gabby countered.

Lucy looked torn between protecting her dad and agreeing with her friends. In the end, she stood aside to allowed Drew to come closer.

"I'm gonna ask you two questions,” He growled. “if either of these are lies, you’re going six feet under,"

Jude looked impassively at the young man, not fearing the outcome. "If I lie, then I deserve it for putting you all through the pain."

Drew's grip shook wanting to drop the weapon and be done with this. But his resolve held firm. "First question. Did you hire Phantom Lord to destroy our guild?"

"No, I only hired them to get my daughter back. The destruction was all them."

He glanced to the side to see Anabel nodding, indicating he was telling the truth. "Second, did you willingly supply the group that did hire Phantom Lord with transportation and supplies needed to move their weapons?"

"No, only under threat of my daughter did I comply. I tried my best to protect her. I know I treated her poorly when her mother died but I truly love her! I didn’t want her hurt.

Drew looked back at the empath who nodded with a smile. A few moments of tense standoff occurred before he dropped his arm, getting everyone to relax and Lucy to collapse in relief. "You really know how to scare me guys," she told them.

"Sorry Lucy," The brown-haired boy replied. He turned back to Jude. "So, what are we going to do? Are you still in contact with them?"

"Yes. They’re due here tomorrow morning. Why?" He widened his eyes. "You're not seriously going to fight them? They’re way too strong for a normal mage to handle."

"We’re not normal mages!" Natsu boasted.

Jude looked at him with a raised eyebrow, doubtful of what the boy in front of him was boasting.

"Father, we can handle them. Please, trust us!" Lucy pleaded.

Jude closed his eyes in thought as he debated the pros and cons. "Very well. You can help." He smiled at them. "Please stay the night, it’s been forever since this mansion was this lively."

"Thank you for that, Mr. Heartfillia," Erza answered, nodding politely.

Jude motioned for Ms. Spetto to lead them to their rooms.

Sometime later, Lucy was outside dressed in her normal clothes. She stood next to a large angel statue that was planted in the middle of the garden. On the base was an inscription.

_Layla Heartfillia_

_X748-July 7th X777_

_Loving Mother and Wife_

"So this is where you were?" May's voice cut her musings short. The blonde turned to see May, Misty, Natsu and Drew walking up to her. The brunette looked up at the angel. "So this is your mother's grave huh? She must’ve been a great person to get this.”

Lucy smiled sadly. "Thanks. She was my best friend. I miss her every day."

"Enough to write letters to her?" Misty asked, knowing the answer. She put her hand on the blonde's shoulder sympathetically. "Most of us lost a parent through various circumstances.I lost my parents in an accident when I was younger than you. I miss them too." She grabbed her Water Sapphire. "This gem is my last connection to my mother, kinda of like yours

Lucy nodded. "She gave it to me on her deathbed. I feel…like she was with me, during the fight against Phantom Lord."

As the girls chatted, Drew had a look around the gardens. "Got to say, this is a huge garden. It must take a lot to keep it like this."

"Oh, this?” she asked unconcernedly, “This is just the front garden. We own everything that you could see from here to the mountains!"

"WHAT!? You’re that rich?" Natsu gasps

"Yeah, go figure. But I'm just Lucy right?" She asked.

"Yes, you're our weirdo!" Replied Natsu.

Happy flew down and nestled into her bosom, gazing up at her with wide, despairing eyes. "You're not going to leave us, are you?" he cried.

The blonde giggled. "Of course not, you little furball," she said hugging the feline like he was her own child. She looked up and realized she was alone with Natsu, the others having moved on. "Hey Happy, why don't you go to the river over there. There's some tasty fish in it."

Happy's eyes sparkled and he flew off. Finally alone, both of them stood at the grave in silence. Natsu looked at the statue. "Your mom must have been a great person to get something like this for a gravestone."

"Natsu, don't be rude. But yeah, she was a great person. She loved the gardens, hence her tomb is here, Lucy told him sadly, “I used to love learning about flowers or watching the stars in here,"

Natsu watched Lucy look at her mother's grave in silence. He had never seen her this vulnerable, or this quiet. It may have been the dragon in him, but he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. Lucy didn't protest, instead nuzzling closer to enjoy the unexpected tenderness. He looked back at the grave and noticed the date. "July 7th, X777."

"Yeah, that was the day momma died," Lucy confirmed.

"It’s just that…that's the same day Igneel disappeared,” Natsu told her, “I just woke up one day and boom, he was gone."

Lucy shook. "C…could that be related? Could my mother's death be connected to the dragons?"

Natsu shrugged, but his eyes narrowed. "You think? I don't know. But I guess we both lost something that day, huh?" He looked at the blonde nervously. "I want to get something off my chest."

Lucy stepped out of the hold and held his hand. "I guess I have somethings too."

Natsu rubbed his head. "I guess, with everything going on, we've been on some crazy adventures together. And well, before I met you, I never really had this feeling."

"What feeling?" Lucy asked, .

"I-I dunno. Whenever I look at you, my heart goes nuts. When you're sad, I want to comfort you. When you're happy, I want you to keep smiling. I mean, I felt something almost similar to others. But for some reason, I can't stop thinking of you. Lucy, do you know what this is?"

Lucy giggled as tears threatened to fall in happiness. "Yes. I do know, because I feel it too. It's called love.

"Wait, love? Like how Mira loves Elfman?" Natsu asked

"First off, this type of love would be weird between siblings. No Natsu. Think of…" Lucy struggled to think of a good comparison. "Mates. Dragons have mates right?" At Natsu's nod she continued. "That's the type of love your feeling." She shook her head and took Natsu's hand. "No, it's the type of love we're feeling. Natsu, for all your recklessness, you make me so happy to be around you."

"Then, I guess that means, I…love you…Lucy."

"And I love you, Natsu Dragneel," Lucy whispered. She reached up the muffler and pulled him close. "To the stars and back." She captured his lips tenderly. Natsu widened his eyes but quickly got into it returning the kiss with his fiery energy. For a few moments, there was no one in the world but the two of them. They finally broke the lip lock out of breath.

"Wow," Natsu gasped.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed.

He looked at the blonde. "I have no idea how to do this. I'm scared I'll mess up, or worse ruin us."

Lucy giggled. "That's okay, we can learn together."

Natsu nodded eagerly. "Then I'm all fired up!" The wind picked up and surrounded the new couple. "Huh, that was weird."

"It must’ve been momma blessing us. That's a good thing. Now we have to deal with father."

Natsu shook as Lucy led them through the gardens. But then he grinned and walked hand in hand with his new girlfriend.

Off to the side, Misty and May squealed as the new couple walked out of the garden with hand in hand. "They are adorable together!" May gushed jumping like she was on a sugar rush.

"That was one of the sweetest confessions ever!" Misty sighed.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Good grief.”

"You say it like it's a bad thing?" May laughed.

"Compared to how you two got with Ash basically ambushing him in bed? I rather they do it like that," He replied. He watched the couple walk back to the house. "I wonder who the other three girls are for him."

Misty glanced at him. "Guess you're right. I hate to break it to them, but they need to know about the future of their relationship.”

"Let's wait for them to come to us. I have a feeling Lucy might talk to you guys," Drew offered, getting strange looks from the girls, "Lucy may not admit it, but she's had these googly eyes for Erza and Mira that isn't just being a big fan."

Misty nodded, then followed two back to the mansion out of sight of the lovey dovey couple.

Next day about 9:00 in the morning

The mansion had slowly begun to wake up. The servants were bustling around, either keeping the mansion clean or helping with the breakfast. It made them happy to see the mansion so bright and energetic again. The mood was broken when the doors to the mansion slammed open. The maids in the hall turned and gasped at the intruders. Entering the door were a group of ten shadowy troopers, led by a large, armored and more experienced one. The leader approached Spetto. "We’re here to talk to Mr. Heartfillia," he grunted.

She kept a neutral face. "O-of course. Please, follow me." The group marched behinder her passing by the trembling staff members. In moments, she was outside Jude's office.

"Master Jude? Your 'guests' have arrived."

"Send them in!" he ordered.

Spetto opened the door and moved aside. The group marched in and approached the desk, where Jude was waiting for them.

"Mr. Heartfillia. I have come from my mistress to see if you have made any progress in locating your daughter?" The leader asked.

Jude sat unintimidated at their presence. "I know where my daughter is, but I will not give you her location."

The leader was unperturbed and walked up to the desk waving his hand.. "Now, Mr. Heartfillia, I'm sure you don't mean that."

"I do,” Jude growled. I also know you went behind my back and hired Phantom Lord to attack and kidnap her!"

"Think of it as insurance, to make sure your company is in line and keeping our operations secret. Your world is so dumb, not thinking that you could hide such destructive power on a train."

"Yes. Well, you might need a new plan," Jude said dropping all pretense.

"What do you mean?" The leader asked confused.

"I mean our partnership ends. Today!" Jude told them.

This threw off the lead trooper. This was a different man in front of him. "Surely you don't mean that, Jude?"

"That’s Mr. Heartfillia to you!” the man snapped, “As for this deal, I regret not knowing about your true intentions.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “But now, I have the leverage to end my association with you.”

"Maybe you forgot what will happen if you don't cooperate?" The leader asked, a threatening note in his voice. "The moment we find your daughter, she will ours to do with as we please."

"I'm aware. That's why I’d like to introduce you to her," Jude tilted his head behind the leader. Before the armored soldier could reach for his weapon, a metallic whip appeared from behind and ensnared him. Even as his companions moved to attack, they quickly were quickly captured and brought to their knees.

Drew strolled in front of the prisoners twirling Brave in his hand a confident swagger in his step. "Well now, what do we have here? Some terrorists looking to extort an honest man out of his money and his family. Well if you want to meet Lucy, she’s right behind ya." He motioned at the blonde who took great pleasure in tightening the hold on her captive.

"You'll regret doing this when our mistress finds out!" The leader snarled only to be squeezed harder by the whip.

"That's what we wanna know. Who the hell is your leader so we can kick her butt!?" Natsu demanded.

"We're not telling you anything!" yelled one of the troopers near the end of the line.

Drew tutted. _"Oh_ so unwise. Brock?"

Before the trooper could say anything more, he was bisected by the boy's axe. This got the troopers struggle in their confines.

"Want to try again?" he asked. When no one spoke up, he nodded to Misty. She swung her trident and jammed it into the troopers. The trooper disintegrated before he could scream.

"Okay, we'll talk!" the leader panicked not wanting any of his men to die.

Drew smiled and leaned back on the desk. "I want her name and what she's doing here in Earthland."

"Yuzan! That's her name! She wants to throw the continent into anarchy, then swoop in and take over in the chaos!"

"Using weapons not found on this world to do it,” Ash theorized, “Her takeover would take resources they couldn't possibly get on this world without serious help."

Drew glared at the leader. "I want the names of the benefactors! The names of this world's betrayers."

The leader said nothing. Drew sighed and waved his hand. "Fine. Let them go." Much to their surprise, the troopers were let off the ground and scrambled to their feet.

"Tell your boss that Jude Heartfillia is under the protection of the Guardians. And if she doesn't like it, come at us!" The leader said nothing as fled in terror. The Fire Guardian glanced at the Ash. "How many messengers does it take to deliver a message?"

Ash grinned. "Just one!" He held up his sword. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared and a trooper’s severed head went flying. This got the others to break out their weapons and charge as well.. Gabby and Max dashed through the hall and stabbed their weapons into their targets’ necks. May launched a vine from her wrist, piercing one's spine. Anabel spun one of her chakrams and threw it. It cleanly sliced through the midsection of her target. Lucy flung her whip out and captured one, before Natsu leaped in and finished it off with a bisecting slash of his axe. Finally, Erza summoned a sword and flung it at supersonic speeds through the chest of the last one. All of this happened in less than five seconds.

The leader froze in horror as his men were cut down like wheat. Drew approached him. "Now, get out of here!" he demanded.

The leader screamed, activated an emergency magic circle and vanished.

Jude sighed. "What do we do now?"

"If they have the ability to teleport like that, then they might be able to get back here in an instant,” theorized Brock.”That means they’ll probably attack the manor, at best tomorrow,"

"That means we need to evacuate the manor," Misty concluded.

"We're abandoning the manor!?" Lucy gasped.

"Lucy, it’s either we leave the manor while we can, or we lose everything that the Heartfilia family has!”Jude told her “And I rather make sure we can start over with what we have than have it with no family!"

Lucy sniffled. "Daddy, please.”

Jude wrapped his arms around his daughter. “I nearly lost you once. I’m not going to lose you a second time. A house can be rebuilt. Our family can’t. Please listen to me!”

Lucy nodded and tried to stop her tears.

Ash glanced at Jude questioningly. “So, how do we pull this off?”

"I have something that can help with that," Jude told them, motioning for them to follow. He went to a shelf and pulled out a book which caused it to swing open. "When I had this place built, I had this built in case we ever need to sneak away from our manor." He lit a torch and headed down the stairs. The Riders followed him down into the dark cavern, lit by a few magically powered torches. A few moments later, they emerged into a much larger open space. The center of which had a large metal train with ten wooden cars.

"This train is designed to evacuate the staff and take all essential and valuable items away from the manor discreetly,” Jude revealed, “It exits on the other side of the mountain and hooks up with the local train line."

"That's good and all, but what's going to keep them from using this as a base?" asked Max.

"I have some explosives that were not delivered,” Jude told them. “We can rig it to destroy the manor when we evacuate.”

Erza nodded seriously. "Very well. we need to plan what to leave behind. The servants need to be informed and the house wired up."

They all headed back up the stairs to begin their planning. Three hours later, the mansion was a hive of activity as the servants began boxing up various items to be stored on the train. Precious jewels from Lucy's mother's collection, books that Jude had collected, even some of the clothes that Lucy liked were boxed up and taken onto the train. The Riders made it a point that human lives came first to which Jude agreed. So most of the packing was done to make sure that the moment the attack came they would be ready to leave.

Natsu was in the library staring at large painting. It looked like Lucy, even having the same hair and eye color. He didn't know paintings were made that fast. "Hey Luce!" he called to the blonde debating which books to pack away.

"Yeah?" answered Lucy, walking over.

"I didn't know they made such great painting of you," he told her,

Lucy giggled. "So sweet of you to say that. But that's not me. That's my mom, Layla."

Natsu was stunned into silence. His thoughts suddenly imagined putting Lucy in the same red and pink, floor-length gown and nearly had a nosebleed. Happy floated over to her. "Wow, I take back some of the things I said about being ugly.”

Jude walked in during the conversation. "Happy, Lucy, why don't you go find someone to help take this down. We would need to be careful with it."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her father's suggestion but shrugged it off and left the room. An awkward silence followed as Natsu debated what to say to Jude.

"So, uh, Lucy's mom was beautiful," Natsu stuttered out.

"Yes, she was,” murmured the man, “I remember when I met her at the Love and Lucky guild. She was probably the most beautiful woman there. We got together on a trip and, well, we ended up marrying and having Lucy."

"You were in a guild?" asked Natsu, surprised.

"Yes. It wasn't a magic guild like yours, though. It was a merchant guild. That's how we made our fortune. We left when Layla was pregnant," Jude chuckled, "I remember how we got the name Lucy. We were leaving the guild one day while she was pregnant and we happened to look up to the guild sign. The k in Lucky got knocked out so it read Love and Lucy." He looked at the painting, tears pooling in his eyes. "Layla thought it was fate that we should name our daughter that."

He turned to face the dragon slayer. "I know you and my daughter are together now. I will give you my blessing to date her, under one condition."

Natsu cocked his head, confused. "Uh, sure anything."

Jude placed his hands on the young man's shoulders. "Protect her. Make sure you live up to the reputation of a dragon and treat her like woman she is. She’s all I have left to remember my wife!"

The pink-haired boy grinned back at him. "You don't have to worry about that. They’d have to go through the entire guild and _then_ deal with me to hurt Lucy!"

"Good to hear. Otherwise, I'll have a dragon skin boots.”

"Father, don't scare Natsu like that," said Lucy good-naturedly, re-entering the library with Brock and Anabel behind them.

"Sorry honey, just making sure he knows he protects you," Jude told them his attitude pulling a 180.

Lucy shook her head. "You don’t need to tell him that. We'll be fine." She looked up at the painting as Brock and Anabel gently took it down. "Mother would be happy, to see us reconcile."

Jude wrapped an arm around his daughter. "Yes. And she would be so proud of what you've done, my little star."

Natsu watched them cuddle together and smiled.

Happy floated over. "Is that what it’s like to have a dad, Natsu?"

"I think so buddy," he replied. "One day, we'll see Igneel again. Until then, I’ve got you and Lucy."

Happy nodded and landed on his shoulder.

Just then, the painting popped off the and Jude began to panic about it being damaged. His comical reaction made both Lucy and Natsu laugh at his panic over the painting

Next day, July 29th, 9:30 AM

The morning dawn with a heavy fog. It had rained the previous night and the moisture was still there. The fog seemed to fit the mood as the air was thick with tension. Much of the manor was bustling about moving the remaining supplies onto the train. Ash was outside using his Aura to scout the grounds. If there was anything, he would pick them up. He also had his pokémon, in particular his Starraptor, scouting as well.

"Starraptor!" his faithful bird called out. He looked up to see the bird hovering and pointing to its left. Ash knew what that meant. He got on his radio. "Starraptor just picked something up! Gabby, Max can you verify?"

Gabby was on top of the mansion and the lifting fog allowed her to see a large group about a half a mile from the edge of the property. "I see them. About half a click outside the property, just outside of my sniping range.

Max was flying above the manor and could see the group composition. "It's large enough we might have to move up the evacuation!"

"Roger!" Drew replied on the radio from inside the manor. He turned to Jude. "How much time do you need to get everything together?"

Jude discussed the issue with Spetto who frowned. She spoke up. "If we are to get everything out, an hour, maybe an hour and a half."

Drew cursed in his mind. "What do we still have to get out?"

"The servants and their belongings," Spetto replied.

Drew looked up and mentally calculated everything they had left and whether or not it could take less Coming up with a solution, he turned to the maid. "If we give you a half hour, will you be able to get everyone on that train?"

Spetto nodded. "Yes, I'll go speed it up!" She dashed back to the manor.

Drew turned the radio back on. "Listen up, everyone. Our mission is _not_ to defeat this opponent but to delay them! Once the first shot is fired, we will have to protect the manor for thirty minutes. When that time is up, I want you on that train. I'm not leaving anyone behind if I can help it!" He turned to Brock and Erza. "How's the wiring?"

"Got the system set up. Just give the command and we can blow this place up!" Brock told them.

"I don't condone violence of this nature.," Erza agreed with a menacing glare. “But if it means making sure nothing gets left to our enemies then I may channel my inner Natsu!”

Lucy frowned as she ran through some plans. "Who’ll be on the front lines?"

“Erza, Natsu, Ash, Misty and I should be up there. If you have a strong spirit to go with your armor Lucy, you can be up front too. Erza will be the roamer, taking care of any flank that could be compromised,” Drew told her, “We'll assess the lines as needed, but we need to go now!" Everyone scrambled out of the office.

Lucy was the last to leave, but Jude suddenly grabbed her arm as she passed. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be fighting!"

"Father, they need me! I'm not going to let them down!" exclaimed Lucy.

"I just got you back into my life and now you’re going to throw _your_ life away? Lucy, please, come with me!"

Lucy turned away, shaking his hand off as tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I love you, father. And that's why I'm doing this. I'm a Kamen Rider and I _refuse_ to back down from protecting our family!"

Jude looked at the back of her head. Then he sighed. "Very well. Please be safe."

Lucy nodded and began walking away then stopped. "You know, momma called me her little star princess. She didn’t realize how true that was going to be." She tilted her head. "I'll be back. That's a promise, and Celestial Mages never break theirs." With that, she put on her belt and picked up a key, this one bearing Taurus's symbol.

"Henshin," she whispered, doing her twirl and locking the key into her belt

**SUMMON: BULL**

Her body glowed and bulked up considerably, especially in her arms and chest. Her chest became enclosed in a black and white chestplate resembling a bikini. She wore a similarly-colored skirt that segmented into alternating black and white strands and came down to her thighs. Her feet were clad in black, high-heeled cowboy boots and her bright white gloves were tight on her forearms. Adorning her head were two cow horns. A small bell chimed from around her neck. and her belt buckle now bore Taurus's symbol. The last thing t was she had bulked up considerably like she had become a bul

** "Pleiades: Taurus Form!" **

Jude watched as his daughter transformed. After the glowing died down, he walked up to her. “This is amazing. How can you handle so much power?”

Pleiades nodded. "It's overwhelming but I assure you, with this I will make it back." Jude could only nod as his daughter walked away. Lucy whispered in her head. "Taurus will you help me?"

" _For your rocking body, I'll moooove mountains!"_

Lucy sighed and shook her head, but smiled under her helmet. Taurus may be a pervert but she could always count on him. She dashed down the hallway to prepare for the defense.

On the hills just outside the manor, the leader that had spared knelt in front of a carriage. In the shadows of the tent, was a red hooded figure. "My lady, we are in position."

The figure nodded. "Leave none alive," she commanded intensely, "Bring me their blood!"

The armored leader nodded and waved his hand. A squadron of troopers saluted and moved forward. They approached the edge of the gardens unaware of the eyes on them. Gabby, now suited up as Orion, pulled back strongly on her bow and angled it into the sky, energy flowing through the string.

** "Atalanta's Storm!" **

She snapped the string loose, sending the arrow whistling high into the air sky. Once it reached the top of its arc, the arrow split into multiple streams of light. They crashed towards earth catching the approaching group off guard. In an instant three quarters of the advance force were wiped out.

Zodiac started his watch. "Alright, that's our cue!" he barked over the radio, "Remember, this is not a defense mission! Once I tell you to retreat, I want you on that train ASAP! Once those 30 minutes are up, this place is gonna be ready to blow! No Rider left behind!"

"Right!" everyone chorused.

Up on the hill, the leader scowled. "My lady, we did not anticipate such a defense!"

"You forget these are the Guardians and their Knights," the cloaked figure scolded, still staring over the hill at the mansion with unblinking eyes, "They are more resourceful than you think. Send the rest of our forces. _We can test their…resolve."_

"Understood. All troopers, attack!" The horde of troopers roared and charged towards the garden.

Ace saw this and radioed in. "Here they come! It's a human wave!"

"Got it. Orion, Ace, keep pelting them! Erza, make sure they can't flank us!" He turned to Draco. "Draco, use your Wind Ring, give Ace a hand!"

"Right!" acknowledged the dragon wizard. He flipped the hand on his belt to the right and pulled out an emerald ring. Slipping it on, he placed it over the belt, scanning it.

 **WIND, PLEASE~! FUU-FUU! FUU FUU FUU- _FUU!_** (風)

A green magic circle appeared above him and fell towards him. He leaped up through it, emerging with his armor turning an emerald green. His helmet became a triangle cut emerald. Most of the plating was gone, in exchange, his armor was made more aerodynamic. Something he put into great effect as he unleashed a small gust of wind to propel him into the air. Joining Erza and Ace they dove at the lead pack. Slashing through the pack quickly, they climbed into the sky. Erza summoned her swords for her spell, while Max pulled a card of Drew's Starraptor.

**AIR SLASH**

"Dance, my swords! **Circle Sword!"**

** "Fire Dragon’s Blazing Gust! ** "

Ace slashed the air, sending multiple streams of pressure straight at the ground. The wind passed through Erza's swords and sped them up into a blur. Behind them, Draco's fire spell formed a tornado and covered the blades. The combined wind formed the tornado into a conflagration which swallowed their opponents, pulling them into the sky

As the fire died down, Ace turned his head and called out to Erza. "Go ahead and land, we can handle it from here!"

"Roger, stay safe!" Erza yelled flying in the direction of the cemetery.

At Layla’s tombstone, Pleiades was swinging wildly at the troops that surrounded her and her comrades, fighting like a woman possessed. She had her back to her mother's grave, defending it with a zeal no one thought she had by focusing on attacking herselif. Thanks to Taurus, she had immense strength that she used to break through the waves. She snapped the whip at an incoming trooper and cracking its head open. Meanwhile, Triton and Onyx were trying their best to keep up with her by launching elemental attacks, but she was clearing through them too fast. "Pleia, calm down! All of these wild attacks will leave you wide open! Especially with your weapon!" Triton pleaded.

"No! I won’t let them desecrate my mother's body! I'm not leaving without her!" Pleiades cried out, cleaving through two more with her axe.

"Is your mother's body worth sacrificing yourself?! What would she think of that?" snapped Triton, firing a stream of water at multiple attackers.

Her words made the rampaging Guardian stop as the words got through her rage addled mind. "But…but," she whimpered.

"We're not going to destroy the entire mansion. When the heat goes down, we can recover her body. I promise. And what do Celestial mages do?" asked Triton, prompting her.

"They keep their promises," the new Rider finished softly, "Right. I’m sorry."

"I would do the same thing," Triton told her sympathetically.

Pleiades observed the remaining enemies in their sector. "I don't know if we can wipe them all out before we have to retreat.

"Don't you have a large range attack?" Triton asked.

Pleiades thought about and grimaced. "I do, but there is no way she would merge with me."

"If it’s Aquarius, then summon her and I'll deal with her," suggested the Water Guardian.

"...Alright, fine." The Celestial Mage conceded and pulled out the respective key. "I need some water." Triton conjured up the requested the water in a sphere oand the Spirit mage put it in the sphere. **"Open: Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"**

The familiar chime sounded and the Celestial spirit appeared, looking extremely irate. "What do _you_ want, brat? I was on a date!"

Triton was not about to take the mermaid’s complaints about her social life lying. "Take a good look around you, fish breath!" she barked, waving her arms at the carnage "This is your master's home and if you don't help defend it, then you are going to regret it! Because I’ll make sure you never get summoned again!"

Pleiades gulped. She had seen the Guardian angry before, but not to the point of threatening others. Aquarius, however, knew what would happen if Lucy was killed. She remembered what happened with the last spirit that allowed their master to die because of their stubbornness. "Fine! But you owe me big time!"

Pleiades growled. "I’ll subtract it from your tab! Now get to it!"

Aquarius glowed and left through her gate . The mage quickly dropped the key to her belt and turned it, revealing the two waves of Aquarius.

**SUMMON: WATER-BEARER**

Her armor glowed and the Taurus gear disappeared. In its place, a set of blue and yellow bikini-like plates settled onto her form. She bore two detached metallic sleeves that flared out around her wrists. Around her waist was a similar colored detached skirt with a yellow belt around it. Above the bikini was the Aquarius symbol and on her feet were a pair of heeled sandals. Lastly around her head were two blue and yellow ribbons that came down to where her ears were.

** "Pleiades: Aquarius Form!" **

Triton smiled. "A girl after my own heart." Before she could say anything further, two troopers snuck up on them and tried to catch them off guard. Before the Rider could bring up her trident, a shield of water came out of nowhere and deflected the blows away. Triton looked surprised at her fellow Guardian, whose eyes were glowing blue.

Meanwhile, the newest Rider tried to reason with her spirit in her mind. _"Brat! If you had the guts to summon me and then use me like this, then you must be really desperate!"_

"I don’t care what you say! You and I are going to fight together, whether we like it or not!”

_"Tch…if you can perform Star Dress with the power you have here, then maybe you aren't such a bad master. Just know that when this is done, don't call me for a while!"_

Pleiades nodded. Outside her mind, her arm moved and caused the shield to condense around her hand. She brought her hand back and thrust it forward. A large stream burst out and swept the troopers away.

" _Tch…not bad, brat,"_ Aquarius told her in her mind, grudgingly, _"But don't think you've won me over quite yet!"_ She turned the Rider towards Triton. _"And you! We're not done! We will have words!"_

"Looking forward to it, fish face!" Triton snapped back, swinging her trident. Both of them looked around and geared up for the next wave.

Over in the center of the gardens, Zodiac fired off two shots from Brave. He punched the one he was clashing with, then decapitating it while it staggered back. He glanced over to Aura who had just cooked a few more troopers with a Flamethrower. He looked at the watch and saw there was ten minutes left. He got on the radio. "Hanabi, Sirius, Kyokan, Orion, fall back and get on the train!"

" _Are you sure?"_ Sirius asked.

"We'll be there soon. Tell the driver to get the engines going!"

Sirius nodded and grabbed Hanabi, who finished casting an Icicle Spear at two approaching troopers. They quickly ran into the mansion, where Orion and Kyokan joined them, heading towards Jude's office. When they got there, they were surprised to see Jude staring out at the battlefield with Spetto, Aed, Ribbon and Bero.

"Mr. Heartfillia, why aren't you on the train?" asked Sirius incredulously.

Jude didn't turn around. "I'm not leaving until my daughter is safe."

"Master Jude, please be reasonable!" Spetto pleaded.

Jude stood firm as explosions rocked the manor.. Orion walked up to him. "Pleiades is fine. She is fighting to protect her home. She is not fighting so that she comes to see you dying because of you worrying about her. Please, for all our sake, come with us on the train!"

Jude turned around, his expression still conflicted. "You’re…right. How foolish of me," he mumbled

"If it helps, I can wait for her and let you know when she's coming down," Kyokan offered. "We're the first wave. More than likely she'll be the last one."

Jude nodded and was led with the last of his staff down the stairs. Orion pulled Spetto aside. "Is that everyone?"

"Jude was insistent he was the last to leave," the maid answered.

"Good." She got on the radio. "Zodiac, everyone has gotten on the train, just waiting on you! Kyokan is at the door!"

Outside Zodiac got the message as he parried another blow. "Gotcha. All non-Guardian Riders, make your way towards the train! We'll cover you!"

The five Guardians made their way to the front of the manor. Their friends ran behind them into the house while they stood guard. They saw a large group of troopers gathering for what would seem to be a last push.

"On my go, we're gonna unleash our strongest attack!" Zodiac ordered. He saw Draco change back into his Fire form while Pleiades brought out a jar from nowhere. Aura had his sword up channeling electricity while Triton held her trident perpendicular to her body and formed a large sphere of water. All four were glowing in their respective colors. The fire guardian put his sword away and clenched his fists. He was saving the attack he was about to use for another time but he figured this would be a good test run. He held out his hands, summoning fire from the air and gathering it into two spheres. He brought his hands together and mimicked Son Goku’s stance infamous stance. White hot power grew between his collected hands until it became a miniature sun and consumed his hands.

"Steady!" Zodiac called out. He watched the horde get close and knew he needed to time this just right. "NOW!"

** "Fire Dragon’s Roar!" **

** "Celestial River Smash!" **

** "Hydro Cannon!" **

** "Thunder God’s Slash!" **

** "Lion’s Inferno Cannon!" **

Five attacks were unleashed: Draco’s Roar was volcanic, like a real dragon’s, and the sound it made resembled a jet engine. Pleiades’s water stream sparkled, like the Milky Way had blessed her attack. Aura’s lighting-infused blade crackled like Zeus’s wrath. Triton’s cannon attack condensed and erupted from the middle of her trident with the pressure of a thousand fire-hoses. Zodiac’s inferno blast burned through the air, like an oven turned up to 9000 degrees. The attacks sped towards each other and converged not far from the Riders, creating a rainbow of power and destruction. They sped towards the center of the charging line.

*KABOOOM!*

The attacks exploded, vaporizing those at the point of impact and mortally wounding those in the periphery. The force of the blast was so powerful, it wake left a three foot impression in the ground. The point of impact had an even larger crater.

Pleiades collapsed to her knees. "Wow. That was intense!”

"Yeah! Fairy Tail mages don't do anything halfway!" Draco laughed .

"Enough chatter, there is no way that was all of them. Let's get out of here!"

Everyone agreed and headed immediately towards the train. Jude was still on the platform anxiously waiting for his daughter. His features brightened as he saw Lucy, but he blanched as she hung off of Natsu's shoulders, followed by the others. "What happened?" he asked.

"Long story short, she used a lot of power and she hasn't gotten used to it!" Natsu answered succinctly, "Come on! Let's go!"

Jude nodded and helped Lucy onto the train. Drew was the last to climb on and waved at the engineer to get going. It was going to be close with what time they had left.

Upstairs, the troopers had infiltrated the mansion and were coming to the realization that it had been cleaned out. The leader growled as he stepped into Jude’s office and crushed the desk. "Damn those Riders! I’ll destroy them if it's the last thing I do!"

One of his subordinates glanced around, looking for something. "Uh, boss? Do you hear ticking?"

The leader listened closely and turned towards Jude's desk. His heart stopped as he beheld a clock with a timer counting down to zero.

5…4…3…2…1…0.

The leader cursed. "Son of a b-!" The office, and then the manor, exploded into a fireball of shrapnel and debris. The mushroom cloud could be seen for miles as the ground shook beneath it. It took a few moments for the resulting smoke to clear as the debris rained down on the site.. When it did, the manor was reduced to rubble and sitting in a crater. No remains of those who had entered the manor could be found

Yuzan sighed, toeing a loose rock idly. "These Riders are sure resourceful. Their blood will taste _so sweet_ when we find them, I bet."

A surviving trooper, one of about 15 that hadn’t entered the manor, approached her. "Should we pursue, mistress?"

"No. This fight is lost,” she declared, _“We will feast another day!"_ her magic teleported her away.

(Play Simple Man by Lynard Skynard)

On the train, the smoke from the Heartfillia mansion could still be seen even from this considerable distance. However, Jude was less worried about that than seeing her daughter sleeping in her boyfriend's arms. "How is she doing?" he asked concerned.

"Other than exhaustion, she seems to be fine," Dawn told him. "I'm glad everyone's okay," She whispered walking over to where Ash and her partners had sat down and were beginning to doze off.

"Yes. You all did a great job," Erza agreed, "Especially you, Natsu."

The dragon slayer, who was not feeling the effects of motion sickness, grinned. "Yeah, but Lucy really showed them." He said.

Jude sighed. "Thank you. Please, keep my daughter safe. Even if I can't."

Natsu nodded and then snuggling into Lucy. They slowly began to nod ff, with Happy nestled in the blonde's arms. Jude soon followed, an honest smile on his face for the first time in years.

Drew was the last one awake as he watched the others doze off.. Ash had Misty and Anabel in his arms. They leaned back onto the pull out bed that the chairs maid.. May rested between his legs, holding Dawn close tenderly. Max and Brock were on the other side of the group, lying against the armrests. Erza and Grey had also fallen asleep and he had to admit, outside of combat, Erza looked cute sleeping. Shrugging, he pulled his own girls close, dropped his hat over his eyes and joined them in dreamland. The train chugged along heading towards Magnolia, its precious cargo secured.

7:00 PM, Fairy Tail guild hall construction

The train arrived at the station to unload its human cargo, sans some of the servants. They would find a place to put the valuable cargo in, whilst also searching for a new home. Meanwhile, the mages arrived at the construction site to see their guild members bustling about.

"We're home!" Happy called out. Everyone watched the group walk up and waved to them.

Mira approached them with a smile. "Great to see you back. Good news, we can take missions again!" She said delightfully.

"Really? Awesome!" cheered Natsu.

"Relax my dear boy, you can take missions tomorrow,” Makarov told them walking up. For now, enjoy the atmosphere,"

Drew crossed his arms. "So, what's the damage?"

Makarov hummed. "Phantom Lord is disbanded, Jose has been stripped of his status as a saint and is awaiting trial. As far as this crisis is concerned, we’re done."

"Let's not forget, Gramps, that someone is due for a retirement!" an unwanted voiced taunted. Everyone turned to see Laxus sitting on a chair, chin in hand, "I think the council is right, you’re too old for this guild. I should be the one running it!

Before Makarov could respond, Drew stomped over to the boasting mage. Just as Laxus opened his mouth to taunt him, he decked him directly the chin, sending him and his chair toppling over.

"That's two strikes, Lightning rod! You have the nerve to declare yourself guildmaster when you refused to come to our aid!? You’re seriously pissing me off!"

Laxus stood up and marched over to the Guardian, chomping at the bit to start another fight with the fire user. Makarov summoned his hands to stop both from launching attacks. "Enough. Laxus, is what Drew said true?"

"It was. He wouldn't come help us unless we did disgusting things for him!" responded Mira.

Makarov glared at his grandson. "Then you are a fool, for ever thinking you could get away with this! A master _cares_ for their guild, regardless of strength. Until I see that in you, that position will _never_ be yours! Be grateful I don't cast you out like your father!"

Laxus recoiled, then snarled. "You'll regret this, Gramps!" He marched off,

Drew watched him leave. "This is not over, not by a long shot!"

"I fear you're right," Makarov conceded.

With the rise of a new villain threatening Fiore and rumblings of rebellion at the guild, will the Riders be able to handle it all? Find out next time on Nakama United.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UO: Wow 11 K in nearly 11 days. That's impressive on my part. So yeah, Jude isn't a dick like canon and I kept him alive. Thank my co-writer, I had other plans for him.
> 
> Preview: As Lucy settles into be a Rider, a fellow guild mate's secret comes to light and Lucy must prove he is worthy of his title. What will happen? Find out next time.
> 
> Next time: The Fallen Lion


	13. The Lost Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lucy settles into being a Rider, a old friend despairs and a truth is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH
> 
> UO: (walks into the studio to see it intact and everyone standing around) Okay, what's going on?  
> Ash: Huh, that's weird, normally the guild would be brawling by now.
> 
> Misty: Where are they?  
> (Rumbling is heard and they turn to see Ash's Tauros stampeding across the set)  
> Drew: (Walks in during the chaos) Ash, you should have traded those bulls of yours.  
> Ash: They were just fine at Oak's ranch! Wait a minute (Sees Natsu and Grey fighting on top of them) GOD DAMN IT!  
> UO: I really need to keep my mouth shut. Disclaimer!
> 
> Misty: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot, otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.
> 
> UO: Damn right! On with the show!

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy  
_ ****Attacks  
Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_

Chapter 13: The Lost Lion

July 31st X791, 10AM

When we last left the Kamen Riders, they had confronted Lucy's dad, who was reluctantly funding and supplying the mysterious army attacking Earthland. When the truth was revealed to her and the other Riders, they had to fight their way out of the manor, while protecting a repentant Jude and his staff. The mission was not only saving everyone in the manor, but denied the opposition a potential base. They returned home to find that the guild had resumed normal operations albeit still rebuilding their guild hall.

Two days later, we see our heroes training in the woods outside Magnolia. Lucy was sparring with May. She dropped into a crouching sweep-kick, which the brunette backflipped over. The blonde was wearing a white top and black shorts, while the Coordinator had on a black sports-bra and gray shorts. They’d originally wanted to train her weapon, but encountered an issue. The whip, Mutsuraboshi, was named after an old name for Lucy's armor. It was unique among all of the Riders, in that it was neither a bladed weapon nor a heavy one. As none of the other Riders had any experience in it, they would have to seek out Erza's advice when they got a chance.

Unfortunately, she was out on a mission and wouldn't be back until the end of the week at the latest. Instead, they upped her training skills not related to her magic or her weapon . They would be training her legs and her kickboxing because they noticed she didn't move a lot to attack.

As such, she was paired up with May, one of the two Riders that focused on flexibility and mobility. May giggled as she bent backwards underneath the wide kick. "You’re getting better Lucy, keep it up!"

Lucy panted and launched another fist at her. May ducked her head, caught the fist at the wrist and _pulled_ backwards, trying to knock the mage off balance. However the blonde, thinking quickly, moved with the throw and turned it into a forward roll instead. Leaping back up on her feet, she locked the brunette’s arm under hers into her own hold.

"Good! You used the momentum of the fall to turn my hold against me!" May praised easily, unbothered by how her arm was bent, "But what do you do now?"

The blonde analyzed the situation and hold, then lifted her leg to kick at May’s forearm. She did a spin and used the momentum to cause both of to fall to the ground. Her legs ensnared May's arm and pulled it up her chest. May, deciding to end this match, tapped her arm, indicating that the blonde let go. Lucy did so, rolling away and panting. They had been training since nearly 7 AM and she was wiped out. Regardless, she felt amazing.

"Wow…who knew there was so much more to learn about fighting?" she commented, catching her breath.

May took a sip of her water, then tossed it to Lucy. "There’s only so much you can rely on your spirits for. You need to learn to fight for yourself."

The blonde nodded. "I just wish my body didn't hurt so much," she complained, rotating her shoulders.

May giggled. "It comes with the territory. Need help?"

Lucy nodded as the brunette walked over to kneel down behind her. She started to rub the tension in the blonde's shoulder making the blond sigh in pleasure. May smiled at her expression. "Feel better?" Lucy could only nod. "Good. Now then, I know you don't want me to go further, but I want you to know something. At tomorrow's get-together, they may get a bit grabby, but nothing bad will happen to you.” She rubbed the girl's cheek, causing a blush. "All I know is, you might enjoy it.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at what she said. But she ignored it as the brunette removed her hands. “Come on, we've been at this for a couple of hours, I think we can safely call it a day.” Lucy agreed and followed May.

They walked over to a larger clearing, where the boys were sparing. They arrived to see Drew and Natsu both grappling with each other. They separated as the girls stopped outside the ring. Natsu glanced to see his girlfriend smiling at him. His momentary distraction was enough for Drew get under his arm.

"You let your guard down!" roared Drew. He lifted the dragon onto his shoulder. He turned so he faced the dragon slayer's chest. Before Natsu could react, Drew dropped him and drove his arm into his stomach, planting him into the dirt. Brock, who was proctoring the match, quickly got on his knees and pounded the ground three times, as if it were a wrestling match.

Natsu groaned. "Ow, my head…!"

"You let a girl distract you, you should know better than that," taunted Drew.

Lucy quickly jogged over to the pink haired boy as he rubbed his head. "You really shouldn't get distracted like that Natsu,” she chided him lightly, reaching out a hand to rub his head soothingly, “But I'm glad you're not seriously hurt."

Natsu blushed as Lucy helped him up. He mumbled something under his breath. "Huh? Can you speak up?" she asked tilting her head.

"Um…do you want to go out…maybe tomorrow?" He asked.

"L-l-like a date?" Lucy asked stuttering.

"...Yeah?" he replied, uncertainly.

Lucy's face turned tomato red. "D-Drew, did you knock his brain loose? ‘Cause Natsu wouldn't ask that."

"Believe it. We talked about this and we convinced him this was a good idea," Ash replied.

The new couple blushed and looked away. "U-um sure, m-maybe, p-pick me up from M-misty's place around 6?"

"S-sure?" Natsu replied.

"Great, gives us plenty of times to at least get some manners knocked into you," Brock told him.

"Manners?" Happy chirped.

"Yes. We've seen you eat Natsu, and they are atrocious!" Drew answered. "We're gonna at least make it passable. Also we're gonna teach you how to be a gentleman or at least one that we can be proud off."

"Do I have to?" Natsu groaned.

"YES!" all four boys responded unanimously. He sighed. Tomorrow was going to suck in his opinion.

Next day 8:00 AM

Natsu trudged along through the city, nervous about his lessons at the guild. He honestly hoped it wouldn't be too embarrassing. Walking up to the guild, he spied Drew who was talking with Mira. "Hey there Natsu, right on time. Let's get started." He motioned to a seat. "Have a seat we can have our first lesson while Mira makes some breakfast.

"Can’t it wait till afterwards?" complained Natsu.

"No, 'cause this lesson is breakfast."

Natsu begrudgingly sat in the chair, only for Brock to gently correct his posture. Drew sat across from him. "Alright, now look down at the table, there is a plate and silverware." The dragon slayer did so seeing there was a plate and a napkin along with a fork, knife and glass. "Take the napkin and put it in your lap."

Natsu did so, though Happy swooped in to play with it.

“When you make a mess that's how you wipe it off,” instructed the other boy, “Now take the fork in your left hand and your knife in your right." Natsu grabbed the utensils, but his hands were uncoordinated. "Watch how I grip it," Drew instructed patiently, holding the utensils the right way. The pink-haired boy tried to copy him, but it was apparent he had not been taught well or at all. The younger boy grew frustrated as it took him several tries before the lesson stuck.

"Look, it takes practice alright?" Drew explained as he watched Natsu's frustrated endeavors. "All I want you to do is at least make a concerted effort to understand how to act on a date."

"Flame Brain's got a date?" Grey's unwelcome voice called out. Natsu growled and moved to yell at the ice mage.

"Natsu, sit! Grey don't antagonize him!" Drew ordered.

"Just seeing what lizard breath's doing over here. He's got a date? I pity the poor girl who agreed to be your date!" Grey taunted.

Natsu's patience snapped. "I asked Lucy, you dumb stripper! And the guys are helping me try to be less like a slob, like you!"

"Why you!" growled Grey. But before he could throw a punch, a grating laugh cut them off.

"Flame head's got a date with Bunny girl?"

Natsu turned to see the hulking form of Gajeel Redfox slinking a dark corner of the guild. Between the time they’d gone to Lucy's mansion and come back, Makarov had convinced the Iron Dragon Slayer to join the guild. It was a struggle for many at the guild, considering his role in its destruction and the serious injuries to Team Shadow Gear.

Natsu blushed, feeling self-conscious as some of the other men started to snicker. Then he heard a sword crash into the ground, scaring everyone.

"What’s going on!?" The fire dragon slayer was never happier to hear Erza's voice.

"We were helping Natsu out with some things related to his date with Lucy tonight Erza. Unfortunately, the guild is giving him a hard time," Max explained.

The scarlet haired knight turned to Natsu, her eyes softening. "Well, I'm glad you're helping him do something we were trying to do before. I trust you don't want to ruin it with Lucy?"

"No ma’am!" Natsu replied eagerly.

"Good." Her face regained its scowl. "As for the rest of you! You could stand to learn a thing or two from Drew and his friends!" She glared at Grey and Gajeel, whom she (correctly) believed were the biggest troublemakers. "Thanks for volunteering you two! Sit down and learn something from this.

Grey immediately obeyed. Gajeel though growled. "I ain't learning-" He was cut off by a large sword aimed between his legs. "Um, sorry?" Gajeel backed down and sat next to the shirtless mage.

Mira choose this time to walk in with Natsu and Drew's breakfast. "I think it's sweet. I'm sure Natsu will have a good time with Lucy," she commented, putting the plates of pancakes, bacon and eggs on the table. The dragon slayer was about to dig in, but a look from Drew stopped him.

"Now Natsu, I know this is tough, but you should learn to eat slower. It's tough for me too, if you want sympathy. But, no one would want to see your food being chewed on," Drew explained.

"Yeah! They take one look at you and run away!" Grey laughed.

"Well at least he'll be dressed, unlike you!" Ash countered. Grey cursed, seeing that his shirt and pants had disappeared.

"Watch how I eat. I don't try to shovel it in," continued Drew, ignoring the banter. He cut a slice out of his food and took a bite, moaning in delight. "That's good pancakes, Mira, thanks!"

Mira giggled at how Drew enjoyed his food. She frowned at Natsu who was making a mess. "Natsu! Take it easy!" Mira scolded lightly taking a towel and wiping the table. The dragon slayer swallowed his bit and then slowly picked up another piece and ate it normally. Without him stuffing it down, he actually was liking the food Mira made for him. After a few minutes, Natsu finished his meal, enjoying it for once.

"Well at least we know you won't mess up. Alright, come with me. Mira, can you help us with the next bit?"

The barmaid was confused at his request but followed, leaving Grey and Gajeel at the mercy of Brock and Erza.

Drew brought them over to an empty table. "Mira, you’re gonna play Lucy. Natsu, we're gonna practice what you're going to do when you’re out with her."

"Um…okay?" Natsu asked confused.

"Alright, first thing you do is bring her flowers. You don't have to do this every time, but first impressions are everything. Pretend you're holding up flowers."

Mira decided to chime in on this. "Here, maybe this will help." She transformed her face into Lucy's, making the dragon slayer blush.

He held up the imaginary flowers. "T-these are for you."

'Lucy' smiled. "Thank you Natsu, you look great.”

"U-um, thank you? You look great, did you do something to your hair?"

"Oh, you noticed?" she teased, "Thanks!"

Drew smiled. "Not bad. Complimenting her hair’s a nice touch. Now then, let's move forward."

Over the next couple of hours Drew and Mira helped him through the pretend date. It was clearly a struggle as Natsu had never been the person to sit in one place for very long. But through perseverance, Natsu managed to get it to a standard both Drew and Mira could accept. After putting his new skills to the test at lunch and some shopping for a new suit Drew sat him down and gave him some final words of encouragement.

"Now then Natsu, I got some final pieces of advice for ya."

"More? Come on, my brain hurts!" Natsu groaned.

"Just listen," said Drew, exasperated, "This is just some stuff to keep in mind." He took a deep breath. "Sometimes, the best thing to do is go with your instincts. Your number one goal is to make her happy. Right now, she could be at her happiest with you. Your job is to keep that." He looked across the hall to Ash who was talking with Erza. "Another part is compromise. You and Lucy are clearly different, so you need to find a way to agree on stuff even if you like different things. If you're like me and Ash and somehow get multiple girls, well, you’ve got to learn and understand each of them."

"You think I might get others?" asked the pink-haired boy.

"Probably, if the trend is any indication. I'm still trying to figure out who might be your other four Riders,” Drew conceded. Though I have a good idea who two might be. Regardless, the important thing is you treat Lucy and any woman in your life with respect and kindness."

Natsu looked over to see Erza and Mira helping Grey and Gajeel with their lessons. For some strange reason, he felt his heart start to beat rapidly. The only time that happened was with Lucy and the blonde was nowhere to be found.

"Just try to remember the basics," Drew told him. Then he spied Max trying to get his attention. "You find a good spot?"

"Yeah, it's this bistro near the market district. Nice prices, heard great reviews about. Called the Café Red Star."

"I heard of that place. Their cheesecakes are delicious!" Erza gushed, "You better treat Lucy right. OR ELSE!"

Natsu gulped nodded rapidly. The Dragon Slayer immediately left with his fellow Guardian coming with him to help prepare.

With Lucy, several hours before

While Natsu was getting his lessons, Lucy walked up to the Rider girl’s house and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Gabby opened the door. "Hey there Lucy come on in!"

Her fellow blonde followed her in. Compared to her current apartment this was much bigger and homier. She noticed the towels, various make-up kits and racks of clothing.

"Lucy there you are!" She turned and was struck dumb at May's appearance. For whatever reason, the brunette was in a pair of green bra and pantiesand didn't care if she saw. The underwear clad giggled at her expression. "Don't be shy, it's just us girls."

Lucy's brain was trying to come to terms with what May was wearing, when Misty grabbed her shoulder. She at least had on a blue robe, to the blonde’s relief. "Don't mind May, she likes to be in as little as possible in private. Come on, let's grab you a robe and then you can help with Dawn.

"Help with Dawn?" The blonde asked confused. The red head led her over to a stand. On it Dawn was standing perfectly still, in her stockings and white underwear as Tori and Anabel apply various make-ups on her.

"You see, Dawn here agreed to be our personal mannequin. When we want to try out new designs, she lets us dress and undress her at will. And she actually enjoys it." Misty explained. Lucy walked up to her and waved her hand in her face. Other than a small twitch in her eye, there was nothing that showed Dawn was paying attention to her.

"She's had practice being still as possible. She's there, don't worry, but until we tell her otherwise she's as motionless as a play doll," Anabel assured her, "A little help from my magic doesn't hurt. Want to help put this on her?" The empath motioned to the mascara in her hand

Intrigued, Lucy nodded. After changing into a pink robe that fit her snuggly, she approached the motionless blue-haired girl. She started applying the mascara delicately. Dawn's eyes reflexively closed, making no other movement. The blonde was amazed at the coordination it took for Dawn to do this. "She's a very pretty girl," Lucy complemented, finishing up the eyes, “She pulls this off well.”

May strolled behind the stiff girl. "Yep, she's one beautiful little bunny." She leaned over and gave the motionless girl a kiss on the cheek. "Now comes my favorite part, putting her cute little dress on!”

"Only because you like to take it off her when we're done!" Gabby taunted, getting a stuck out tongue from the other girl. May strolled over to the rack and picked out a purple dress came down below the girl's knees. Lucy helped her put it on and stood back. Dawn looked amazing in the dress as Gabby walked around taking pictures.

"Alright, Dawn you can wake up now," Anabel told her.

Instantly, life returned to the girl and she stretched her limbs out. "Man, that was a long time. Hey, Lucy!"

The blonde waved to the bluenette, surprised at how fast she recovered. "So now what?"

"Now, how about we do that thing we talked about on Galuna?" Anabel asked, "Then we can have you try on some of our outfits.

Lucy blushed and twirled her hair. "O-okay?"

"So, what color do you want?" asked May, while Misty and Tori warmed up the water. She pulled out several bottles of various colors.

Lucy scanned the colors and selected a pink bottle. "That color, it reminds me of my stamp."

"You sure it isn't because of your boyfriend?" teased May, getting a brighter blush from Lucy, "Aright, lay down on the seat. How much do you want colored?"

"Um…not a lot. But a few stripes won't damage my hair right?"

"Nope, now just relax," May assured her. Lucy leaned back into the chair. Looking around, she noticed Anabel walking over to a large table. "What's that?"

"It's my turntable. I make music and other sounds using the buttons on this board. When I’m not training, most of the time I’m making mixes or freestyling. This particular mix I do when we have these days.”

Misty leaned down to her ear and whispered. "You're in for a treat. Anabel's music is pretty.”

Lucy nodded and leaned back into the chair. Anabel turned on the table and after a few beats, she began by hitting a couple of keys.

(Play the Aurora 4 Chillstep mix by Pulse 8. He's really good!)

The music began to play and all of the stresses over the last week and a half, plus the anxiety of the date later, slowly melted away. The combination of the warm water and soft music put her into a trance. In her mind, she felt her soul leave her body and float out into space. She watched in wonder at how pretty the stars were. Looking down she gasped. Underneath her were a multitude of colors dancing across the planet. She floated down and reached out touching the dancing lights like waves in the ocean.

She looked up and saw the many constellations in the sky. She knew what most of them were but she took particular note of one. The stars formed a small rectangular head and a long serpentine body: Draco, the dragon constellation. She slowly flew up, trying to grab the stars. She had just about reached it, when the world started to fade away. She blinked and suddenly she was back in the girl's apartment. Looking up, she saw she was in Misty's lap, the red head smiling down at her. Turning her head, she saw the empath swapping out tracks while the other girls chatted.

(End Song)

"Hey there, sleepy head. Ana's music was that soothing, huh?" asked the redhead.

Lucy blushed. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Want to see your hair?"

Lucy nodded and May held up a mirror for her. The blonde marveled at the job they did as she touched the mirror. The strands alternated between pink and yellow, with lighter streaks near the center and darker near the edge. And the change went down the full length of her long hair. All she could say was, "Wow!” She said in awe.

"Definitely a job well done. We also went ahead and gave you a manicure and pedicure. Wouldn't want it to be bad on a date," May gushed.

Lucy looked down and noticed both her nails had been cleaned and painted a bright pink. "Th-thanks!"

Tori clapped her hands. "Alright, how about those outfits?"

Lucy nodded and stood up. Misty stood up after her. "Let's try a swimsuit first. Bet with a body like yours, you’d knock _all_ the boys off their feet." She took the part blonde’s hand and led her into a side room. A few moments later, the celestial mage came back in a red bikini that clung tightly to her clearly larger bosom.

Misty looked a little sheepish. "Sorry, May's the largest we have,” she apologized, seeing the blonde’s discomfort. “She needs to go bra and bikini-shopping soon.” Then she regained her smile. “So, how does it feel?"

Lucy stood in front of mirror and nervously looked at the outfit. "It's…nice. It feels comfy." She posed briefly turning around and smiling sultrily, her nervousness fading with the encouraging smiles of the others.

"You mind if I take some pictures?" Gabby asked.

Lucy blushed and nodded as the tanned girl snapped her camera, taking great care to emphasis Lucy’s attributes. Once satisfied, Dawn took Lucy next. When they came back, Lucy was wearing a pink corset and skirt, with thigh length stockings, her pink-blonde hair up in pigtails. Meanwhile, Dawn had changed out of her dress and put on a long t-shirt.

"Do you mind sitting on the couch? I got an idea for this shoot,” said Dawn sprinting upstairs. When she came down, she had an armful of stuffed animals. She proceeded to place them around the blonde and on her lap. When she was done, Lucy looked like she was part of stuffed animal collection, especially with her big eyes. The girls all squealed at how cute she looked and after taking pictures of the blushing girl, May glomped her, covering them both in the plush toys.

Anabel laughed and walked over to the "Okay May, come on, I want Lucy to try my outfits now."

May only squeezed her harder, making Lucy squeak. "No, Lucy’s _my_ doll!" she said childishly.

Dawn leaned down to the brunette. "If you let her go, I can be your hugging buddy tonight."

May didn't give that a second thought. She immediately let go of Lucy and pulled Dawn in for a kiss, shocking the blonde. Misty saw the reaction and pulled her away. "Please don't judge us. We are as comfortable kissing each other as well as Ash."

Lucy watched the two kiss and blushed. "Wish I could show my affections that easily.

Anabel sensed the turmoil in her and with a frown, took the blonde's arm. "Come on." The empath pulled her into the side room. The purple haired girl helped the mage out of the corset and brought out a pink harem dancer's outfit. "So, I take it you don't understand what you saw?"

Lucy nodded as she put on the panties. "I…I’ve never been exposed to it before. Is it normal for girls to do...that?" she asked, pulling on the translucent pants.

"We’re at that age where experimenting is likely. But out and out kissing like that is generally frowned upon at the moment where we come from," Anabel explained helping put the halter top on.

"Why? Shouldn't people love who they choose to love?" She asked incredulously as two pairs of rings were snapped onto her wrists followed by the choker.

Anabel smiled at her. "I wish more people thought like you. Maybe there would be less violence in the world. No, most countries frown upon same sex relationships at the moment, though there seems to be a movement to grant the LGBT community some rights to marry."

Lucy was confused at the acronym. "LGBT?"

"It means Lesbian, girls liking girls, Gay, boys liking boys, Bisexual, liking both boys and girls regardless of gender and Transexual, identifying as the opposite gender from how you were born,” the empath explained, “We have a specific term called homosexual, which means they identify as gay. By normal definition, we're straight because we like Ash, and only bi for each other. Though you're making it very hard to be strictly for guys."

"Really?" asked Lucy, surprised at the admission.

"You saw May's reaction. Dawn and Misty weren't far behind," Anabel replied. "You're like Misty in that it's very hard for a girl to stay straight around you." She pulled out the veil and wrapped it around Lucy's face. "There. How do you feel?"

Lucy took a look in the mirror. "This outfit’s a little revealing for my taste, but it feels so nice on my skin,” she admitted, doing a twirl.

Anabel nodded and escorted Lucy out into the living room. The reactions by the girls proved the empath's point as they gushed over how sexy and beautiful she looked.

As Gabby finished her shoot, Anabel was back on her table. "Lucy do you mind if I do something to you? Nothing bad of course."

"Um, sure?" she replied uncertainly. Suddenly, she felt stiff, as if puppet strings were attached to her. "Huh?" She looked over to see the DJ’s eyes glowing in a calming purple.

"Relax, Anabel is just gonna put you through a small dance. She's not going to hurt you," Misty assured her. "Trust me, she's done this before and it's quite liberating."

Lucy nodded and relaxed allowing the spell to take over. Anabel turned on the table again and a new song began to play.

(Play Nebula by Michael FK, again thank you Pulse 8)

The song started slow with a small piano and some static in the background. As the song added more sounds, Lucy’s body bent low as if she were a ballerina. Her body began to twirl and her arms began to wave up and down like the ocean. At the height of the verse, her eyes suddenly blinded by many different colors. Everything, from the walls, to the girls watching her, to even the table were giving off vibrant shades of colors. And they were changing in time with the music. She became lost in the music as her body twirled and swayed. As the beat slowed, a body, she wasn't sure whom walked up to her and began impromptu dance with her. As the beat picked up again, her mind began to form that person into a familiar shape. A certain dragon slayer that occupied her thoughts. She wasn't sure why Natsu was here, but she wasn't going to stop.

(End song)

After a couple of minutes, the song faded out and her vision returned to normal. She squeaked when she saw that instead of Natsu, it was Misty who she was dancing with.

"Didn't think you were that good a dancer," praised Misty.

"Me? N-no, it was Anabel," Lucy stuttered trying to play it off.

"Sorry Lucy, I'll admit the first minute was me,” the empath told her. “But after that you were dancing totally on your own! You were very graceful, even under my spell," "Have you ever considered adding dancing to your fighting style or at least the way you fight?"

Lucy gave it some thought. "No, I guess not. Would you teach me?"

"Yeah!" May responded. "Now though, let's get you ready for your date!"

The next hour, they had the pink and blonde haired girl try on outfits before settling on a light red dress that complimented her hair. Then they cleaned and fixed her hair before putting on her make-up.

"There we go. All set to knock Natsu off his feet and all with 10 minutes to spare," May gushed.

Lucy smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much guys!"

"Anytime Lucy!" Tori told her.

The blonde turned to Anabel. "I've been meaning to ask. When I was dancing I saw all these colors everywhere as if I was a kaleidoscope. What was that?"

Anabel shrugged. "It's nothing serious. I have what’s called Synesthesia. I perceive sounds and letters as colors. It helps me a lot with my music. This translates to my Aura magic. When I see you, I see yellow and red. Misty I see blue and green mixed with a light purple thanks to her hair. A clap I could see purple and so on. It also helps me detect certain emotional states, such as lying because the colors would change or the way they pulse would shift. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Lucy nodded. Misty looked in her brown eyes. "You nervous?"

The blonde nodded again. The redhead placed a hand on her shoulder. "I was nervous the first time I went on a solo date with Ash. It was when we stopped at my home town in Cerulean City. I wouldn't admit it to Ash, but I was a wreck. What if it rained? What if he ruined our meal? What if my dress got messed up?"

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"Well, it turns out he was just as nervous as me. He tried so hard to make our date special, even though he was juggling two girls at the time. It was really sweet," Misty fondly remembered, "My point is, both of you are going to be nervous. The boys would have tried their best to get him to…passable standards. He's not gonna change overnight. This is what being in relationship is about: learning about each other and what you can do to adapt." The redhead smiled. "What's important is you two are happy with each other."

Lucy nodded, smiling back, a good deal of tension leaving her body. A knock on the door caught their attention. "I'll get it!" Dawn chirped.

Outside the door

Natsu gulped as he knocked on the door. He was dressed a black striped shirt, blue jeans, a black sports jacket, his signature scarf and his hair was combed to reduce the spikiness of his hair. n his hands were a bouquet of roses. His whole body shook rapidly like a leaf as he knocked on the door. He heard Dawn's voice say that she would getting the door. He watched with anticipation as the door opened to reveal the cheery girl.

Dawn took a good look at Natsu and whistled, grinning. "Wow, you clean up nice, Dragneel." This made the dragon slayer blush. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Hey, Lucy! Come check out your date!"

Natsu’s mouth quickly dried up as his date appeared. It took a lot to make Natsu speechless for more than a few seconds, but Lucy nearly caused him to lose control of his speech. He liked the red dress she had on, which hugged her body and really brought her assets out. Looking up to her face, he noticed the alternating blond and pink strands that covered her blushing face.

"Whoa. Luce, what did you to your hair?" he asked, amazed.

The girl sheepishly twirled a strand of the streaked hair, her face reddening as she looked away sheepishly. "O-oh, this? Just something I decided to get and the girls helped me. Do you like it?"

"Yeah! It looks awesome. Pink hair looks great on you!" He looked down at his hands. "Er, here! T-this is for you!"

Lucy took the bouquet and sniffed the red flowers, the fresh smell making her swoon. "Mmn…Thank you, Natsu. You look nice as well."

"Oh…uh, thank you," stammered Natsu.

Misty appeared behind Lucy and gently grabbed the roses. "I'm gonna put these in some water. You two go have fun. The slayer nodded and took Lucy's hand and helped her down the steps.

Misty came back to the door and watched them go. She sighed. "They are so cute together.” She pouted. “Man, I wish I was in their spot. It's been awhile since we went on a date with Ash. The insanity of the last couple of weeks makes it kind of hard."

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her stomach. She glanced saw May lay her head on her shoulder. "It doesn't mean he loves us any less,” she murmured, “We know that protecting the innocent comes first."

Misty closed her eyes. "Do you think that without our powers, Ash would even look at us?"

The brunette hummed, shifting her hands to encircle her waist, eyes cast down. "Maybe for you. I don't think he would look at us. Even if he did show interest in me, I would have encouraged you to go after him."

The redhead smiled. "That's so sweet of you." She turned around in May's arms. "But now I get such a sweet and handsome boyfriend and three beautiful girlfriends." And she captured May's lips, getting both to moan in delight. When they released they breathed heavily.

"Ana's right. It's very hard to stay straight around you," May gushed.

"Who would want to with you girls?" Misty teased getting both to giggle. "Come on, we can chill out in Dawn's room."

The two turned inside, hands held as they walked to their other partners. They knew going forward, they would have to compromise on a lot, but loving Ash and each other? It would be something they never cut short.

With Natsu and Lucy

The new couple were walking through town trying to keep their nervousness from showing. Natsu had taken Lucy's hand which sent the message that he was as nervous as she was.

"So, uh…where are we going Natsu?" Lucy asked after a few moments of awkwardness.

"Oh. Hang on... come on, where's that note?" Natsu reached into his pocket searching for the piece of paper. "Here it is. Café Red Star. It's supposed to be some sort of bistro? Whatever that is."

"It means a more upscale café shop, there's typically a theme to them," Lucy explained, "Who found that for you?"

"Um…Max did. Erza said they got great desserts," Natsu replied sheepishly.

Lucy giggled. "Go figure." She glanced over at him. "It's nice to know I wasn't the only one nervous tonight.”

"Y-yeah. I’d never h-had a chance to do something like N-no one taught me about dating."

Lucy smiled at Natsu's stuttering; it was nice to see a tender side to him. "At least you didn't have to worry about suitors. Till I ran away, dad used to parade me around at parties. He wanted me to marry into wealth and produce an heir," she shook her head. "Guess having your life threatened puts your life in perspective."

The dragon slayer chuckled. "Wonder how he reacted when you said you were dating me?"

She giggled. "He started bawling and hugging mom's picture. It was pretty comical to see."

Natsu's chuckles turned into outright laughter. "Oh man, I could have paid to see that!"

The blonde returned the laughter. When they calmed down, Lucy turned to Natsu. "My dad is not a bad man. Protective yes. He only tried to put his company first. But when he was threatened, he tried to protect me. Give it some time, the guild will forgive him. I mean, Makarov forgave Gajeel right?"

Natsu’s expression soured. "I guess I'll give your dad a chance. But good luck getting me to be friendly with metal-mouth!"

Lucy shook her head as they turned down the street. Their destination was in a well-lit area of the market district near one of the grocery stores. Multiple tables were set up outside, occupied by many young couples. Now Natsu understood why Max had picked this place out. It might have been a little pricier than the dragon-slayer wanted, but it _was_ a popular dating spot. Heading inside, they took in the welcoming atmosphere. The décor was clearly meant to invoke its role as a couple's location, with pictures various patrons dating and warm colors on the walls.

A Hostess called out to them. "Ah hello there! Welcome to Café Red Star. Inside or outside?" she asked sweetly.

Natsu turned to Lucy who smiled. "Doesn't matter."

The hostess smiled. "First date?" At the two's blushing nods, she smiled, "We get that a lot here, but I must say you two are adorable. Let me help you to your table." The woman led them to a table near the back. "Here we go, your waiter will be along shortly."

The two thanked her and to Lucy's surprise, Natsu pulled the chair out for her. Grateful for that they sat down and looked at their menus.

"Hey there! Welcome to the Red Star!" A bubbly voice told them a few minutes later giving them glasses of water. "My name is Jamie! Is this your first date?"

Lucy blushed. "Is it that obvious?"

"You don't blush like that being caught on a normal date. You are so cute!" She gushed at them. "Anyway. What would you like?"

"Um…chicken club with a lemonade!"

"And I'll have a spicy chicken sandwich with some juice!" Natsu ordered.

The waitress quickly jotted them down and headed to the kitchen. A few moments of awkward tension ensued before, the dragon slayer turned to Lucy. "So, do you…do you like being in the guild?"

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "It's been so much fun. Though I wish everyone would stop attacking us!"

Natsu chuckled. "Just means more to fight, Luce! And with your powers, you get to fight with us!"

The blonde smiled and took his hand getting him to blush. "If it wasn't for those people, I wouldn't have met you or our friends. I never got to thank you for bringing me to the guild. So, thank you.”

Natsu smiled and clasped her hands. "No problem Luce." The couple stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before the waitress came back with their meals, They dug in with gutso. Lucy watched amazed as Natsu tried to be as neat as possible with his food. But with the food they had, it got a little messy. She watched as he tried to wipe the food off his shirt to some success and she decided to help him by using her napkin on his cheek. He said nothing and smiled at her gesture.

Once the meal was done, Jamie came out with a huge slice of chocolate cheesecake. "This is the couple's special, on the house for first-time couples. It's meant to be shared!" she told them. She held up a camera, grinning. "We also take pictures of new couples to hang on our wall!"

The two blushed bright red as Jamie scooted them together. Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy's shoulders to hold her close as Jenny took multiple pictures of the happily blushing couple

"One for us and one for you!" She said brightly. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Natsu was about to say no when he was struck by a thought. "Yeah, can we have a strawberry shortcake to go?"

Jamie nodded and left. Lucy turned to him. "Why another dessert?"

"Cause I wanna thank Erza for helping us."

Lucy was confused, but the smell of the chocolate was enough to deter her curiosity. Taking one bite, she moaned at how rich it was. "Oh my god, this is so _good!"_

"Really?" asked Natsu. She said nothing and held up a fork with a piece of the cake. Taking a bite, he had to agree it was one of the best cakes he had. The two took turns feeding each other the cake, savoring every bite. Once finished, they left a generous tip and left the restaurant with the extra cake.

At the guild

Mira sighed, cleaning another glass in the partially rebuilt guild. "I wonder how Natsu and Lucy are doing?"

"Probably on their way back to Lucy's apartment," Drew replied. "I doubt he would do something stupid."

"Tch, I bet it was a disaster," Grey taunted.

Ash shook his head. "You know what Grey? I bet when you get a girl, Natsu's gonna taunt you like there was no tomorrow."

Grey scoffed. "As if."

Before a further argument could break out, the couple in question arrived in the guild. "Hey guys, we're back!" Natsu announced.

"We were on our way home and decided to say hello," Lucy explained.

Happy floated over. "How was your date, lovebiiiirds~?" he called, smirking.

"It was pretty cool. I didn't mess up at least," Natsu replied smiling.

"He was the perfect gentleman at least by his standards," Lucy giggled, "Oh, and we also got something for Erza.

"For me?" asked Erza curiously, cocking her head.

Natsu strolled up to them. "We’ve got a cheesecake big enough for a couple to share. I asked for another one to give to you as thanks for helping me."

The two girls gasped as he placed the cheesecake on the counter. "You've been my friends for years and despite being scared of you sometimes, you've kept the guild together. Thank you."

He turned around and took Lucy's hand. "I'm gonna drop Lucy home. See ya!" The pair left into the cool night.

Erza glanced down at the cheesecake. "He…didn't have to do this."

Mira smiled and looked over at Drew and Ash playing a card game. "Maybe our new friends are changing us more than we realize." She reached into a drawer and pulled out a fork for Erza to eat.

The redhead surprised her by turning the fork and handing it to Mira. "It’s too big for me, remember?"

The white-haired young woman nodded, grabbed another fork and dug in. The reactions on both of their faces mirrored the couple’s reaction. Erza looked up at Mira as her face took on a forlorn expression, even as she took another bite. "What's wrong, Mira?"

Mira swallowed the bite. "Oh, nothing. Just…I wish I was in Lucy's place. She looked so happy." she sighed.

The redhead reached over and patted her shoulder. "It'll be fine; one day, all of us will find their happiness."

The barmaid smiled and ate another bite. Off to the side, Drew smiled _. I wasn't lying when I told Natsu I had some idea about his other knights. But could it be these two?_ He went back into his game, satisfied he’d done his good deed for the day.

A few minutes later, Natsu had escorted Lucy back to her apartment. She turned around when they reached the top of the stairs. "I had a great time tonight. It was nice for a first date."

"Thanks, Luce. Will there be more after this?" he asked eagerly.

"After a night like tonight? Definitely!"

Natsu smiled and stepped up to her level. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."

Lucy nodded. "One last thing before you go!" Before Natsu could ask, she grabbed his cheeks and laid a tender kiss on him. At first, he was stunned by the bold move, but her kiss ignited his soul and he returned it with equal fervor. A few moments of liplock later, they separated to catch their breath

"Wow," Lucy gasped. Natsu laid his forehead against hers smiling in agreement. "Yeah. See ya tomorrow, Luce."

The girl nodded and stumbled her way into her apartment. Natsu waited for a few seconds before jumping down the steps and walking home, a spring in his step.

Meanwhile, Lucy was on cloud nine as she dressed for bed, then falling asleep with a wide smile on her face. She couldn't wait for her next date.

Next Day

Drew was discussing some plans with Mira when he noticed a red headed girl approached them, looking worried. "Excuse me? Have you seen Loke?"

"No, sorry, he hasn't come in yet," Mira told her.

The girl pouted and left the guild. Drew narrowed his eyes. "That’s the fourth girl to have come up asking for Loke. Where _is_ that playboy?"

"If you're looking for him, I'm sad to say he's quit the guild," Makarov explained. This announcement caught everyone off guard. Especially Lucy, who noticed him acting strange the last couple of days.

"Something's not adding up. Why would Loke up and leave like that?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe because you’re so scary, Lucy?" Happy chimed in, only to be met with an offhand backhand by Misty.

"No, it's got to be something else. How could we figure out this mystery?" asked the Water mage.

Lucy thought about this snapped her fingers. "I got a spirit that could help!" She reached down and pulled out a silver key, this one had a blue cross on it.

** "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross: Crux!" **

The familiar chime was heard and a large figure appeared from the magic circle. The spirit was a large metal cross that was as tall as Lucy. It had an aged, grandfatherly face, long orange arms and green cloak.

"At your service," the spirit wheezed.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "He looks like he's about to fall asleep. How can he help?"

Lucy waved it off. "It’s fine, he's always like this. Crux, I need to ask you this: did Loke have a relationship with a Celestial mage before?"

Crux nodded his head and dropped, appearing to nod off. Misty raised her hand to ask something and Lucy anticipated the question. "He's thinking, give it a minute.” Lucy replied.

The spirit snapped to attention. "Ah, I do recall something. He had a relationship with a former Celestial mage, Karen Lilica,” He droned. Sadly, she passed away after a mission gone wrong, years ago,"

Makarov rubbed his chin. "Karen, huh? I remember her from the Blue Pegasus guild. Her grave could be over by their guild hall."

Lucy nodded and after getting directions headed out. Before she got five steps, Misty grabbed her shoulder. "Do you mind if I come with you? Something is giving me a bad vibe."

Lucy nodded and the two girls headed towards Blue Pegasus guild.

Later on

Loke observed the stone grave in front of him., overlooking a cliff that was surrounded by a waterfall. "So I guess this is where it ends? Your stubbornness and pride were the end of both of us." He sighed. "I deserve nothing less; after all, I caused your death, even if indirectly."

"Loke!" His sharp ears heard a familiar voice. He turned to see Lucy and Misty run up to them. "There you are! What the heck is going on? Who the heck is this Karen person?" The blonde asked.

Loke chuckled. "I guess if you're willing to find me, you deserve to know the truth. Karen Lillica was a Celestial Spirit Mage. More importantly, she was my summoner."

"Wait, ‘summoner?’ Don't tell me you're…?" Misty gasped.

"My real name isn't Loke,” the man revealed morbidly, “It's Leo. Leo the Lion. One of the Celestial Zodiac Spirits."

The two girls digested this. "A Celestial Spirit?” Misty asked, “Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're scared of Lucy. For that matter how the heck are you out here without being summoned?"

Loke sighed. "It ties into why I'm here, saying goodbye." At the girl's relaxation of their stances, he began, "Before I came to Fairy Tail, I was contracted to Karen. She was an incredible mage, but the fame of her magical ability went to her head."

He turned back around, grasping his chest. "One day, she was being followed by several suitors. Instead of trying to dissuade them, she summoned another Celestial Spirit, Aries the Ram." He smiled fondly. "She's a sweet girl, but she didn't deserve to be used like a cheap skank. Guild master Bob warned Karen against mistreating her." His face morphed into a scowl. "Instead, she took her anger out on Aries and threatened to keep her in the Real world for a week. That would have _killed_ her. I was furious and intervened by coming through the gate swapping places with her. Karen tried to send me back, but because I came through on my own, she couldn't.And as a result, she couldn't summon any other spirits." He sighed. "I gave her an ultimatum. Treat Aries better, or I would sever all her contracts."

He walked closer to the girls. "After a month, she came back on her knees to plead for my forgiveness. She looked truthful, but then I saw into her eyes and saw the lies behind it and I refused. Instead of backing down, she attacked me, promising more pain for Aries once she killed me."

He turned back to the grave and shakily walked in front of it. "After three months, despite my vitality draining I could stay in this world comfortably. Being the soul I was, I decided to try and forgive Karen. He close his eyes and breathed slowly, the girls noticing it was becoming ragged. "Unfortunately, it was not to be. Karen, despite not being able to summon her spirits, went on a high-ranked mission. And-well," he motioned to the grave, "Even though I didn't cause her death directly, blocking her ability to summon her spirits ended up causing her death. As a result, I was banished for eternity, on the orders of the Celestial King."

Loke turned around solemly. "That's my story. I was responsible for her death. And I deserve to die for it." He gasped in pain and collapsed to the ground, getting the girls to rush over to him. "I'm sorry. When I let Karen die, I had to pay the price! For three years, I've been living on borrowed time. But no matter what I did, I couldn't escape her grasp. Now I get to be free of all that guilt." As he finished, his body began to flicker and break down into particles of light.

Lucy teared up, her face moments from losing all composure. "That's not fair! I have to do something!"

Loke smiled sadly. "It's okay, just tell everyone I'll miss them."

Lucy couldn't stand his fatalistic words and hugged him tightly.. "It's not your fault! If you can go back to the spirit world, you won't have to die! Open, Gate of the Lion!" she screamed, trying to will him back.

Loke watched with stunned eyes. "It's okay-"

"IT’S NOT OKAY! I can't just let my friend disappear like that!"

Just then, a golden circle appeared beneath them and unleashed immense magical energy into the sky, breaking through the clouds. Misty was knocked back by the force. She scrambled to her knees. "Lucy! What the heck are you doing!?"

Lucy didn't hear her as she screamed. "AHHHH! **OPEN, GATE OF THE LION!"**

The golden energy was beginning to mix with the silver energy of her Guardian powers. Loke tried to stop her. "Lucy, if you don't stop, you're going to assimilate with me! You'll disappear too!"

"I don't care! I'm going to save my friend, one way or another! **OPEN, GATE OF THE LION: LOKE! LEOOOOO!!!"**

The magical energy was turning into a hurricane with the two right in the middle. Misty was torn between trying to retreat and trying to hold on. She dug Lugia into the ground to ride out the storm.

Loke tried one more time to reason with her. "Lucy! Let go! I’m not going to have _your_ death on my hands too!

"Karen's death wasn't your fault!” she screamed, “Whoever decided you were responsible needs to know they were wrong!"

Like a switch had been flipped, the storm suddenly died out. Both Loke and Lucy were separated causing his glasses to go flying. It was a momentary respite before the sky began to shift. The three watched as the stars began to swirl as if pulled by an intangible force. The waterfall suddenly was pulled straight up into a black hole. All around them time seemed to stop.

Lucy panicked. "Whoa! What's going on here!?"

Loke however was more astonished. "Impossible, it’s him!"

The black hole disappeared revealing a gargantuan figure. He had large metallic body with multiple stars adorning his legs. He wore a green shirt underneath his crossed arms with a flowing cape behind him. On his head was a golden, star shaped crown over glowing red eyes and a white mustache.

"I-impossible, he's here! The Celestial Spirit King!"

"That's him? He's the king of the spirit world!?" gasped Lucy.

The figure spoke with regal authority. "Hello, my old friend," the King spoke with a authoritative voice, "As you well know, both spirits and mages must follow celestial rules. Taking the life of a key holder is forbidden, under _any_ circumstances. Though not directly by your hands, you still are responsible for your key holder's death, Leo the Lion. Therefore, your punishment is banishment from the Celestial Realm for eternity."

"Now hold on! That doesn't seem fair!" Lucy shouted, "Loke's been suffering for three years in the human world! All because he wanted to protect another one of your Spirits! He didn't kill her! He stood up to her!"

Misty who was watching from far away had to smile at her devotion to her friends. _You really are something if you can stand up to essentially a god. Your title as Guardian is well deserved._

Lucy's words seemed to resonate with the King. "I must say it pains me to see an old friend in such a fragile condition."

The Celestial Guardian was having none of it. "What is wrong with you!? An old friend is still a friend right? You have one right in front of you, who's begging for a second chance! So open your eyes 'Stache Face!"

This got finally got a reaction out of the King. "S-Stache Face…?!"

Behind them, Misty whistled at Lucy's boldness. Loke though was stunned at the brashness. "Um…Lucy?"

The blonde didn’t hear him as she kept up her rant. "Karen took on a job she was unprepared for! Loke was innocent! You have to change the verdict! Please sir!" At the last word, the silver and gold glowing from before came back with a stronger intensity than before.

"Lucy! I'm not worth it! I'm not looking for forgiveness! Just let me disappear and free me from the guilt!"

The blonde clenched her fists as magic flowed out of her body like a tidal wave. "I WON’T LET YOU!" The power output even surprised the Spirit King as he raised an eyebrow. "You disappearing won't bring Karen back. It will only create more sadness! You did nothing wrong!" As she screamed this, Loke, Misty and even the Spirit King were stunned at what she did. The amount of magic she put out had unbelievably summoned all of the spirits she was currently contracted with, all 9 of them. Considering that five were Golden keys like what Loke was, it was an incredible feat.

' _No way! She summoned all of them? Not even Karen could summon more than one or two at once!'_ Loke thought in astonishmentLeo went through."

The valley was silent. The words struck a chord in the King as he had never been talked to like that before. Then he spoke. "I see. Aries speaks highly of you old friend. Perhaps it's not his actions but the law that needs to be changed. Leo the Lion was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake Aries and the blonde human girl was willing to sacrifice for Leo. I am so moved by this, I am willing to make an exception. Leo the Lion you are hearby granted return passage to the celestial world."

Lucy laughed in victory as Loke looked down in shock. The king took notice of Misty. "You, redheaded human girl. You have an energy to you. Wait…are you by chance…a Guardian?"

Misty nodded. "Yes, I am the Water Guardian Mister Spirit King."

The king said nothing and turned to Lucy. "Blonde girl, that silver energy. I should have recognized it. You are a Guardian as well."

Lucy nodded eagerly. "Yes, Stache face, I am! The Metal Guardian to be precise! How would you know about them?"

The Spirit King uncrossed his arms and chuckled. "I've been around since the dawn of this world. When the Guardians came to this world, I was entrusted with something valuable to the Guardian of the Stars. With your level of magic, you could potentially use it. But you’re not ready for it. Grow even stronger and pass the trials before you. When you have passed your final trial, I will grant you this power to aide you in your quest to save the realms! Until then Farewell!" He said as he disappeared into light

Loke was still in shock. "But I have to make it up to her!"

The King heard his request. "Very well. If you seek atonement, then I hereby order you to serve the blonde human girl. Protect your life as she did yours!" With that the king disappeared and time began to resume.

Lucy sighed and turned to him. "You heard him, you’re gonna help me save the world!"

Loke said nothing staring at the grave. For a split-second, he could’ve sworn he could’ve seen the green haired visage of Karen, before it vanished.

They both stood up and turned to each other. "Hey Lucy?" he asked, grasping her hand, "Thank you." With that, he vanished into thin air. Lucy smiled and looked at her hand. Inside it was a golden key with Leo's symbol on it.

"That was something, huh," sighed Misty, getting the blonde's attention, "So, now you have six golden keys and you stood up to a god. Not bad for one day."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. What did he mean by ‘final trial?’"

"If it is what I think it is, you’re clearly not ready yet; not by a long shot. When someone gets it, we’ll explain it then," the redhead told her, "For now, let's head home. I bet a certain dragon slayer misses you."

Lucy blushed but followed her fellow Guardian home. She looked back at the grave and smiled. "Here's to a future partnership, Loke."

The stars seemed to shine brighter as they made their way home.

Lucy grew stronger as a person, both physically and emotionally. With the addition of a new key, she hopes to use her powers to protect Fairy Tail. How will she adapt? Find out next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UO: Wow, not bad for a filler and development.
> 
> NS: Stay tuned for a spin-off story in the not-too-distant future.
> 
> Before anyone gets on my case about the LGBT discussion three things. One, this was 2005 our time, so the LGBT movement hadn’t got the victories it enjoys today. Two, there is some canon evidence that Lucy is not 100% straight. It’s something I’d like to explore for not only Fairy Tail but also the other Riders, ‘cause they’ve been together for a long time by this point. Three, my story, my rules and I happen to support equal rights across the spectrum. It may not be my thing but they are human, so unless they’ve done something to piss me off, I’m cool with them. It helps being around people who are part of the community.
> 
> Preview: Loke's final Earthland gift is a trip to a resort. But Erza's past catches up to her and Team Natsu must save her. All the while keeping a greater disaster from befalling Earthland. What will happen?
> 
> Next Time: The Tower of Heaven


	14. Tower of Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loke's Final gift is a vactation to Akane Resort. But Erza's past catches up to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: Sorry it…took so…Long? (Sees studio destroyed again) NATSU!  
> Natsu: Not me this time!  
> Ash: Wasn't me!  
> Lucy: It was Misty! She was trying to do something with the pool!  
> Misty: You little bitch! I was arguing with Aquarius and she attacked me!  
> Lucy: Don't start with me, ginger!  
> Misty: Oh, that’s it! (Cat fight between the two)  
> May: (Sees Misty and Lucy fight) Oh! Cat fight! Come on Mist, tear that blonde bitch’s clothes off!  
> (A Sword crashes into the wall near her head, not even making her flinch. May turns to see Erza ready for a fight and she pulls out Mori)  
> UO: T-T Why!? (Watches the catfight) The worst part is I don’t know whether to be mad or not.  
> Ash: Um…I'm gonna go…take care of something.  
> Dawn: Want some help? (Giggles at Ash's red face)  
> UO: Someone do the disclaimer before I lose it, please?  
> Anabel: UnitedOsprey1991 does not own, Pokémon, Kamen Rider or Fairy Tail. He only owns the plot, otherwise he would be a billionaire now and the pairings he has would be canon.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy  
_ **Attacks**  
 **Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises**  
 ** _Yelling in head_**

Chapter 14: Tower of Heaven

August 4th X784, 2:00 PM Akane Resort

When we last left Fairy Tail, Lucy and Natsu had gone on their first official date with help little from their friends. In addition, the Metal Guardian had saved their friend Loke, the former Leo the Lion and rescued him from banishment, earning her a new Celestial key. In return, Loke gave her 10 tickets to the Akane Resort, one of the most expensive resorts in Fiore.

We find her along with her team, Ash, Drew, Misty, May and Max on the beach at the resort. Lucy stretched as she basked in the sunlight. She was wearing a white bikini with a pink flower on the right cup and her multi-colored hair tied up in a ponytail. "What a gorgeous day! This is paradise!"

"I can think of something just as gorgeous," Natsu whispered into her ear, wrapping his arms around her stomach. She blushed as the dragon slayer squeezed her close. He was wearing black swim trunks with red flames on the bottom trim.

"Natsu, you're embarrassing me," she giggled.

Ash, who was nearby in his swim trunks rolled his eyes. "Never thought we'd find a couple as rottenly sweet as us," he told the red head beneath his hands. Misty was dressed in a blue bikini with white waves on them, showing off her slender, tanned legs and toned body. The young man had finished putting the sunscreen on the red headed girl, who was merely enjoying his touch.

Misty hummed. "It's still early in theirs, they'll calm down."

"So you'll never calm down?" May teased. She wore a red strapless bikini that hugged her growing breasts and burgeoning hips. She sat on the towel casually with her legs spread, leaning back on her arms. Her pose drew a lot of male attention, but thankfully one look from her boyfriend scared most of them off. Ash finished applying the sunscreen to Misty. "I'm gonna go swim. You coming?"

"Not right now, I want to work on my tan." The water guardian told him. Ash left them to their own devices to join the other boys and Lucy in the water. May looked at her breasts. "You think I'll get bigger?"

"What your breasts?” asked Misty, amused, “May, honey, you haven't stopped growing since puberty hit. I don't think you’re gonna stop until you're at least as big as Lucy."

May looked over at the red head. "Speaking of growing, I could say the same for your hair. Yours are already at that tight little butt. How long do you think you want it?" Indeed, Misty’s bright red hair had grown down to her hips, approaching the top of her pert rear. It had a volume and sheen that wouldn't be possible without her magic. In contrast, May's hair came down to her shoulders blades in two pigtails, and she was willing to make it grow longer.

"What can I say? Mermaids have long hair, and I want to be like that. As for length, maybe even below that.”

May giggled. "And I thought you hated that costume."

Misty sighed. "I did. But when I became the Water Guardian, I felt like the costume could bring me closer to the water. It grew on me and well, I want to wear it again soon."

May smiled at that. "You look like a real mermaid when you _do_ put it on if it’s any consolation." Feeling her body again and digging her feet into the white sand, she pondered something. "You ever think about getting tattoos?

The red head raised an eyebrow. "Hm? You mean marking up your beautiful body? Kind of. Why? What kind do you want?"

"I was thinking maybe some long vines up and down my legs. Flowers somewhere like my breasts. Something that when I'm strutting around in my normal swimwear I can be proud of."

"You mean in your underwear?" Misty teased. Indeed, May's swimwear normally consisted of whatever she wore underneath. She had normal swimsuits, but considering she rarely wore clothes when she was at home, she’d picked up a habit of skinny dipping. Thankfully for her parents, she only did it at home.

The brunette shrugged. Misty sat up and crawled over to the brunette's towel. "You know, that isn't such a bad idea. But why stop at your legs?" She asked getting the girl to look up. "The way I see it, your tattoo could extend up your legs," she began tracing her hands up the slender, yet muscular thighs. May's breathing grew heavy as the red head pushed her gently down onto the towel, "Around your hips and up your spine." She reached over to her arms. "While another tattoo would start at your hand with a budding flower and travel up to your shoulders before travelling down your collarbone and turning into the flowers on your breasts." She smirked at the brunette's reaction, the Wood mage shuddering in near-orgasm. "Your beautiful skin turning into gorgeous flowers and turning you into a walking painting. Now that I think about it, that sounds perfect!" the Water Guardian purred. "Of course, tattoos are permanent and your parents will probably have a panic attack at how much you want covered. But it’s your body, at the end of the day."

Misty removed her hand and watched with glee at May’s red face as she calmed down. The brunette looked up and smirked. "What I _really_ want right now is to rip off this swimsuit and jump in the water!"

"Now, now, we agreed; no free show for anyone not named Ash Ketchum," Misty taunted playfully. She helped her girlfriend up and headed towards the water before diving into the depths. The brunette following her leaping in after. Shortly after that, Ash, sensing the two girls, ran back onto shore to grab their rebreathers and dove back in to explore with them.

Lucy watched the proceedings with a smile while she treaded water. She’d seen them in less before, but with her emotions the way they were at the moment, she couldn't help but marvel at their powerful, yet slender forms. In the last two nights since she’d had her sexuality discussion, she actively struggled with whether or not she liked girls. She was clearly straight, her heart melting whenever Natsu got close to her was proof. But there was something about Misty and May and how attractive they were without even trying. Then her thoughts strayed to her female teammate and suddenly her heart started to pound like crazy, her face flushing a bright red.

"Something wrong, Lucy?" Natsu's voice startled her.

"Natsu, don't do that!" She yelled, slapping his shoulder.

"Sorry! Your face was getting red. You hot or something?"

"I _am_ hot, but not because of the weather. No, I was just thinking."

"You're a weirdo Luce," he said, grinning, before whispering, "But you’re _my_ weirdo," leaning in to kiss her cheek and wrap his arms around her stomach. He leaned back onto the water, taking Lucy with her as they drifted in the sea.

The pink-dyed blonde blissfully snuggled into his chest, the waves gently rocking her. "This is nice,” she said gently.

"Yeah," murmured the dragon slayer, surprisingly calm.

Lucy watched him with a smile on her face. "Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever…think of other girls?" She asked hesitantly.

"Like what?" he asked honestly, cocking his head.

"Um…like you think of me?" she asked unsure, "Y-you can be honest, I won’t get mad!"

Natsu looked up at the sky, frowning to himself. "Um...Yeah, I guess so. Hard not to with the girls in the guild. But…Erza and Mira, I don't know why, but I think about them like I do with you. Is that weird?

Lucy blushed. "No, but, thanks for the honesty. I just wanted to know." Inside, she mentally cheered that Natsu would be open to potentially sharing.

"But if any girl gets with me, they’ve got to go through you if they want to share me,” he growled huskily, capturing a kiss from the giggling girl's lips.

"Hey you two, how's it going?" Drew called out. The couple separated to see him and Max swimming up to them.

"We're doing great! Where is everyone?" Natsu asked.

"Well Misty's diving, so she's gonna be underwater for a while, probably with May and Ash. Grey’s trying to find his trunks and Erza” the Guardian scratched his brain. “…actually, where is she?"

Max wiped his hair getting the salt water into his hair. "I think she said she was feeling tired and wanted to lie down. She said she would join use for dinner and the casino later."

Lucy frowned. "That's…not like her. I hope she's okay."

"It could be she’s still tired from the trip. Jet lag is a common phenomenon where we come from, due to the fact that we have time zones,” Drew explained, “The larger the time difference, the bigger the jet lag.”

At the word ‘jet,’ Natsu groaned. "Transports are the devil."

"Get used to it Natsu, our world is huge. You might not have motion sickness patches all the time," Drew warned him.

The dragon slayer sighed, while Lucy giggled as his misfortune. Drew glanced over at Max, who nodded with an evil grin. Simultaneously, they both splashed water on the couple. The two sputtered as ocean water got into their mouths. Spitting it out, Natsu grinned. "Oh, it is _so_ on!" They began to chase after the two boys, the troublemakers laughing like loons.

Meanwhile in the girl's room at the resort, Erza sighed, seated on a _very_ comfortable queen size bed in her black bikini. "Today was fun, but I guess the trip wore me out more than I thought." She looked outside to see the resort bustling with life. "Maybe a quick nap will get my energy back." She laid under the covers and closed her eyes, sleep coming surprisingly quick.

(Play Baten Kaitos: To the Garden of the Moon Butterflies in the Moonless Night)

She blinked her eyes open, thinking she would be out on the beach, or even back in her room. Instead she found herself, not at the resort, but in a large, open plain, wearing her white blouse and skirt. To her right was a large mountain, covered in black clouds.

"What…is this?" she asked in confusion at the open terrain. She heard a strange cry, like a high pitched whistle. Looking up, she saw a large bird with brown feathers and a white head circling above them. Hearing some giggling, she turned to find the source and saw a silver-haired beauty in front of her who stood still as the wind passed through her clothes.

"You feel the wind?" asked the woman. Indeed, the wind picked up and blew across the plains. It gently caressed her and even blew into her hair, causing a pleasing tickling sensation. The girl continued. "The plains, the wind. This…is what freedom is about." She opened her eyes and turned to the red headed knight. "I've been waiting for you, Titania Erza Scarlet."

Erza’s first instinct was to reach for a weapon, but the girl's smile made her hesitate. "W-who are you? Why do I feel this power from you?"

The woman curtsied. "My apologies. My name is Tsukihime, princess of a fallen kingdom. And you, Ms. Scarlet are one of my knights. More importantly, a knight that serves your friends, Prince Natsu Dragneel and Princess Lucy Heartfillia."

"The Rider belts. You're making me into a Kamen Rider?" asked Erza in realization.

"More than a Rider, a hero to peoples across the multiverse," Tsuki enthusiastically said, the bird chirping again. Both looked up to see the bird circling above them, whereupon Tsuki held up a large, thick leather glove. "Here, put this on." Confused, Erza did so. "Now hold up your hand." Erza hesitantly held out her hand, whereupon the bird made one more turn and dove down to land on the glove, startling her. Calming down from the sudden dive, she saw that for a bird of its size, it was surprisingly light.

"What is this?" asked the redhead. She reached up to pet its head, getting a pleased chirp out of it

"His name is Aquila. He is an eagle, specifically a bald eagle,” said Tsuki lowly, “Many civilizations use the eagle as a symbol of freedom and power. The bald eagle in particular is an emblem of Drew, Tori and Gabby's home country." Erza giggled at the bird nuzzling the normally strong headed girl.

Erza smiled at Aquila. "It's beautiful."

"Yes. To think this bird was almost wiped out due to mankind's ignorance. But thanks to great effort, these wonderful birds are free to fly the skies again.

"What do you mean, almost wiped out?" Erza asked curiously.

The princess frowned as she moved her hand away. "That's for another time," Tsuki told her, "Tell me though, why are you burdened by the past?"

The redhead looked away. "I…I was a slave,” she admitted quietly, “Taken from my home and kept in a cell, made to build a tower for some dark god. I broke free, but the friends I made there…they betrayed me." She put a hand to her right eye. "My eye is a reminder of the torture I endured there.”

Tsuki hummed. "I see. Tell me do you know what those storm clouds represent?" She waved at the clouds in the distance.

Erza gazed at them, biting her lip. "Are they…my nightmares?"

"Yes. The storm was quite strong, but I pierced through it and pushed it back.” She turned to face Erza. "There may be dark clouds right now, but given enough time, the light will shine upon it like truth through the darkness. I can feel it; the time to face your past is soon. I will give you the tools to confront your past, for the sake of the future." She raised her hand to allow Aquila to jump onto her hand, the talons not hurting her in the slightest. She waved her hand, causing the bird to glow and shrink. When the glow died down, the bird had morphed into a bronze bracelet with a large opening along one side.

"This is your transformation device,” she said, speaking in a distant voice, “When it comes time to awaken your powers, you'll find that your magic resonates well with it." she finished as she began to disappear.

Erza reached out to stop her. "How will I know?"

"When it's time, you will know." With the last sentence, Tsuki glowed brightly. Erza winced and covered her eyes as the light blinded her…

(End song)

When her vision cleared she found herself back in her room. She groaned and rubbed her head. Feeling something metallic on her forehead, she looked at her hand and was astonished to see the bracelet from her dream.

"Huh…so that girl was real." She heard an eagle chirp issue from the bronze jewelry as she sat up. The sun was setting, casting the room in an orange glow. Rolling off the bed, she began to stroll to the bathroom when she caught a mirror.

"I'm normally not this open," she muttered, requipping back into her armor. As she did, she drifted back to her memories, things she that would like to forget. She subconsciously clenched her fists and started to summon her swords. "Jellal," she growled lowly.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her memories. "Erza? Can I come in?" Lucy called through the door.

Erza took a deep breath and shook herself. "…Yeah. Come in."

The pink-blonde open the door and entered. She wore a wine-red dress that hugged her body nicely, showing a tasteful amount of cleavage. Her shiny hair was combined and fixed into a bun. "What are you doing dressed in your armor? I thought we were going to the casino?"

She sighed. "Sorry, I just feel…safer in this. I never take it off unless I'm sleeping."

The younger mage frowned and walked towards her. "You know, I talked to Gabby about Drew and his attitude. She said that behind closed doors, we don't have to hide our true selves." She looked at the redhead. "Drew has a façade he likes to put up around us, but according to her, away from everyone, he's a completely different person." She took Erza's hand. "I'm saying, when it's just us, you don't have to be so defensive."

Erza smiled, enjoying the contact. "Thank you, Lucy. Can you step back?" The celestial mage nodded, retreating a few steps. Taking a breath Erza glowed, her armor vanishing. When it faded, she was wearing a purple, backless dress with elbow length cream colored gloves and her hair tied in a bun. The bi-color-haired girl watched Erza transform and blushed at how beautiful she looked. Internally, she made a decision. After the mission, she would talk to the other girls about these feelings for Erza and hopefully she and Natsu could come to an agreement about her. For now though, Lucy marveled at how a powerful mage like her could be so ladylike.

"It's been awhile since I dressed like this.” she said softly, posing in a mirror, “It's nice,"

"You should dress like that more often," Lucy blurted out.

Erza looked curiously at the celestial mage, who squeaked at the confession and covered her mouth. She smiled and leaned towards the trembling girl. "Now, Lucy. What would Natsu think of you hitting on another girl?" she teased, lifting the girl's chin. Her face softened, calming the celestial mage. "You look pretty yourself."

"T-thank you," Lucy stuttered, feeling a bit hot as the mature woman caressed her.

Erza stepped away and headed to the door. "You coming? We're gonna knock your boyfriend's socks off,” she called over her shoulder

Lucy recovered her wits. "Right, let's have some fun!"

The two girls walked down the hall into the casino. It was large, considering the size of the resort with multiple games and bars scattered throughout room. To the three Riders from Earth, it reminded them of Las Vegas Casinos, with tables for blackjack, roulette and other magic games that filled the hall. At one of the tables, Natsu growled as he saw another card added to his hand that went over the limit.

"AGAIN!?” he groaned, “Come on!"

"Relax, it's all about knowing your cards and the dealers." Drew told him with a chilled expression. He was dressed in a blue shirt and black pants. He looked and saw that his hand was 15, a nine and a six He saw the dealer had an 8 and quickly tapped the table. The dealer dealt and he got a six. Drew laughed. "That's 21, another victory." He took some more chips for his stack. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed a security guard that looked like someone from the mafia arrived as Natsu got angry. The odd thing was that he looked like some sort of Lego character.

"How are you so good?" asked Happy, watching him stack up more chips with wide eyes.

"Just a little luck and a little knowledge of the game," he said as he kept an eye on the man approaching while glancing over at the roulette table. He saw Ash cheering and kissing Misty and May on the cheek. The redhead wore a one strap silvery blue dress that was cut to show off her long legs. The brunette's dress was dark green and of similar length. The low cut of her neckline emphasized her cleavage, while on hands were matching elbow length gloves. Ash was in a white dress shirt and black pants. In front of them was a large stack of chips, the Aura guardian being extremely lucky with his choices on the wheel.

"You two girls are my good luck charms you know that?" He whispered getting them to giggle. Ash noticed the dealer at Erza and Lucy's table had changed and frowned as while the man was smiling, there was something hidden in the smile.

Over at the bar, Grey was sitting down and having a drink, currently dressed in a red shirt and black pants.

"Tch, flame brain is getting worked up over something stupid," he said taking a sip of his drink.

"Hello, Grey." The ice mage turned and to his surprise he saw a familiar face. She was dressed in a long blue dress that was split in the center to show a gold necklace of the Fairy Tail logo between her cleavage. Her hair was combed and curled up on the sides. Her eyes glistened passively in the bright lights.

"Juvia? What are you doing here?"

The blue haired mage blushed. "Juvia heard you were coming to the resort and thought to come and see you."

Grey motioned to the seat in front of him. "So how's life treating you since, you know, Phantom Lord disbanded?"

"Juvia's been fine. Juvia asked Master Makarov if he would let her join your guild. Juvia hopes he says yes."

"He already got Gajeel, I'm sure you can fit in."

Juvia blushed and hugged the ice mage's arm. Instead of trying to push her away, Grey patted her well done hair. Behind them, a large man with a metal mask, an eye patch and turban approached them and gathered his magic. The ice mage felt something off in the air, almost sinister. "...Juvia,” he said slowly, “When I say get down, do it."

The blue haired mage didn't question it and loosened her grip.

Over with Natsu, the man Drew was keeping an eye on the usher as he approached the dragon slayer. "Sir, my name is Wally. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave quietly."

"Hell no! This game is rigged and I wanna see the manager!"

The guy chuckled sinisterly. "Now now, I suggest you don’t make a scene," His arm glowed turning into a large rifle and pointed it at Natsu. "Otherwise, it's gonna get really ugly." He got ready to fire, when he heard another click, which made him pause in confusion.

He turned his block head curiously, to see Drew with his revolver aimed at his back. "Now, can't we handle this like gentlemen?" he taunted.

Before Wally could say something, a large explosion ripped through the bar area, sending rubble flying in all directions and sending patrons screaming. The distraction was long enough for Wally to blast Natsu back and elbow Drew in the stomach. He dashed over to the card table where Lucy, Erza and Max were.

Moments prior Max cheered as Erza won another hand. The dealer had swapped out for a blonde man who proceeded to deal the cards. They weren't normal cards. They had the letters, D, E, A, T and H. The young Rider saw this and gasped, looking at the dealer. The man ignored him and smiled at Erza. "It's been a long time, big sister."

Erza looked up in confusion and spotted a familiar of head of blond hair. "Sho…?"Before she could react, Lucy screamed. They turned to see a brown haired woman in a yellow jacket, pink shirt and white leggings with cat ear-shaped hair had captured the blonde mage in a pink rope. "Millianna!? What the hell is going on, why are you all here!?" she demanded.

Wally up to Sho, silently taking his place at his side. "It's time you came home, Erza!" said the blond.

Over at the bar, the explosion had reduced it to splinters and sent everyone screaming. Grey immediately went on the offensive against the large man, coalescing and firing off two large ice spears at him. The metal jawed man tanked the shots like they were nothing, even wiping off the excess frost that stayed behind.

Before he could speak, his buzzed with a message from his allies. " _Simon! We got Erza! Let's get out of here!"_ Sho told him in his mind.

The now named Simon nodded and gathered up energy around his face. **"Dark Moment!"** he rumbled.

Instantly all light in the room vanished, cloaking it in pitch black darkness.

Drew saw the lights disappear and cursed. "Guys get a read on them! They got Erza!"

Ash tried to concentrate with all of the anarchy around them. He finally spotted five large Aura signatures like beacons running away from the room. "There! By the back entrance! But there are too many civilians between us and them!"

"Alright, cover your eyes!" Drew gathered energy into his hands, thrust them into the air and spread his fingertips across his forehead, much like a move he remembered seeing on TV. **"SOLAR FLARE!”**

Instantly, bright light flooded the room, dispelling the darkness. What they saw shocked them: Most of the patrons had been turned into cards and dropped to the floor. In addition, Lucy was struggling in her bindings, due to Millianna bending her backwards, almost touching the floor. Max was quick to free her using his sais as everyone met back up after making their way through the debris

"Dammit, they got away with Erza!" snarled Ash.

May grabbed her boyfriend’s shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get her back, don't worry."

"What's worrying is that Erza knew these people.” Misty pondered. “What could have happened that turned them against her?"

"Or vice versa," added Drew.

As they discussed their plans, Max looked around noticing a familiar flying cat was missing. "Uh…where's Happy?"

This innocent question was enough roused Natsu’s ire. "WHAT!? Not only do I get shot in the face, but they took Happy!? ARRRAGGHHH!" He unleashed a torrent of flames that surprisingly didn't set off the extinguishers.

Drew rubbed his head and looked at Ash. "You got their signatures pinged?" At the Aura user's nod, he turned back. "Alright, get changed and get back down here in 20 minutes. Let's go People!" Everyone nodded and sprinted back to their room.

At the Tower of Heaven

A black-haired man in a rocker jacket approached a blue haired man wearing a dark purple muscle shirt and blue pants. "Lord Jellal, we have captured Ms. Erza Scarlet and are bringing her here."

Jellal grinned. "Excellent, it's coming full circle. Eight years since her betrayal and now she's all ready to see the fruits of our labor."

"Sir, not to question you, but why haven't you killed her yet?"

Jellal sat up on his crystal throne, though his expression only changed minutely. "Because, Viadelus, the world would be _so_ boring without her,” he replied without elaboration, “But, now that the Tower of Heaven is complete, we have the perfect sacrifice. She's being delivered to us as we speak."

On a large boat on approach to the Tower of Heaven. Erza woke up slowly. She sat up, holding her head groggily, and noticed that she was wrapped up in a strong magic binding rope. and still in the same dress as the previous night.

"So, you're awake, sister." The redhead jumped and looked up to see Sho walk up to her prison cell, looking happy to see here.

She tried to break free. After a few moments of struggling, she looked up to her old friend, pleadingly, “Can I be released? Or at least put on my armor? I feel uncomfortable like this. I won't resist."

The blond approached her, shaking his head with regret. "No can do, sister. If I let you have any concession, you're going to escape." He knelt down to hug her, not noticing how she glanced uncomfortably to the side. "I'm sorry to do this, sister, but in order to create a better world, you have an important role to play." He released the hug, eyes wide with sincerity. "Now I want to ask something that's been bothering me." At Erza's nod, he continued. "Why did you betray Jellal eight years ago?"

The redhead shook her head, face sharpening in an angry scowl. "I don't know what lies he told you, but I wasn't the one betraying you all! He was the one who betrayed me! He nearly killed me!"

Sho growled at her defiance. "You're lying! You have to be!” he screamed, “Forget this! We'll be at the Tower soon. You remember that, don't you!?" He stomped out.

Erza closed her eyes. "Every night, for the last eight years,” she answered the empty room in a whisper, “What in the world… _happened_ to you all?"

On a boat the next day

Natsu moaned as the small boat pushed through the water. They picked up the trail of Erza's kidnappers but they had long left the shore and headed out to sea. In the morning they found a boat that would take them to Tower. The dragon slayer's nose would have been helpful at the moment, but his motion sickness made him worthless. Fortunately, Ash's Aura sense was still able to pick up the large trail even at the length of time it's taken to track the kidnappers down.

"So what do you think they need Erza for?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. But I doubt it's good. They could have gone after anyone of us. Why Erza?" wondered Drew.

"I think it's because they knew her," Max chimed in, earning stares from everyone, "She called one of the kidnappers ‘Sho’ and the girl ‘Millianna.’ Could it be something from her past?"

The boat rocked in silence, save for Natsu's moaning.

"I think I might have a clue,” May revealed. "It’s not exactly doctor-patient confidentiality, but Brock said something to Dawn when he examined Erza after the sparring match. She revealed it to me, because she was worried about Erza’s future health; her right eye's a fake."

This made everyone pause. They knew Erza hid a lot from everyone, but to hide an injury like that came out of left field. every Ash was the first to recover. "For her to get that kind of injury, she would have had to go through something traumatic."

"Considering her age and unknown parentage, I can only think of one thing that could have caused it," Drew realized, "She was in a situation where dismemberment could have been a punishment. Which means…"

"Slavery. Erza was a child slave," Lucy finished, her eyes wide in horror.

"The people that kidnapped her, what if they were children too and she found a way to escape?" Grey hypothesized.

Before any more revelations could be made, May gasped in horror. "Oh my god!" she whispered. They turned in the direction she was facing and shared her sentiments. Dead birds floated on the ocean surface, choking the surface. Some even falling right out of the sky. Wood from ships unknown scattered across the ocean surface, as if destroyed by a massive explosion "Those…those are council ships," Grey pointed out, brow furrowed with worry, "What the heck could have caused this?"

Max and Drew shook their heads at his inquiry. They knew that even their smallest warships could decimate wooden ships; it had been that way for over 150 years. But even the captains on those ships would have a bit more restraint. Pikachu cried out, drawing their attention and making everyone look over the bow. On the horizon was a large blue crystalline tower that stretched into the sky.

"That's where the Aura trail leads,” Ash pointed out, “But if they can take out large galleons from this distance, what good would a dinghy do?"

"I don't know, but we're sitting ducks at the moment!" Drew said. They immediately ducked and covered their heads as they thought of ways to avoid detection.

"Juvia can help!" the blue haired mage offered, holding up her hands, **"Water Shield!"** A dome of water rose up from the ocean to cover the boat, camouflaging them.

"That should keep us covered, but we need a way in," Max told them, "Landing like this will be suicide. And I doubt going airborne will be much better."

Ash perked up. "What about underwater? Misty, can you find an entrance?"

The redhead nodded and leaned over the boat to place her hand on the water. Juvia looked curiously as the bikini-clad girl leaned over the side. "What is Misty doing?"

"We use the power of Aura to power our attacks. Some of us do well in certain areas over others," Ash explained, "Misty has control power over water. Her control over it so great, that she can send her Aura into it and detect things unseen to us on the surface."

Misty heard her boyfriend, but ignored him as she took a deep breath and concentrated, her eyes turning an ocean blue. All color vanished, her hand sending out a faint pulse from the contact. She increased her power, releasing a large sonar wave to spread from their boat. A few seconds later, the wave made contact with the Tower. The sonar pulse back, revealing a large opening under the water. A couple more pulses confirmed her findings and then relaxed her concentration, her eyes returning to normal.

"Got it! There’s an entrance underwater. We can get there, but we need a way to breath. I have a few rebreathers but not enough to cover us all."

Juvia had been surprised that someone’s magic could be used like that. She wondered if she could do the same with her Magic. At the red head’s inquiry she immediately raised her hand. "Juvia can create air pockets for us. Will that be enough?"

The redhead smiled encouragingly. "Thanks, Juvia! Now we got to decide who gets the breathers. I can hold my breath for that long, so I’ll give one to someone else. I can help with the air bubbles, but I need to be in front to find the entrance." A brief conversation ensued and in the end, Max, Drew and Lucy got the breathers and Juvia was to cover everyone else. With a splash, they entered the water, ready to rescue one of their own.

Era

Meanwhile hundreds of miles away, the Magic council was locked in a furious debate.

"This R-system cannot be allowed to finish!" One of the councilors shouted.

"This is the 8th time such a system has been implemented. What can we _do_ to deter such blasphemy!?"

"The incident at Akane Resort, it was caused by those cultists. We must punish them swiftly!”

As the council descended into anarchy, Siegrain chuckled. "Ladies, Gentlemen. This is _not_ just the R-system." When they quieted down, he continued. "It is called the Tower of Heaven. And I agree that the tower must be destroyed. My…” a shadow passed over his face, “My twin brother's plans must be stopped."

The council went silent as they processed this. Siegrain was willing to destroy his twin brother to make sure the R-system wasn't used.

"What do you propose, Siegrain?" A long bearded man to his right asked.

"Simple, Org: we activate the Etherion cannon."

The council gasped. Before any argument could ensue, Ultear spoke up. "I second that motion. We need to destroy this before it's used for anything dark.

As a third member voiced his support, the dark-haired woman shot Siegrain a look.

Ocean underneath the Tower

The Rescue team swam towards their destination, Misty leading the pack. Behind her, May and Ash appreciated the view of her lithe form slicing through the water, while they breathed in their air pockets. Next to them, Juvia propelled herself through the water using her own magic. Around them, the others were in their own air pockets or in the case of Max, Drew and Lucy, using the rebreathers. Even though the mission was serious, they couldn't help but admire how clear the water was.

Approaching the entrance, they swam in undetected through the cavern. A few moments later they found an air pocket. Misty held up her hand to get them to stop, sending out another pulse, and found three guards patrolling the shoreline. She held up three fingers to signal such. Drew, seeing this, pointed at Max and May to move up to the redhead. Misty pulled out her trident while the siblings pulled out their weapons. She built up pressure behind the three, intending to launch them into the platform.

At a given signal, they launched out of the water at their targets. Before they could react, the three Riders stabbed them in the neck. They landed in the disappearing dust with a flourish as they scanned the room for other guards. Finding none, Misty gave a thumbs up, signaling everyone else to come up. They all climbed out onto the crystalline shore, shaking off the excess water.

"Stand around me, I'm gonna dry us off," Drew ordered clapping his hands. A wave of heat emanated from him and burst through the group, evaporating the water without damaging their clothes.

"So, now what? Is there a way out of here?" asked Natsu.

Before they could debate this, a door leading inside opened. Drew sighed. "They know we're here. Be on your guard.'

The Riders moved their hands to their weapons, cautiously advancing up the stairs.

Higher in the tower, Sho had taken Erza from the boat and moved her to a cell. Erza shivered. She remembered this place. It was there where she and many of her old friends had been held captive. She remembered what happened in that very cell: they had planned a way to escape and the guards found out. They had demanded the planner. Sho had been the one to come up with the plan, but Jellal tried to take the fall. The guards weren't convinced and ultimately, Erza was the one taken for punishment, resulting in her right eye gouged out. She reached up to her face and felt phantom pain where her real eye used to be and flinched.

"I'm sorry I didn't speak up when they asked for who planned our escape. But now you're here. Ready to be a sacrifice for our lord Zeref and our ascent into heaven!" Sho gushed. Unbeknownst to him in his delusions, Erza had cut through the ropes and freed herself. In an instant, she elbowed the blond man, making him gasp for breath, then grabbed his head and slammed it into the cell wall, knocking him out.

"I have to thank Drew for the starting tips on hand to hand fighting," she mumbled. Summoning a sword, she turned serious. "Now, I know what I have to do. Jellal must fall, to atone for my cowardice." She marched through the hall with a purpose, looking for her former friend.

Meanwhile, her current friends were climbing the stairs from their underwater entrance. Their weapons were out, poised to fight whatever welcoming party was awaiting them. After climbing the long stairs, they entered a large open room with a long table in front. On the table was various meats and fruits along with other drinks.

"You think this is a trap?" Misty asked as May and Ash tried to compose themselves over the food.

"Even it isn't, whoever runs this place knows we're here. Ash!" Drew barked snapping the Aura master's attention to him. "Pikachu can sniff out poisons, right?" Ash nodded. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and scurried to the table sniffing the food. A few tense moments later, the mouse gave a happy squeal, indicating an all-clear. This got the group to relax somewhat and approached the table, May, Ash and Natsu already digging in.

Misty sighed as she sat between her two partners, grabbing some fish. "You two would put a buffet out of business."

May swallowed the bread bite. "Oh, don't be like that. _Your_ appetite has skyrocketed in the last few months."

"Do you _know_ how much swimming takes out of you?" Misty fired back, "I _need_ the calories for swim team and keeping up with everyone. I don't even know where you put yours, honey," she teased, poking the exposed tops of her the brunette’s breasts.

"Well, whatever you do certainly has a lot of benefits," May teased sensually, making the swimmer giggle.

Ash shook his head, snorting. Even in a combat situation, those two would find a way to flirt with each other. He turned to Drew, who was cautiously eating his food. "Wonder why they let us get this far?"

"I think this is turning out to be like that movie with the puppet. Only thing missing is something related to our sins," Drew grumbled, "Though with you, I can easily see food being part of the trap."

Before Ash could respond, footsteps echoed through the chamber. Everyone jumped out of their seats to see a group of guards approach them. Before they could attack, they suddenly screamed in pain and fell, struck from behind by several swords. As guards fell forward, they looked to see Erza walking down the stairs without a scratch.

"Erza!" shouted everyone.

"You’re alive!" Natsu cheered.

"Thank goodness, are you okay?" Lucy asked concerned.

"What do these nutjobs want with you?" Grey demanded.

Erza smiled briefly at the concern her team showed. The smile quickly vanished as she answered the questions. "I'm okay, at least compared to the last time I was here. As for what they want with me…they want me to resurrect Zeref."

This quieted everyone. “If this is about taking down a dark god, then we need to wreck this place ASA- NOW!” Drew ordered.

Erza nodded. “I agree. That’s why I must neutralize Jellal. Alone!" she told them with authority.

This got protests, none louder than Natsu. "Screw that, Erza! We came to save you and we're gonna take this tower down whether you want to or not. And it's gonna start with us rescuing Happy!" Before anyone could stop him, he charged off in a random direction.

Drew sighed. "Max?"

Max groaned, already following the dragon slayer. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get him. God, I did _not_ sign up to be a babysitter for such a knucklehead!"

"Hey, he's my knucklehead! Er, that aside, just get him back here!" snapped Lucy. Erza opened her mouth, to say something to defend the dragon slayer, but she didn't want to get the blonde mad at her and the situation was more important at the moment. The Fire Guardian turned back to the armored mage. "What is the deal here? You got a history or something? Either way, we ain't leaving!"

Erza sighed. "Very well. Perhaps, it’s time I tell you my past." She took a seat and held her head, gathering her wits. A tender hand on her leg made her glance at Lucy who smiled and nodded.

"Alright. To the begin with, this tower was built by cultists for Zeref, 8 years ago. It was a Revival system made to resurrect the Dark Mage Zeref. What you must realize it was built by slave labor. Men, women, children, it didn't matter. I was one of the many children kidnapped from my village. Sho, Wally, even Simon were taken from their families and put to work like dogs."

She looked up. "During our captivity, we met and befriended Jellal. He was the one who gave me my last name, Scarlet, because of my red hair." She smiled at the memories, then frowned. "Over time, we planned our escape. We wanted to fly away from the tower and be free like the birds. We met a man named Rob, a Fairy Tail mage they captured. He was the one who taught us about magic; he told me that if we had magic, we could do amazing things, like break free from our prison."

She closed her eyes. "One day, the guards found out about our break out. They singled me out and I was tortured. I…I lost my right eye, then. Jellal fought his way through the guards and freed me. He had been talking about fighting back, that we should rise up against our captors. But, before he could start the revolt, we got captured and separated. I was taken back to the cell, while Jellal took my place. I knew right then that we needed to rise up, to save Jellal. But, I don’t know what, _something_ happened during his torture that… _changed_ him."

She sighed, looking away. "While we thought about going after Jellal, the Magic Troops in the tower started attacking us. They went after me, just blasting away, and I thought that was it for me. But Rob, the man who gave us hope, stepped in and took the blow for me. With the last bit of his magic, he managed to drive them back, then collapsed and…and died. All that stuff he said about magic… he said that it came from the heart, and that my heart yearned for freedom. When he died, I let lose the anger and pain that I had in me and unlocked my magic. I let it loose, taking down whoever I found using their own weapons. I didn't care who got in my way, I _needed_ to find Jellal!"

Erza stood up and began to slowly walk around the table, restless and agitated. "When I got there, Jellal was sitting there with a bloody knife, the guards around him in chunks on the floor. I figured he’d be all ready to leave, but he refused! _He_ wanted to resurrect Zeref now, saying that it was the only way to freedom. He offered me the chance to rule with him, together in some new world, but I refused. Told him it was crazy." She shook her head. "Jellal told me to leave, but that if I told _anyone_ about the Tower, he would kill me. Before I could stop him, I was…sent away. The next thing I knew I was on a beach, alone.”

She looked back at the group. "That's my story. I _must_ end Jellal before Zeref is resurrected. We've seen what Zeref's magic can do with Lullaby and Deloria. He can't be revived to ruin the world again."

"We won't, but you're _not_ doing this alone!" Ash declared, jumping out of his seat.

"Erza, we've already seen you put yourself on the line for the guild,” May told her. And now you're looking at fighting a possible mad man that can resurrect your version of the devil? By yourself? You must be mad!"

"We’re not leaving you," Lucy said.

The knight watched as the others agreed. She slowly smiled, realizing that her friends wouldn’t run from whatever danger lay in the tower. "Thank you," she murmured, bowing her head. Then she frowned. But...I still don't get it… _why_ are my friends working with Jellal on such a system?"

"Indoctrination," Drew offered, "When a dictator or cultist has such power over a group or country, they develop a cult of personality over their people. It can get to the point of the group actually worshipping their leader.” He shook his head in pity. “It’s actually scary how one man can hold so much power. It’s why our country’s power system is supposed to be split three ways."

Before Erza could reply, a familiar voice cut through the hall. "You want to know the truth about why we follow Jellal?" Sho's voice called out descending down the stairs in a rage. He pointed his finger at her. _"You,_ my dear sister, blew up the prison ships and abandoned us. How could you, sister!?"

"That's enough Sho," a deeper voice told him. Everyone turned to see a large man appear from the other direction. He regarded Erza fondly. "It's been awhile since we talked on good terms, Erza." He turned back to Sho, his metal jaw doing little to hide the fact that his expression was that of exasperation. "Sho, just the fact that you even had to ask that shows that Jellal's story is full of lies. That, or you’re an idiot. I knew the story was fake for a very long time. Erza's story is more believable than his garbage. That's why I intentionally missed my shot against the two mages at the bar. I needed them to follow us.

Sho collapsed to the floor in shock. "But…what, I can't believe…I hated Erza all these years over a lie…? What do I do?" he stammered. He dropped to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

Moved by his change of heart, Erza walked over and knelt down to hug the crying man. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, Sho. But now that I’m here, I can stop this madness.”

Sho said nothing, desperately hugging her back as he wept. Simon turned back to the Riders. "I know you may not trust me fully, so I will tell you this. I intentionally allowed you to follow us. I needed strong mages to defeat Jellal. Will you help me?"

"We just got here, so we're not leaving so easily!" Ash declared. The others shared his enthusiasm.

Simon closed his visible eye. "Good. Come on, I can lead you through the traps."

"Um, shouldn't we wait for Natsu and Max?" Lucy asked.

"They'll be fine, though they might need back up. Grey go find them."

The ice mage grumbled but left the room to search for his frenemy.

Simon led the group up the stairs. As they ran, May had a question. "Why attack Grey and Juvia?"

"They weren't who I wanted to attack," Simon admitted, "I’d intended to strike Natsu. His dragon slayer magic is key to taking down Jellal. My apologies for not thinking everyone else here was strong."

"It's fine!" Drew told him. "We can take down whatever he throws at us!"

Simon hummed. "I’ll believe it when I see it. Come on, we need to hurry!" He said as they picked up the pace.

Meanwhile, Natsu frantically tore through everything in his path to find his flying cat. As he ran, his nose picked up a strong whiff of Happy, making him turn happily. The scent was coming from a door to his right. He broke down the door to the room and looked around. It was like a shrine to cats: cat toys, stuffed cats, even posters of various felines adorned the room.

"Man, whoever lives here _really_ loves cats! Where the heck is Happy?" He scanned the room and saw a giant green cat head. He grinned, crept over and placed it over his head, giggling the whole time. "Hehehe, this’ll be great for pranks!" He sneezed. "Agh! Aw, man, it's in my helmet and I can't rub it off. Guess it's time to get rid of this.” He tried to pull the head off, only succeeding in hurting his neck. "Oh come on, it’s stuck? This blows!”

It was to the scene of the dragon slayer struggling that Max happened to find him. Max groaned. "Seriously, Natsu? We take our eyes off you for two freaking minutes and you got your head in something!"

The giant cat head turned to the young boy. "Max, is that you!? Get me out of this thing! I wanted to prank people but this stupid helmet is stuck!”

Max sighed. "My god, you really _can't_ stay out of trouble." He pulled out one of his Sais. "Hold still, I'm gonna see if I can pop this off. These aren't exactly the best for leverage." He reached under the helmet to try and create some room to pull the large helmet off. Unknown to their struggle, one of the people that kidnapped Erza, Wally, had snuck in through the door behind them. He carried a long rifle made of building blocks. From his position, the gun was pointed at the large cat head.

"Here, let me help you out," he taunted, grabbing. He pulled the trigger unleashing a large cylinder. The block missed both of the Riders and crashed into the wall. To Wally’s shock, Millianna, in a panic pushed the gun out of the way.

"Whoa it's the block guy!" Natsu realized.

"Millianna, what the hell are you doing!?" Wally asked exasperated. "What's the big idea?"

The cat eared woman _hissed_ at him. "You big meanie!" she cried, pounding his chest comically, "You tried to hurt the itty bitty kitty witty!"

"Wait a sec! That's not a real cat, you crazy broad!"

Natsu stared at the two arguing and then gave a cute, and obviously fake, "Meow!"

Millianna's eyes sparkled. "He's the cutest little kitty ever!"

Wally growled. "A wise guy eh!?" He shoved the cat girl away and made his body glow. "I'm telling you, doll, this cat's a rat!" He launched the blocks at the two boys forcing them to jump out of the way. Natsu reached down and grabbed a stuffed cat. "Cat Barrier!" he cried, using it to block the shots.

"Noooo~! Don't hurt the poor kitties!" wailed Millianna, flailing helplessly.

"For crying out loud, doll face! That rat there is our enemy," Wally snapped as Natsu charged in meowing.

"Forget about me? **Air Slash!"** Max yelled firing off a cut compressed air at the block man, forcing him to create a barrier.

Millianna was still trying wrap her head around the chaos. "A rat? But he looks like a kitty!"

Wally was having none of her delusions. "That's no cat you airheaded dame! That's a guy in a cat costume!"

Meanwhile Natsu ignited his fists and punched through the blocks. **"Cat Fire!"**

The brunette screeched, hands clasped to her cheeks in horror as her cat toys were burnt to cinders in the ensuing attack. Wally's head floated in front of her, while the rest his body swirled around in tiny cubes. "Drat. Jellal wasn't kidding when he said this cat's got some claws. Alright toots, it's go time!"

Millianna's expression soured, twisting into feline ferality. "MRRRROW! Pretending you're a cat when you're a person is a lousy thing to do, nya!”

"Oh yeah? You're one to talk!" Natsu fired back.

"Natsu! Shut the heck up!" Max snapped. **"Thundershock!"**

The electric attack burst from the young boy and struck the block man. However it did little damage to the block man's parts. Meanwhile, Millianna summoned a pink magic circle, crying out, **"Nekoshou Tube!"** Two ropes sprang from her hands, wrapping around and ensnaring the two in two strong elastic ropes.

"That's a great job, doll face!" cheered Wally, charging in.

"Give him the what for!" Millianna cheered.

 **"Cat Fire!"** Natsu tried to ignite his fists, but he couldn’t access his magic. “W-what?!” Before he could react, Wally’s swirling blocks crashed into him.

"What the? What happened to my magic? Max, can you use yours?"

"This rope is cutting it off! AHHHH!" the young boy yelped as more ropes snaked around both of them and were slammed into the ground.

Wally pointed his rifle at Natsu, who was trying to crawl away. "I hope you're hungry, Salamander, cause you're about to eat lead!" Hearing this, the dragon slayer struggled to break free of his binds.

Max, meanwhile, tried to reach his sai just out of reach and cut through his rope. Wally stalked up to Natsu. "I got a real dandy catchphrase I've been dying to try out!" He grinned sinisterly. "I'm sorry things had to end this way. But from the moment I met you-OOF!" He was cut off by Happy flying in and crashing into him.

"Great timing, buddy!" Natsu cheered.

"You betcha Natsu! But, uh, what's with the cat costume?" asked the flying cat.

"Just get this thing off me!" he growled.

"Aye, sir!"

Wally snarled. "No one interrupts Wally and gets away with it!" He fired wildly at Happy, forcing him to zip about through the air in a panic.

Millianna panicked and grabbed the rifle, hauling it off-course. _"No!_ I won't let you hurt the kitty witty!"

Wally was incredulous and waved his arms wildly at Millianna. "No cat has wings and they don't talk either!"

Not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth, Natsu called out to Happy. "Come on buddy!"

"Aye, sir!"

While the brunette struggled with Wally over shooting the two, Happy struggled with the ropes. "Hurry up! We don't have much time!"

"I'm trying! This rope won't give!"

"Fine! Guess I have no other choice!" This got everyone's attention. "Special attack!" Then Natsu started to fake sob, tears raining down his mask. **"Kitty-Kitty face.** Meow!"

Happy and Max both deadpanned. _There is no way that’ll work._

Millianna watched him cry biting her lip. His tearful expression tore her heart in two, making her whimper at the sight of the crying cat. “Nn...Nooooo, don’t cry, kitty~! If you cry, I’ll cry toooo~ Uuuuuuu…” As she sniffled, the ropes went slack, surprising both Max and Happy.

"That actually worked!?" They said in unison.

With Natsu free, he ignited his arms. **"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"** He flung two streams of fire at the opposing mages, sending them flying into the wall and knocking them out.

Max stood up after the attack finished. "That was…something. Happy, help get this off him!"

"Aye!"

Far away from the group, Jellal watched the defeat of Millianna and Wally through a hidden lacrima message crystal. "Well, it was quicker than I expected. But it was accounted for, all the same." He snapped his fingers. "Vidalus! Get your team and go!" he ordered the man in front of him. The black-haired man wore an open black jacket with spikes on them, gothic makeup and had a large guitar on his back. To his sides, two more people appeared.

On his left was a purple-haired woman, dressed in an ornate white and pink kimono that exposed her cleavage and shoulders. On her waist a long katana in a burnt orange sheath. “Ikaruga, at your service.”

On the man's right was a large man with a brown owl's head. He was shirtless and had green shorts. On his back was a large pair of rockets. “Fukuro, ready to fight for justice!”

All three bowed. "We are ready to do your bidding. Trinity Raven will kill all of these intruders."

"And the gifts I gave you?" asked the blue haired man.

The rocker held up a rectangular device, dark purple with a horned I. Fukuro held another brown device depicting an O in the shape of an owl’s head. "These kids are dreaming if they think they could end your glorious plans," the greasy-haired mage declared as the three departed the throne room.

Jellal grinned sinisterly. "Time to start this game." He pulled out a lacrima crystal, which allowed him to project his voice all over the tower. "Hello there, Fairy Tail Mages!"

The intruders slowed to a stop when he spoke. They watched as his face appeared in the wall in front of them. Erza narrowed her eyes. "Jellal," she growled.

" _I see you've bested my old comrades. But that was just a warm-up."_

"Definitely got the megalomaniac vibe going for him," muttered Misty.

" _I want to play a game._ Heaven's _game. The rules are quite simple: I want Erza Scarlet to be my sacrifice to resurrect Zeref."_

"Now I _know_ he's channeling Jigsaw," Drew growled.

"Don't you dare bring up that film! Poor Dawn was scared for weeks!" May snapped.

" _If I am successful in using Erza to open Heaven's Door, then I win! If you somehow defeat me and the mercenaries in this tower, you win your freedom and your lives."_

"Sounds simple, but there's gotta be a catch!" Ash thought aloud.

" _If you think there’s a catch, then you’re correct. You see, the magic council has been debating using the most powerful weapon at their disposal to destroy the tower. If they succeed in firing it, then everyone in this tower will die! You have, at best, one hour before they fire the Etherion Cannon. So, I suggest you hurry. Do or die, make your choice!"_

Jellal ended the projection and grinned. _This game will be fun!_ He started to laugh at his imminent victory.

Meanwhile, at the Magic Council, Siegrain watched the vote pan out. Currently it stood at 4 votes for and 6 against firing of the Etherion cannon. Two more votes and he would have his wish in destroying his brother.

Jellal has successfully gotten Erza to his Tower of Heaven and now seeks to use her as a sacrifice. Can the Riders stop him? Find out next time on Nakama United.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> UO: Well now, I didn't think I'd get this arc done in so little words. Go figure. Battles next chapter. Also an announcement. As of Chapter 16, NorthSouthGorem will officially come on as a co-writer. He's been my behind the scenes editor but now through some planning and dealmaking, he's going to come on the chapter that starts Fantasia. Let me tell you, what he has planned blows my previous versions of this series out of the water.
> 
> NS: Like fish in a barrel, yeah.
> 
> Preview: As the Riders fight through the Tower of Heaven, the Magic Council comes to a fateful decision. At the top of the tower, Erza fights to break free of her past and awakens her true destiny. What is it? Find out next time.
> 
> Next Chapter: Soar the Skies, Aquila


	15. Soar Free! Aquila

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle for the Tower of Heaven continues as Jellal makes his move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOOSH  
> UO: Apologies for super long delay on updating this. It got stuck in editing. Okay, time for the end of this arc. As stated in the previous chapter, this is the last chapter I’m officially flying solo. Starting next chapter, NorthSouthGorem will be my co-writer. Hopefully this means faster updates across the board.  
> Natsu: Uh…what does that mean?  
> UO: It means his ideas, including his OC, will be coming on as well.  
> Ash: Another one?  
> UO: Other than some Earth characters, this will be the last one that makes impact.  
> Natsu: How strong is he?  
> UO: Um…first impression? Strong enough you’ll be glad he’s an ally.  
> Lucy: Stronger than Erza?  
> UO: Depends on the situation. But he’s not bad, just a bit crazy,  
> ?: Oi!  
> Drew: Shut up! You're not showing up until next chapter!  
> UO: Well, it’s better than wrecking the studio. DISCLAIMER!

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy  
_ **Attacks  
** **Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_**

Chapter 15: Soar Through the Skies, Aquila!

_“You see, the magic council has been debating using their most powerful weapon at their disposal to destroy the tower. If they succeed in firing it, then everyone in this tower will die! You have at best one hour before they fire the Etherion Cannon. So I suggest you hurry. Do or die, make your choice!”_

The moment Jellal ended the announcement, Drew turned to Erza. “What the heck is he talking about?”

Erza rubbed her chin. “The only weapon I could see being used to destroy the tower is the Etherion Cannon. But to do that, the council needs to approve it because it takes an inordinate amount of magic.”

“Wait, how would he know if they are trying to do that?” May asked.

“How else do you think? He’s got a spy on the council!” Ash answered, realizing the implications.

It was at this point that Sho snapped out of the state Jellal’s announcement had put him in. “I see now. Erza…you were telling the truth. Gods, I was such an idiot…!”

Erza placed a hand on his shoulder. “That’s why we need to stop him. Here and now.”

Sho looked at her with a determined expression. “You’re right. We do need to stop it, but I won’t let you get hurt!” Before anyone could stop him, his hand glowed. In an instant, Erza disappeared and a card appeared in its place.

“You’ll be safe in here, Erza,” “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you…”

Drew sighed in exasperation. “We needed all the firepower we could get Sho! Erza would help!”

“I’m sorry, but I won’t let my sister get hurt!” Sho snapped, “We’ll bring down Jellal, with or without your help!” He ran up the stairs.

Before he could call out to the blond boy, Drew’s phone went off. He picked it up and answered it. “Max, did you find Natsu?”

_“Yeah! I found him with the rest of Erza’s kidnappers! I guess we’re on the same side now?”_

“Yeah, we are, but Sho is being an idiot again, for a different reason. We need to hurry, this thing could come down in an hour!”

_“Roger!”_

Drew hung up and turned to the others. “We need to split up. Girls, go find Natsu, Grey and Max. Ash, come with me; I don’t think Sho can handle what’s coming up!” He ordered as the group scattered to handle their objectives. Simon followed the boys, intent on saving Sho from his revenge quest.

With Max and Natsu

Max hung up and turned to the dragon slayer. “We need to go up and meet with the others. Who knows how strong Jellal is.”

“He’s been able to keep us here for years, convincing us his way was the way to heaven.,” said Wally sadly, “I’d say he’s pretty strong.”

“Well, he hasn’t met any of us!” Natsu boasted as they walked out of Millianna’s room.

Wally looked away. “All we wanted was freedom, but Jellal used us as puppets.” His gangster dialect had vanished entirely from his speech.

“Living in a cage is not freedom, it’s tyranny,” Max supplied quietly.

Natsu frowned. “I don’t know what freedom you guys want, but Fairy Tail is amazing! If you want to find it, you can always come back with us!”

Wally chuckled. “Not a bad thought, Salamander.”

Max smiled, then looked up the tower. “How do you think we could get up there?”

“Easy, we fly!” Natsu answered instantly.

“Smart idea,” Max agreed dryly, “But chances are they probably have that planned for. So we need to be careful!”

“I’ll lead, then! Come on, Happy!” The dragon slayer ordered as the flying cat picked him up. They got about 50 feet off the ground when a large figure rocketed down towards them. Before he could react, the figure launched several rockets at the slayer. Natsu yelped as the explosions sent him through the walls of the tower.

“Natsu!” Max shouted, summoning his bo staff and flew up quickly He stopped at the hole behind the giant that blasted his friend into the wall.

In the room Natsu landed with a painful thud. He sat up and groaned. “That hurt!”

Simon rushed in as he rubbed his head. “Salamander, are you alright?”

“Yeah! Glad to see ya! I heard from Drew and Max we’re on the same side now!” He groaned, standing up.

“So, you are in the infamous Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail,” a deep voice sounded. The dragon slayer turned to see a large man with an owl’s head hovered in. “I can not in good standing allow for the breaking of the rules that master Jellal has laid out. My name is Fukuro the Warrior of Justice.”

Simon used the momentary lapse to cast his Dark Moment spell. “Natsu, this guy’s bad news, you need to leave it to me!”

“My eyes can see you!” Fukuro shouted, grabbing Simon by the throat and smashing him through the wall, wrenching a gasp of pain from his metal jaw.

Simon groaned as he recovered. “I know Jellal hired you for a reason. You and your friends are members of the Death’s Head Caucus, a Dark Guild that specializes in Assassinations. You are part of their top team, Trinity Raven.

Fukuro chuckled. “You are well informed.” He turned to the dragon slayer. “Your exploits have reached our ears, Natsu Dragneel. As a Warrior of Justice, I must strike down all evil!”

** “Tempest Blade!” **

Before Fukuro could react, a large gust of wind slammed into his back and blasted him away. Natsu and Simon turned to see Max landing and swung his staff behind them.

“If there’s anyone that’s evil, it’s you! A guild that specializes in contract killing has no reason to exist!” Max shouted.

“A guild like that is supposed to be filled with dreams and aspirations!” Natsu snapped. “You’re no guild, you're just a bunch of dirty rats! I’m gonna kick your ass!”

Fukuro stood up impassively, seemingly undamaged. “Very well. Perhaps it’s time to show you that you’re outmatched!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Memory.

**OWL!**

“Again with those things?!” screamed Natsu in frustration.

“Where the heck do they even come from?” Max wondered aloud.

“It is with this that I will purge the world of the evil of the legal guilds! Starting with you two!” The owl-man lifted up his right arm and jammed it into the slot that appeared. Feathers began to swirl around him, shielding him from view. When the tornado died down, the change was dramatic: where before only his head had feathers, now his entire body was covered in them, becoming a metallic brown. On his back, his rockets had merged with his body, the warheads splitting into rocket pods. His legs, meanwhile, had turned into those of a metallic bird, with razor sharp talons that tore up the floor underneath him.

**“With this body, I am Iron Gaebora! And you shall die to my talons!”**

Simon widened his visible eye. “You have those despicable things?” He snapped his towards Natsu who was cracking his knuckles. “You need to leave. Both of you! You can’t take him on!”

“Heh! Don’t worry about us!” chuckled Natsu, pulling out his fire rings. He placed his hand over the hand on his waist.

**DRIVER ON! Please~!**

Simon raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned to Max for explanation, only for the young boy to pull out a golden belt buckle and a card. He then slotted the card into the buckle and held it over his waist. This action caused a chain of cards to fly out of the buckle and snap together to form a red belt.

“We can handle it. We’ve face people thinking these memories will give them superpowers. He’ll go down like the rest!”

“You seem so sure that you will defeat me. What could a pair of rings and a deck of cards do against this?” Gaebora waved his arms to gesture to his body.

“Just watch,” Natsu taunted as he flipped the hand author.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN~~ SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN~~**

He placed his ruby ring on his left hand and twisted the gem. At the same time, Max covered his face with his hand and dropped it to his mouth. As one they shouted out. “HENSHIN!”

**FLAME! PLEASE! HI! HI! HI HI HI!**

**EVOLVE**

Simon and Gaebora watched with shock and curiosity respectively as a red magic circle and a grey shield with a white seven pointed star appeared in front of the two mages. The circle passed over Natsu and clad him in a red and black armor. The shield fell back onto Max, enveloping him in a grey and white armor and increasing his height.

Simon recovered his wits and gasped. “What the heck are you two?”

Draco grinned behind his helmet. “We are the Guardians. I’m Draco, he’s Ace.”

“Interesting. So _you_ are the infamous Riders that our guild is interested in. As a Warrior of Justice, you must be terminated.”

“If anyone’s a warrior of justice, its us!” Draco snapped, **“Fire Dragon’s Cannon!”** He whipped out Urvan, pulled the lever back and fired. The barrel unleashed a large bolt of fire that stunned and briefly blinded the Owl dopant. This allowed Ace to fly in, card in hand depicting Drew’s Luxray.

**SPARK**

His armor crackled with electricity and he tackled the large owl sending him into the wall.

The owl stood up, seemingly unfazed by the attack as the electricity danced over his body. “Is that the best you have? Let me return the favor!” His rockets rotated onto his shoulders. **“Rocket Fu Ho!”**

The rockets ignited and fired, locking onto and swerving in mid-air towards the two Riders. Draco smashed his fist against the ground, knocking up the floor to block the missiles heading for him and making them explode harmlessly. Ace had no such protection, so instead he drew his Gallade card.

**PSYCHO CUT**

Taking out his Sais and infusing energy into them and slashed quickly. The swings sent purple waves of energy at the missiles. The waves explodes them, causing fire and smoke to fill the room. Gaebora wasted no time and sped at Ace forcing the young boy to leap out of the way. Landing, he saw the Owl coming back around and he began running away while pulling out another card.

**AGILITY**

His speed increased significantly as he dashed towards the wall. He ran up onto it, Gaebora hot on his heels.

** “Hoshi no Hou!” **

The owl fired multiple stars out of his mouth at Ace. The younger rider kept his cool, subtly adding power to his spell. He increased his speed, barely keeping ahead of the explosions, leaping across the ground as several struck close. He glanced behind him to Fukuro within spitting distance of him and sent Aura into his legs, causing them to glow briefly. He pushed off, the force of his kick causing cracks in the wall. He flipped over the Dopant and landed behind him on the floor, before racing towards the Draco’s rock wall.

 **“You cannot outrun me, little boy!”** roared Gaebora.

Ace only smirked as he ran towards the uplifted crystal. He slid behind it, using his Sais as a brake by dragging them through the ground. At the same time, Draco leaped out with a shout, catching the Dopant off-guard. He slammed his axe down on Gaebora’s head, knocking him to the floor. He took a mighty swing and connected with the bird’s head, knocking him into the air. Ace leaped immediately and grabbed the dopant around the waist. Using his air aided momentum, he drilled the assassin back into the floor.

The Rider landed and set his stance for another fight., while Draco ran up to him, hefting Urvan on his shoulder. “Is that all you got, you owl bastard?”

Gaebora stood up slowly, the impacts having dealt significant damage. **“You seem to be under the impression that you have seen my full power! Jet Hou Hou!”**

He charged at Draco, who jumped out of the way of the charge only for his leg to be caught. He was flung up and then slammed back down, cratering the ground again. Draco though, was unfazed and stood up ready for more.

**“You are a tough one, Kamen Rider. This fight will be more enjoyable than I realize.”**

**SHOCKWAVE**

The electric blast struck the Dopant, forcing him back a couple of steps. **“You are becoming a nuisance, boy,”** he growled, turning to Ace.

Off to the side, Simon watched the fight in awe. _Who knew that they could keep up with an assassin of Fukuro’s caliber?_ he thought to himself, _But they haven’t finished him off yet. Then there’s the rest of Trinity Raven, who are just as likely to kill us as Fukuro here. But…what if his friends also have abilities, like these Rider belts?_

Back in battle, Gaebora stood tall after taking a blast from Draco. **“It’s time to make this a fair fight! Rocket Hou Hou!”**

The rockets on his back lifted up and fired, one going to Ace, the other to Draco. They dodged the first pass and ducked under the second. On the rocket’s third pass, Gaebora hid under the rocket’s shadow, shielding them from view. He lunged up and grabbed Draco out of the air. This caught the Guardian off guard, but more importantly his motion sickness kicked in at the worst possible time.

**“Don’t believe we’re that stupid! We’re assassins, we scout out our targets and destroy them when their weak! Now that you’re weak, it’s time to end this! Capture!”**

He flung Draco up and opened his mouth, swallowing him in one bite, making Ace gasp in shock. He turned to other rider and chuckled. **“This magic allows me to take the magic of those I swallow and use it against others. Like so, Fire Hou Hou Fou!”** He took a deep breath and unleashed a stream of fire at the young Rider. Ace was able to dodge out of the way, but as Gaebora approached, an inherent weakness with the Aura Riders became apparent; Ace was physically the weakest and the smallest of the Aura Riders. He was smaller than even Dawn who was a petite 5’2, due to the fact he hadn’t hit puberty yet.

Of the other six, only Ash and Misty, thanks to their Guardian heritage, could deal significant lasting damage. And realistically, only Brock could take any serious damage, due to his element being considered a defensive one. In a one-on-one fight, Max’s advantage was speed, but with Gaebora able to match him, he was essentially a sitting duck. The young Rider backed up, thinking of any way that he might be able to escape.

Meanwhile, Happy, distraught over his friend being captured, glared at the Dopant. “Give Natsu Back!”

Gaebora saw the flying cat approach and punched him away with a grunt of derision. **“You’re next, feline!”**

Before he could take two steps, two shots hit his shoulder. The Dopant looked up to see Grey on a chain being pulled up.

“Max! Where’s Natsu?” Grey called out.

“It’s Ace!” the gray Rider snapped, “Birdbrain here ate him and took his magic!”

 **“Birdbrain!? I’ll show you!”** Gaebora roared and charged after Ace.

Grey looked down at Happy who blearily opened his eyes. “Grey…Save Natsu, please!”

Grey sighed. “Stupid lizard-brain. Guess he’ll owe me one.” He spotted Simon still in the room. “What the heck are you doing here, Simon?! we need you upstairs to help Erza and the others!”

“We were, until Fukuro turned into that!” the one-eyed man replied, “I hope you have something like fly-boy there.”

Grey grinned. “Just stand back and watch!” He pulled out two rings similar to Natsu’s, only one of his rings was ice blue. He placed the one with the hand across his waist.

**DRIVER READY**

He flipped the hand so it faced left and leaped off the chains, forming a claw with his hand. “HENSHIN!

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

An ice blue magic circle formed under the dark haired man and he fell through it, becoming Kamen Rider Lupus.

Simon’s jaw nearly came undone. “How many of these Riders are there!?”

Gaebora though was more stoic. **“Do you think changing into your armor will make a difference? I already beat _one_ of you. And in ten minutes, your friend will be completely digested and all of his powers will be mine.”**

“Like hell I’ll let you! **Ice Make: Rifle Lance!’** He brought up Tundra Claw and pulled the trigger, sending five ice cold streaks speeding at the Dopant. In response, Gaebora took a deep breath and unleashed a mockery of a Fire Dragon’s Roar. This attack tore through the shards like they weren’t there, to Lupus’s shock. The fire continued on and surrounded the Rider, trapping him in a storm of heat.

**“If you know your friend’s power, then you should know you are no match for me!”**

Lupus strained under the impact of his friend’s attacks. _This power, it’s nothing like flame brain’s,_ he thought to himself, _It’s weaker than Erza’s power, too_. The Ice rider grunted as memories flooded forth. He remembered when she joined the guild out of the blue one day. Cana had expressed her concerns about her lonely nature and her tendency to wear armor at all times.

He took up the challenge to confront her and called her out for wearing her armor. Her response was to call him out on his stripping habit in return. He’d stormed off in a huff as the rest of the guild laughed at him.

As time wore on, he constantly challenged her, only to get beat up, again and again. It got to the point that some people thought he had a crush on her. He’d responded by glaring at the tormentors and shouting that she would never be a part of the guild. That train of thought stopped when he ran after her and found her on a riverbank, crying from her uncovered eye. Instead of challenging her, he sat down and asked why she was along To which she responded, rather furiously, that she preferred it that way and she would hurt people close to her.. Grey said nothing, but sat next to her, as if to say she wasn’t alone. As they watched the sunset, the ice mage and the scarlet knight looked at each other. For the first time since she came to the guild, he saw her smile, something that looked pretty on her face.

 _Erza’s always been alone; but with Fairy Tail, she never has to be! And I’m going to make sure she never is!_ Lupus thought, gathering his magic and unleashing it in a wave of cold. To Gaebora’s shock, the flames around the Ice Rider froze and shattered. “Heh…Your flames are nowhere near Flame Brain’s strength and no match for Drew’s. You’re just a wannabe.”

Gaebora only laughed maniacally. **“Such power! You will be my next meal!”** The Owl roared madly. He charged at the stationary Rider and scooped him up into his mouth. Lupus, though, caught the jaw with his left hand and stabbed it with Tundra, freezing it.

Gaebora flew back while unfreezing his jaw. He attempted to set up another attack, but to his surprise his legs were locked up. He looked behind him and caught sight of Ace. Extending from his arms was a silky, but incredibly durable string, wrapped around the dopant’s thin legs, anchoring him into the crystals underneath

“Lupus!”

“Got it!” The wolf Rider called out pulling out his Finisher Ring. He thrusted it over the center of his belt.

**FINAL HUNT**

He grabbed his weapon and channeled his magic into it. The ground below him froze, frost racing towards Gaebora, freezing him to the ground.

“Here we go!” yelled Lupus, **“FROZEN WOLF SLASH!”** He slid along the ice and swung clean through the Owl landing next to Ace. “This Hunt is over!”

The Dopant didn’t move for a moment, then screamed and exploded. When it cleared, Fukuro was face down, unconscious. More importantly, Draco was alive. He sat up, looking none the worse for wear.

“Natsu!” cried Happy flying towards the Rider.

Draco groaned and held his head. “Whoa…That was a weird trip.” He looked up at Lupus. “Thanks, Stripper!”

Lupus scoffed. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t let him rip ya off!” The wolf rider grumbled as he helped his friend up. “So, what do we do now?”

“Natsu and I are gonna move on to face Jellal,” Simon told them, “I suggest you and Max find the girls and get out.”

Lupus made to argue, only for Ace to grab his shoulder.. “He’s right. Ash, Drew and Erza should be plenty if Natsu goes up with them. If we all go with them, not everyone’s gonna get out in time!”

The Ice mage sighed and turned to Draco. “You’d better get her back!” he told them as the Knights began to leave.

Ace turned on the radio. “Ace to all Riders: Trinity Raven is down one.”

Same Time with the Girls

The girls scrambled to find Natsu and Max, the latter was last seen in pursuit of the former. They also were looking out for members of Trinity Raven. They came across a chamber filled with holes.

“Wonder what those are?” Lucy asked, pointing at the various openings.

“Don’t know but Natsu and Max aren’t here,” Misty pointed out.

“Max! Natsu! Where the heck are you!? I’m gonna pound you when I get my hands on you!” May screamed.

“Pretty sure they would have heard you,” Misty deadpanned. “Especially with Natsu’s hearing.”

“Natsu must be like Gajeel,” Juvia muttered in awe. Then her expression soured. “Why does Juvia have to be with love rivals?”

Lucy groaned. “Seriously, Juvia. We have boyfriends. I got Natsu, Misty and May have Ash. We aren’t gonna steal him from you. Can we please get along?”

Before Juvia could comment, a loud wail echoed through the chamber.

“What the heck is that?” Lucy asked aloud.

“It sounds nice,” Juvia praised, getting a weird look from the blonde.

“An electric guitar? Here?” Misty wondered, recognizing the instrument from the many rock songs she had heard on the radio and when she practiced with Ash and Drew. She glanced at May who nodded and they pulled out their weapons. Lucy seeing them tense, pulled out her whip as well. They looked around and saw a long haired punk rocker strumming his guitar very loudly.

“Hehe, got four very fine looking ladies ready for my performance tonight. What do you say? Be my roadies?”

The girls were disgusted. “Yeah, rather be a nun than roll with you!” May told him.

“I could play better on bass!” Misty taunted swinging her trident behind her

“Get out of our way, we’ve got a mission to finish!” Lucy ordered.

The man chuckled. “Well now, that ain’t nice! Let me introduce myself. My name is Viadaleus Taka.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar flash drive.

**INCUBUS**

“A Memory?” the Riders gasped. They quickly went to their pockets to grab their belts

“Isn’t that like what Juvia got before?” asked the water mage, her eyes wide in mortified curiosity.

The man laughed and stuck out his tongue, where a slot appeared, making Lucy recoil in disgust. “Ew! Ew ew ew ew!” she squealed, hugging herself tightly.

He jammed it onto his tongue, causing his body to ripple like a tuning fork, the waves distorting his form. As the vibrations died down, there stood a stocky, purple imp-creature. It had two devil horns, a pointed chin and multiple piercings. His long hair reached the floor, turning as black as midnight. In his arms was his guitar, which had turned into a metal axe. Finally his face had become a pasty white with black eyeshadow.

 **“You can call me Dream Riff. Time to for you to listen to my concert of hell!”** He laughed aloud before strumming his guitar. **“ARIA STRING!”**

Hiis hair came together to form sharp spikes. They rose up on their own, before speeding toward the girls.

The two Aura Riders flipped their levers while Lucy twisted her key.

“HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

**SUMMON: WATER-BEARER!**

Two shields and a light blue magic circle appeared. They sheilds deflected the attack back before falling back on their respective users. Juvia had no such protection, something they realized too late. However, even as the needles struck her, she gave no reaction as they passed right through her liquid form.

Triton watched Juvia reform with admiration. “You have _got_ to teach me that, Juvia!”

“Juvia will be more than happy to teach fellow her Water Mage when we get home!” Juvia told her. “But now, she must help!”

 **“Interesting magic you got there!** ” Riff praised with a wild leer.

“Juvia is a Water Mage. Nothing can hurt her!” the blue haired mage shouted. She summoned a magic circle. **“Water Lock!”**

A water sphere formed and surrounded the Dopant. The dopant was intrigued. **“Are you some sort of rocker chick? Cause you, my lady, are fine!”**

Juvia shook her head. “No, Juvia is more refined than you. Rockers are all bark and no bite. You’re just in our way!”

 **“Really? Well then I guess I need to step up!”** To the girl’s shock, her water pulled into and absorbed into his hair.

“What the heck?!” Pleiades shouted. “How the heck does hair do that!?”

**“Simple. My hair can absorb any liquid, as long as it's not alcohol or oil.”**

Triton growled, knowing that his little trick just put him at a huge advantage. His hair not only negated Juvia’s spells, but most of _her_ spells were useless as well. Chances were Pleiades was going to have to change forms. Fortunately, there was still one Rider he hadn’t negated.

“Kusa!” Triton ordered.

“On it! **MAGICAL LEAF!”** Kusa swung her sword in an arc sending a storm of sharp leaves at the rocker.

 **“Lullaby Shield!”** Riff strummed his guitar, summoning a dark blue shield in front of him and incinerating the leaves.

 **“Heh, such powerful ladies! Now who should be my Succubus Queen?”** He barked, pointing playfully at the girls. **“Eenie, meenie, miney…You!”** He pointed at Juvia, who tilted her head in confusion. He strummed his guitar in a melodic rhythm. **“Rock of the Succubus!”**

Purple streams fired from the strings, speeding towards the blue-haired mage. She screamed in pain as they hit her, causing her to glow eerily. When it died down, Juvia’s outfit had changed drastically: her blue jacket shrunk into a purple corset, split open to reveal her cleavage; the cloth leggings turned into hip hugging latex; her face had paled with white makeup, contrasted with dark eyeshadow and a deep red lipstick. Her blue hair was out of her curls, flowing to her mid-back in an untamed mess.

Juvia grinned, holding up her hands in the devil’s horns. “Rock on, bitches! Let’s get wild!”

The Riders were shocked at the complete 180 in her attitude. Pleiades was the first to come to her senses. “Juvia, snap out of it! What the heck is wrong with you?!”

**“Like it? She’s my Succubus. As long as the spell’s active, she’ll only taking orders from me!”**

“You’re the worst!” Kusa snapped.

**“Why thank you. Now then, Juvia, let’s make this a catfight!”**

“Oh, hell yeah!” Juvia laughed and charged at the Metal Guardian.

Said Rider was barely able to jump out of the way of a clawed swipe “Juvia, come on, this isn’t like you!

“Shut up, Love-Rival! If you’re not going to rock, then you can just _die!”_ screamed the Water mage. She melted into a puddle of water, then exploded into a large wave. The amount of water swamped the room leaving large pools of water throughout the room. The water mage shoved Pleiades into the wall making her gasp out in pain. Juvia took a swipe at the armor actually doing damage.

“Juvia, please!” Pleiades begged, “Fairy Tail doesn’t hurt their own! Snap out of it!”

“Hehehe, you can’t take my Grey away, Love-Rival!” laughed Juvia sinisterly. She snapped out her delusions with an unpleasant jolt when a green vine wrapped around her and ensnared her arms. She turned her head only to meet Kusa’s fist, which knocked her away.

“Rockers don’t do this! This isn’t music, this is torture!” Kusa pleaded.

Off to the side, Riff laughed. **“This is _way_ too easy!”** He looked around and noticed someone missing. **“Wait, weren’t there three of you?”**

** “SWIFT!” **

He grunted in pain as multiple stars struck his back, causing him to stagger forward. He growled and snapped around to see Triton propelling towards him. He barely brought his axe up to block Triton’s charge.

“Change her back you rocker wannabe!”

 **“WANNABE!? You little bitch!”** he roared, suddenly incensed as they clashed weapons again.

Meanwhile, Juvia struggled to break free of Kusa’s vines. “Let go!”

Kusa shook her head. “No. Juvia listen to us! This isn’t how friends act around each other! Snap out of it!”

Juvia just laughed wickedly. “Gahahaha! You weak little slut I would never be friends with you!” She managed to wiggle her arm free and summoned her magic. “If you can’t rock with me, then you can drown in my song! Here, let me give you your crescendo!” She dissipated into water and charged at Pleiades. The metal guardian didn’t have time to react as Juvia reformed around her in a water sphere.

Pleiades grunted in pain as the water began to crush her. _I can’t…hurt her! She’s...my friend. I don’t want…_ she thought desperately, struggling against the immense pressure.

 _“Lucy!”_ The Rider’s eyes snapped open. She watched as in amazement a glowing figure approached. It was an untransformed Juvia reaching out for her, crying for help. _“Please, help me!”_

_“Juvia?”_

_“Please! Juvia doesn’t…I don’t want to hurt my friends! But it’s what Juvia_ _deserves! Juvia has grown to love the whole guild. Its nice and warm. But it seems all Juvia brings is her sadness and rain to them!”_ Pleiades noticed that the Water Mage was crying and understood. If she was willing to cry for her guild, then she would be accepted by the guild.

Riff was shoved back by Triton. He turned to see Juvia not moving at all, as if waiting for a command. **“Juvia, finish her!** ”

Juvia nodded and let go of Pleiades who coughed as she caught her breath. Internally the blue haired mage was trying to fight the order. ** “WATER…JIGSAW!”**

Her body turned into a tempest and charged at Pleiades. The Metal Guardian stood her ground and crossed her arms. She took the blow head on and skidded back, almost hitting the wall. “Come on, Juvia! Help me here!” She uncrossed her right arm, and thrust it into Juvia’s body actually going through her liquid body. **“TYPHOON STORM!”**

The force of her magic launched a large stream of water and struck Riff, who was caught off guard and knocked down.

 **“What the hell?”** Riff screamed. Triton knocked him to the floor with her trident, making him cry out further. Around her, the room started to flood, coming up to her knees. **“H-heh,”** The dopant taunted. **“All of this water is nothing thanks to my hair!”**

Triton watched the water rise with a frown. She needed something to finish this guy off and fast, otherwise the others would get seriously hurt. Suddenly, her mind was bombarded with images of mermaids swimming. All thoughts went to the Little Mermaid and how Ariel had sung throughout the film. The various legends surrounding the being almost all centered on one trait: their hauntingly beautiful voice, which they used to lure sailors to their doom. Her voice was also soft, a voice that carried through the sea that promised protection for anyone under her watch. She touched her throat, thinking…then turned her attention to Pleiades. “Pleia, summon more water! Kusa, anchor her!”

Confused, the two Riders did as they were told: Pleiades summoned more water, much to her spirit’s annoyance. To her surprise, Juvia reached out and grabbed the Rider’s hand, forcing her own magic into the spell. Meanwhile, Kusa launched a vine from her wrist and snagged the Guardian, before wrapping another around her sword and flung it into the wall to anchor them.

Even Riff was confused. **“The fuck are you bitches doing?”**

Triton said nothing as she took a deep breath. **“** **Charybdis Chorus:** **Oceanic Operetta!”**

She spread her arms out wide, as if asking for an audience, then rolled her head back and began to sing. To the girls, it was as though it were sung by a guardian angel. Despite the force of the water, they felt cradled in its embrace.

For Dream Riff, however, the song pierced his eardrums, causing him agony. **“What the hell, girl? That song isn’t Rocking!”** Then he noticed something else. All the water in the room had stopped, rippling bizarrely, and gathered above Triton’s arms. The water combined forming into a large sphere, much larger than the swimmer. She momentarily stopped singing, and slowly pressing her arms forward. The giant ball slowly hovered towards the Dopant, who could only watch with awe at the size of the attack. She took another deep breath and unleashed her opera like crescendo. The sphere dropped in response, the sheer size of it making it impossible to dodge. Dream Riff could only watch as his doom drew closer. His last thoughts were, _S-so…not rocking!_ before it exploded on him.

The resulting shockwave felt like the entire ocean had crashed into the room. Kusa’s anchoring vines held, but they didn’t have to worry, the water didn’t do a thing. Rather, it formed an air pocket around them, protecting them from the force of the attack. The room remained flooded for a few moments before it began to drop, quickly draining out of the room to reveal an unconscious Viadeleus, his Gaea Memory in pieces.

When the water level was low enough, Kusa released herself, Pleiades and Juvia from the anchor. They rushed over to Triton who was on her knees, breathing heavily.

“Misty! Are you alright!?” May asked in concern.

“Yeah…” the redhead began as they powered down. “I’m…alright,” She finished as she caught her breath. She rolled onto her back, in effort to calm down.

May laid next to her, smiling through her exhaustion. “You were amazing,” She whispered kissing the redhead’s lips gently and wrapping her arms around the exhausted Guardian.

Misty smiled at the brunette’s affection. She turned to see Lucy and Juvia both comforting each other. “You two alright?”

“We will be!” Lucy responded breathlessly.

Juvia sniffled. “Thank you, for not giving up on Juvia, Lucy.”

Lucy giggled. “Anything for our guild. And hey, you called me by my name.”

“Friends should call each other by their names right?” She reached up and was surprise at seeing tears dropping from her eyes. “It’s…raining from my eyes.”

This got everyone to laugh. “That’s a cute way of saying you're crying happy tears, Juvia,” Lucy explained.

Juvia smiled and closed her eyes to rest for a few moments.

Hundreds of miles away at Era

Siegrain was slightly worried. Despite their posturing, the Magic Council was essentially deadlocked on using the Etherion cannon at 4-6. Nothing he had said was swaying the other council votes in his favor.

“It appears the debate has ended!” announced the head of the council, “With four votes for and six vote against, the motion to fire the Etherion cannon has been denied!”

Siegrain panicked. This would not do, “No…we can’t!”

Yajima turned to Jellal. “What could possibly warrant firing our most powerful weapon, Siegrain?”

He growled and turned to Ultear who begrudgingly nodded. He turned back to the man. “It’s…the Tower is being used to revive Zeref!”

This shocked the entire council. “What do you mean, revive Zeref?”

Siegrain grinned internally, seeing that he had their attention. “I mean, the Tower is gathering energy in order to resurrect the darkest mage in history. If it means killing him along with my twin brother, then firing the Etherion cannon is the only to stop this madness!”

The council took a few moments to digest this before one member called for a revote in a panic. This time the vote was eight to one, Yajima being the dissenting vote.

“It seems that the motion to fire is passed!” the leader declared, “However, this decision comes with a steep cost. After we fire, this Magic council will dissolve immediately. Let us pray and prepare.”

The council dismissed themselves and headed to their chambers. Siegrain glanced at Ultear and nodded to each other. _Our plans are coming closer to fruition,_ He gleefully thought.

Back in the Tower

Sho, Ash and Drew climbed the stairs in a hurry, knowing they were running out of time. “How much further till we get to the top Sho?” Ash asked.

“Maybe ten more floors. It’s a huge tower.”

“Kind of reminds... me of the...Empire State... Building!” Drew gasped out. They reached another floor and decided to take a break. The large room that they entered reminded the American of a Japanese shrine, with many Torii gates standing tall. There was a long wooden pathway that weaved through them, towards the last set of stairs. A lone sakura tree, with its petals slowly falling away, completed the image.

Drew sighed as he laid his sword on the ground next to him. He felt something in his pocket and pulled it out, revealing an indigo colored card. It was an image of a woman in a silvery princess garb highlighted by the full moon. On the side in fancy silver lettering were the words MOON PRINCESS.

Ash noticed the card. “Where’d you get that?”

Drew glanced up at his friend. “One of the last things I got before we left home, in addition to Regulus. It’s a special card that can summon Tsuki and essentially solve our issues in one shot.” He looked back at the card. “Problem is, it’s a one-time deal, so I’d rather not use it unless we got no choice. If this tower is as dangerous as you say it is and is trying to resurrect a dark god, then Tsuki would be able to destroy it.” Memories came flooding back.

Flashback

_As Drew stowed Regulus in his bag, Tsuki bit her lip. “Something wrong, sis?” he asked, noticing her expression._

_Tsuki looked at him and held up her hand. Conjuring a bit of magic, she materialized an indigo card, which she handed it to him. “This is a portion of my power. If you ever truly need it, break it, and I’ll cross dimensions to save you and your friends.”_

_Drew smiled softly. “_ If _we need it Tsuki. We don’t lose that easily.” He looked pensively at the card. “How much power we talking here?”_

_“Equivalent to the ‘Super Saiyan’ on that show you watch. About...10% of my full power.”_

_Drew whistled. “If that’s you at 10%, then I’m glad you’re on our side.”_

_“Yes. The Guardians were incredibly powerful, but even_ they _paled to a fully trained Ruler of the Realm.”_

_Drew chuckled. “Well then, I hope we never have to worry about you using your power like that.” His eyes turned sad. “I’ll miss you when we go out there, but I’m glad that I’ve known you for so long.” He reached out to hug her. “Do you think, in my past life, we were friends?”_

_Tsuki was caught off guard by the question, but she smiled as her distant memories came forth. “Yes, close friends.”_

_“Good.” They stayed in the embrace for a little while longer before reluctantly releasing. “Alright, I’m gonna go check on everyone.”_

_“Okay, just give me a moment,” Tsuki said. She watched him leave his room. She didn’t want him to see tears falling from her face. She_ was _right that they were close, but he was not ready for the truth._

End Flashback

Drew smiled at the memory of his sister. Sho watched him ponder the card. “Your relationship with your sister it’s like me and Erza. She was always watching out for me.” He looked at the captured girl who frowned at him. “I just wished I hadn’t fallen for Jellal’s lies so easily.

Erza’s face softened. “Sho, it’s okay. I--” Whatever she was going to say was cut off by some sinister giggling.

“Well now, a bunch of rats for me to exterminate.” A female voice called out. Everyone looked to see a light purple-haired woman in a pale white kimono, which left her shoulders and the tops of her breasts bare, wielding a particularly long sword. She bore a very cocky grin, almost anticipating the coming fight.

“Who are you?” Sho demanded.

“How silly of me. I am Ikaruga, of Death’s Head Caucus,” the woman replied, “And you are my prey.”

Sho narrowed his eyes. “Out of our way!”

Ikaruga clicked her tongue. “No, no. You’re not going anywhere.”

She snapped her fingers and shadows moved along the walls, forming into a large squadron of troopers. Ash and Drew reacted instantly to the approaching enemies, pulling out their respective weapons. “Sho, get Erza out of your card now!” ordered Drew.

“Oho?” Ikaruga asked intrigued. “Erza is here? That is a surprise.”

“You’re not hurting her!” screamed Sho, summoning a magic circle and launching a flurry of cards. Ikaruga smirked and in a flash, all of Sho’s cards were destroyed. The wave continued and struck the blonde, causing a large gash across his chest.

“Sho! Let me out!” Erza demanded.

“No way! My cards are impenetrable. You’ll be safe in there!”

“No! Sho, her sword! Something’s different about it!”

Ikaruga chuckled and flashed her sword at Erza’s prison. To her surprise, one of Erza’s swords appeared and parried it. The purple-haired swordswoman grimaced and kept striking, only for the redhead to somehow parry each blow. Eventually, a strike cut through the card, nearly cutting her real body, but allowing her to break out of her erstwhile prison

“E-Erza?” the blond rasped out, his eyes wide with dismay.

“I’m fine Sho. Her blades cut through the dimension I was trapped in. Now, I can fight on equal terms!”

Ikaruga laughed. “Even terms? Heh, an assassin like me doesn’t do even!” She reached into her cleavage and pulled out a pink Memory drive, making Erza gasp. “I could use this Sakura memory to destroy you.” To her surprise Ikaruga dropped it on the floor. Before Erza could react, her armor suddenly cracked and splintered, the pieces falling away to reveal her white blouse underneath.

“But my power is such that I can destroy you without it,” she finished.

Erza gasped in shock as her armored shattered leaving her vulnerable to another attack. She regained her focus and summoned her magic. “Guess I shouldn’t be playing around!” She summoned her Heaven’s Wheel Armor. She began to summon her swords for her Circle Sword attack.

Ikaruga closed her eyes and grabbed the hilt of her sword. ** Yasha’s Empty Flash!”** she barked, her eyes snapping open. In a flash, all of Erza’s swords were sliced to pieces landing all around her. Erza screamed in pain as her armor exploded from the unseen attack.

Ash heard the screams. “Erza!” His momentary distraction almost allowed a lance trooper to hit him.

Fortunately, Drew saw it and cut its head off. “Ash, don’t let her fight distract you!”

“But she’s hurt!”

“And if we don’t keep them off her, she’s gonna get worse. If it makes you feel better, we’re almost done. I can clean up if you really want to help her.”

Ash took another look at Erza who was recovering from her attack being negated. “No, she’s fine.” He then returned to the fight.

Meanwhile, Ikaruga traced a circle with her sword. **“Garuda Flame!”**

The circle summoned a large wall of fire, which barrelled down the walkway towards Erza with a roar. The redhead quickly summoned her magic, dismissing her Heaven’s Wheel, only to rapidly replace it with her Flame Empress armor.

Ikaruga raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Your magic is impressive. But…” Even as Erza hunkered down under the torrent of flames, the heat overwhelmed her, wearing away the orange metal. Like the Heaven’s Wheel, her Empress armor shattered, leaving Erza screaming in pain as the flames scorched her.

Ikaruga shook her head in pity. “I suggest you equip your strongest armor and face me for real, Erza Scarlet!”

Erza snarled and summoned her magic again. When it died down, she was covered head to toe in black armor. Spikes protruded from her shoulders, arms and legs. The spikes formed plate mail that went from her shoulders down to her wrists. Around her neck was a black necklace made of the same spiky material as the rest of her armor, nestled by her exposed cleavage. She wore a grey skirt that came down to her knees. The rest of her armor was a mixture of grey and black with multiple spikes protruding from every surface. Planted on the ground next to her was a massive, spiked club.

 **“Requip: Purgatory Armor!”** roared Erza, her eyes glowing red, “No one has faced this armor and lived!’

Ikaruga raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.” She slowly approached the menacing woman, “That armor is indeed powerful. But it's still no match for me!” She unleashed another Empty Flash. The diamond-hard armor cracked and shattered, knocking Erza onto the floor from the force of the impact. “Whatever armor you have, I will cut down. I suggest you surrender,” taunted the samurai.

Erza groaned and sat up, fragments of her armor falling apart to reveal her . “I…have one more armor left.” She cast another spell. Her ruined Purgatory armor disappeared, and in its place, a Sarashi that covered her well-endowed chest, and simple pair of red and yellow pants settled into place. Her hair held up in a long ponytail and a pair of katanas appeared in her hands.

Ikaruga frowned. “Are you mocking me? You’re going _unarmored?_ Are you so willing to die? I thought you were stronger than this!”

Erza closed her eyes, drooping. “I’m not strong. In fact, because I had my armor, I was weak. All it did was cut off my heart, to block out my pain.” Her mind flashed through her friends and finally stopped on Natsu and Lucy. The image of the two made her heart soar. Something else, unbeknownst to her, also pulsed in unison with her heart. “Armor did nothing for me. Now that I am free of it, I feel like I can use all of my power!”

Ikaruga grinned and turned to the side grasping her hilt, blade angled down. “Is that so? Fine then, let us see who truly is the strongest here.”

Erza said nothing, pointing her left sword at Ikaruga before mirroring her stance. Everything seemed to vanish save for the two swordswomen. A single sakura blossom trailed aimlessly to the ground between the two. As soon it reached the ground, both women reacted.

*CLANG!*

The floor splintered from the amount of force they pushed off with. In an instant, they both reappeared, backs facing each other. Erza flinched as a gash appeared on her shoulder, while Ikaruga laughed as the redhead fell to her knees…until a large wound suddenly slashed across her chest. Blood gushed from her wound before she fell to the floor, defeated.

Drew and Ash having seen the fight end, ran over to her. “Great job Erza!” Ash told her.

“You did awesome! Now let’s go to take down Jellal!”

Erza looked at the stairway. “No. This fight is my own. You three get out of here!”

Sho struggled to sit up, Ash running over to help him up. “Erza, you’re insane if you think you can take him alone!” he told her.

Erza said nothing, turning towards the stairs.

A ring went off in Drew’s ear. He turned away to answer the call. “Go for Zodiac.”

_“This is Max. Natsu, Grey, and I just took care of one of Trinity Raven’s members.”_

_“May here. We just took down this rocker guy from Trinity Raven and we’re recovering.”_

“Good job. The last one just fell. We need an evac plan, quick. Where’s Natsu?”

 _“I’m up and ready for more!”_ the dragon slayer called over a third channel.

Drew glanced inquisitively, at Erza who been listening in. “Natsu, you and Simon come find us at the top of the tower. We’re going ahead!” This caused Erza to look at him in surprise. “Everyone else get out of here!”

 _“Are you sure?”_ Lucy asked worried.

“You’re too far away to make a difference. We’ll be fine!”

 _“You better come back alive, Ketchum! Otherwise I’m gonna—”_ Drew wisely chose to shut off the communicator before Misty could go into a rant.

“I wish you luck,” Ikaruga gasped suddenly, from where she lay on the floor “15 Minutes. That’s all you have to defeat him, before the Etherion comes and destroys us all!”

“We’ll see about that! Come on Erza, Ash!” Drew ordered. Erza moved to argue but he stopped her with his sword in her face. “We aren’t leaving you to take him on alone! I’m not letting your self-sacrificing ways kill you. We finish this together!”

Erza glanced at Ash and Pikachu who both had the same determined expression. “Fine. But Jellal is mine!” She turned around and sprinted out of the room, Ash following quickly. Drew, spotting Ikaruga’s discarded Sakura Memory, knelt down and grabbed it. He turned to Sho and placed it in his hand. “Give this to Max- the smallest guy there. He’ll be able to dissect this. Now go!” With that, he followed the other two up the stairs.

In the hallway before the throne room, they spotted a series of flags hanging from the walls. Looking at them closely, they spotted a familiar emblem on them: a downward-thrust sword with five more flying over the hilt on a red background.

It was the same crest they’d found at the guild after Phantom Lord attacked them.

“Them again? Seriously?” Ash groaned.

“Have you seen this symbol before?” asked Erza, surprised.

“Yeah, whoever was bankrolling Phantom Lord’s invasion and the attack on the Heartfilia mansion had that symbol,” Drew replied, gazing up at it, “My guess is, they were the ones that gave Trinity Raven and Jellal their Memories. We need to be careful.” He said unlatching his phone.

They finally reached the end of the hall and burst through the doors. They were in large room with a crystal pillar in the center. It resembled a throne room for some demonic magic, with a long red carpet and raised stairs leading to the seat. Sitting at the top of those stairs, was their opponent.

He looked boredly at the group. “A Pity. this game is already over,” the blue haired man muttered. He looked up to see Erza marching over to him. He noticed her two companions staying back as if to say this was her fight. He turned back to his former friend. “Hello, Erza. It’s been a long time. Why haven’t you fled like the coward you are?” From his greeting to his insult, there was no change whatsoever in the casual tone of his voice. There wasn’t a trace of hatred to be found in his black eyes.

“Shut up!” Erza snapped, her temper flaring, “I haven’t left because I wanted to make sure that my friends, _your_ old comrades, were safe from the tower.” She pointed her sword at him. “As for you, this game of life and death is over!”

Jellal shrugged, unruffled. “I don’t need our old friends anymore, now that the Tower is complete. All that matters is that the Etherion will fire in ten minutes.”

The redhead’s eyes narrowed in defiance. “If that’s how long it will take for the madness to end, then so be it.”

He chuckled. “Why Erza, haven’t you realized it yet? It’s your destiny to die as a sacrifice. That’s just a pure fact.”

Erza heart thumped, as if to defy him. “My…my destiny is to make sure you fall here,” she said, her voice thick with sudden nerves, “If it means dying here, then so be it.”

Drew looked at Ash. “Okay seriously, when we get out of this, that attitude has got to go,” he told his friend exasperatedly, “I ain’t dying to bring down one man and a tower! Erza! Finish this, or we’re leaving you behind!

“We aren’t leaving her! It’s not the Fairy Tail Way!” Ash glared at Drew, “And I’m pretty sure it’s not an Army or Marine way either.”

Drew groaned. “Seriously, you’re gonna bring that up?” He threw up his hands. “Fine. We’ll stay, but if we die, I’m gonna haunt you for the rest of your life”

Meanwhile, Jellal stood up with a scowl. Without preamble, he fired five dark tendrils at the redhead. She quickly slashed through them all, only to be caught by a light blast that knocked her through a wall and off the tower. Her quick thinking allowed her to use the falling rocks to leap back up.

“What are you doing?” she asked, surprised. “We built this tower! Why are you destroying it?”

“Please, it’s nothing more than a couple of pillars!” Jellal answered summoning a ball of light. “All that matters, is that the R-system is complete.” Before Erza could retaliate, he fired the spell, ensnaring her in shadowy tendrils and enveloping her in darkness.

As it covered her, she remembered all of her friends, from old to new; Natsu, Grey, Lucy, even the Riders. Then she remembered her old friends like Millianna, Sho, Wally and even Simon. The light these thoughts brought her gave her strength. Unknown to her, the light was not just coming from these thoughts, but from something deep within. It was strong enough for her to grip her sword tighter, slashing through the tendrils.

Jellal jumped back in surprise at how easily his spell was broken. “That’s impressive; it’s like I’m looking at a different person.”

Erza heard none of this as she let out a battle cry. She tackled him to the ground, making sure his head hit the crystal hard. She raised her sword and pointed it at his eye. “This ends now, Jellal. You may have finished building the tower, but one thing you lack is magic. I’ve done my own research in the eight years since; to power this so-called R-system, you need lots of magic. 2.7 Billion units of raw Magic power to be exact. Nothing, not even combined with whatever mage there is on the continent could ever hope to generate this much magic!” She tightened her grip. “So tell me again, what are you planning?”

Jellal seemed to relax. “Three minutes until Etherion fires. Then everything will be over.”

“If it means dying to make sure you go down, then I’m content on holding you here!” Erza told him edging her sword closer.

Jellal looked up and smiled. “That doesn’t seem so bad,” he replied shocking everyone.

“Erza! Don’t fall for it! Just finish him off!” Ash demanded.

Erza didn’t hear him and her sword shook in hesitation. Jellal continued. “Erza, for eight years, I’ve been possessed by the spirit of Zeref. To bring him back into this world. I couldn’t stop him. No one could, not even our old friends.” He looked into her eyes. “Kill me, please!” He begged.

Drew couldn’t let this opportunity go, pulling out Brave. “Erza! Finish him or knock him out! If you don’t, the moment I get a clear shot, I’m doing it!”.

Erza looked deep into his eyes and to Drew and Ash’s frustration, she dropped her sword and embraced him.

“You were nothing but a puppet Jellal. We should have saved you that day,” She told him. “In the end, we were both sacrifices.”

Unknown to the redhead Jellal’s smile turned sinister, which the boys were too late to catch. “You’re right, for one of us!”

Before she could ask, what he meant, she was punched in the gut and knocked to the floor. Erza coughed as the blow knocked the air out of her lungs. “W-why…?!”

“Heh, you foolish girl!” spat Jellal, “I can’t believe you fell for my act. I still need you to be sacrificed!” He thrust out his hand, tendrils of dark magic lashing out and grabbing Erza. “Now then, we just wait for Etherion.”

However, in a flash, she was cut free from the spell, making Jellal growl in irritation. Drew was quick on the draw and caught her. The cultist glanced to his left to see Ash resheathing his sword. “You two will not keep me from my plans!” He growled. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a white and red Gaea memory, emblazoned with a golden, flaming S. “I was hoping this wouldn’t need to be used. But now, if I want to get my sacrifice, I’ll have to kill you!” He pressed the button on the Memory-

**SUN!**

Brought it to his left shoulder and jammed it into the Connector tattoo. His body glowed and burst into flames as raw power _burned_ through him, making him cry out in pain and exhilaration. A few moments passed before they extinguished themselves, kicking up billowing, blackened clouds. When the smoke cleared, the cult leader had changed drastically: he gained metallic armor was white and gold, with a floor length hooded cape. His face had a golden sun faceplate with a ruby in the center and in his arms was a double edged golden lance. He looked like the sun personified.

**“Hehehe, so this is the power of a Gaia Memory. With this I need a name that conveys my future status as ruler of the world. Call me… _Lord Rigel.”_**

The two Riders watched him revel in his transformation and immediately grabbed their belts. Drew looked over his shoulders. “God damn it Erza!” he snapped, “This is what hesitation does! You came here to end him and now you just killed us all!” He pressed one of his phone’s top row buttons.

**STANDBY: TAURUS**

They both went into their stances and shouted, “HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

**COMPLETE**

When Drew transformed, Zodiac’s armor formed in a noticeably different appearance from his Leo form. His main coloring was now a dark brown, with the Taurus symbol on his chest. His shoulders, neck and upper body had bulked up, adding extra armor above them. His lower body had much thinner armor, like a bull’s legs. His feet were covered in knee-high cowboy boot-like greaves. Two large horns curved up from his helmet and the eyes were dark brown. Finally, for a weapon he had a large axe, with blades that was half his body width.

 **“Zodiac Spirit of the Ox: Taurus!”** shouted Zodiac, planting the handle in the ground with a crunch, making a crater on impact.

Rigel laughed, shrugging. **“I don’t care what form you change into, your time…is up!”**

The two Riders gasped as they felt a large amount of magic radiating down on them through the ceiling. Without even hesitating, Aura quickly pulled out a green card and scanned it.

**PROTECT**

Meanwhile, Zodiac, despite still being angry at Erza, tackled her and shielded her with his body as a bright light blinded them.

Era, moments before

The magic council had gathered their magic and were finishing their chanting. **“We pray to the sacred light! Release, Etherion!”** As soon as the prayer ended, a large amount of magic discharged from the room and launched towards an elaborate array of magic circles high in the sky. On the lacrima screen in front of them, several magic circles and glyphs appeared above the tower. The spell paused and fired its payload. The beam travelled through each circle , amplifying with each pass, a whine of power rising all the while, until finally it blasted downward with a roar that could be heard even from where they stood. The pillar of light struck down on the tower with the force of a nuclear bomb, blinding anyone in the vicinity and causing the ocean to rise up nearly swamping the beaches nearby. Clouds vacated the sky, blue darkening to starry black

The head of the council, Org, sighed as the blast consumed the tower. “So many innocent lives lost. But that is what we must pay, to make sure that Zeref never returns.” As the light died down, all of the council members gasped in horror. The Tower instead of destroyed by the strongest weapon, was still standing. In fact, it had transformed into a much thinner yet jagged structure that reached into the sky. It was glowing ominously as if it had a large amount of magic.

Yajima snapped his head towards Siegrain. “What is the meaning of this!?”

Siegrain laughed. “Don’t you see? _This_ was the true R-system all along! All I _really_ needed was the magic power to activate it. And thanks to you buying my sob story, I got it.”

“Wait! What do you mean your plan? It was…no! You’re not the real Siegrain?!”

“Got it in one old man! You see, I myself am a projected illusion.” He said as he began to vanish So now that my plans are done, I can reunite with my real form!”

Yajima reached out in attempt to keep the illusion here, but at that moment the council room was falling apart. The council immediately panicked as the building fell to pieces, the support beams aging to dust all around them. Only Ultear remained, cackling as rubble and masonry crashed down all around her. “Soon, Lord Zeref, your plans will be complete!”

Tower of Heaven

The light, heat and pressure all vanished. To the Rider’s surprise they were still alive. Aura quickly dropped his shield and called out to his friends, “Zodiac, Erza, you alright?”

Zodiac stood up, still shocked, helping the woman up as well. “Yeah…What the heck happened?” Their com link went off and he answered instantly. “Guys, are you alright?

 _“Yeah, we’re all okay!”_ Misty told them, _“We saw the light show! That must have been the Etherion cannon! The whole tower was transformed into some kind of spire! Did you guys get out?”_

“No, we were right in the middle of it. But somehow we’re okay!”

 **“That’s because the target wasn’t a human,”** Rigel taunted, **“Erza was right. I needed a large amount of magic power to power the R-system. The Etherion cannon was just what I needed to activate it.”**

“...You manipulated the council to do your dirty work!” Zodiac realized.

 **“That’s right. But it seems that all that magic power is also helping myself.”** Indeed, Rigel’s body glowed a bright gold as magic flowed out of him in waves of pure energy. **“Let’s see what this can do!”**

**SUN: MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

**“HOOOOOAH!”** he yelled, throwing back his head and spreading his arms. In a flash, his coat vanished into ashes and his mask shattered, revealing roiling, flaming flesh. The blinding corona around his head did nothing to hide the dark skull that it shone from. His weapon twisted and warped, the forked blades twining together and stretching into a double-helix of burnt-gold. **“And yet another name is needed. Behold: Glory Rigel!”**

He hoisted up his lance, his hand glowing and pushing magic straight into it, igniting it. He flashed out of existence, catching them off guard, then appeared in front of Aura, already swinging. The strike launched Aura, screaming, through the air to crash heavily into the crystal structure, causing him gasp from the air being ejected from his lungs. Turning quickly, he flashed towards Zodiac, stabbed his shoulder and thrust him into the air, catching and impaling him with a crunch on the tip of his spear. Turning, he hurled him through the air to smash down next to Aura, his armor sparking from the impact.

Zodiac hissed in pain as he sat up, rubbing his helmeted head groggily. “Bad time to not use Leo form.”

 **“Some armor,”** snorted the Dopant, **“Here I was, all worried about them and you get taken down in one shot. Oh well.”** He turned to Erza and fired a beam of light at the redhead.Behind him was his old Siegrain projection, who disappeared. The magic that constructed him flowed into the already powerful dopant, causing the heat coming from his body to ramp up even further, oppressing everyone with its intensity. **“I hope you enjoyed your freedom, because today is your last day alive!** ”

“You’ll pay for all the people you’ve manipulated! You hear me!?” Erza screamed. Before she could attack black tendril like tattoos suddenly flared up all over body.

 **“Before you ask, I put these on you when I hugged you.”** He carried her over to the large crystal. **“In order for this to work properly, I needed one more thing; and that’s where you came in. You will be my sacrifice to bring back Lord Zeref.”** He approached the lacrima crystal and placed her against it. **“Great Zeref, accept this offering for glory and your resurrection!** The crystal began to absorb her as he turned around. **“A pity, in another life, we could have been lovers. I truly did love you at one point.”**

He approached the Riders. **“Do you see it now? My lord Zeref will come purge the world and you to make it in his image. But I doubt you will be around to see it.”**

Zodiac was about to retort, when he glanced over Rigel’s shoulder. “I think you’d best save that statement for when you actually _kill_ Erza.”

Rigel turned around and saw Draco had pulling out Erza out of the crystal. **“What’s the meaning of this!?”**

Draco laughed. “You’re not taking Erza that easily! She’s coming home and going on missions with us!”

**WATER PULSE**

Rigel moved to attack the Dragon Slayer, but Aura had recovered enough to hit him with a Water Pulse, which only served to piss him off. **“You two are annoying me!”** The Dopant changed direction and blinked over to the the Rider, swinging down at them.

Meanwhile, Draco glanced at Erza. “Can you move?”

Erza shook her head, gritting her teeth as even that motion came with difficulty. “No, Jellal’s magic made it hard for me to move.”

Draco frowned, but then grinned, before reaching under her arms to tickle her. This made her snort, her frown turning into a strained smile as she gave a startled, choked laugh. After, they calmed down, the dragon slayer sat up, hefting Urvan onto his shoulder. “You stay here. Let us take care of it.”

“How?!” she asked frantically, “Jellal is too strong! He was a council member!”

“So was Jose! And he was a Wizard Saint! We can kick his ass!”

“As much as I _want_ to just get sick watching you two flirt, Draco! Get your butt over here and help!” snapped Zodiac.

Draco nodded and before Erza could react, he punched her in the stomach, knocking her out. He then ignited his legs and charged at Rigel. The Dopant, who clashed weapons with Aura and Zodiac, lifted up his lance to push them away and then blocked Draco’s overhead charge. He leapt back, clean over the Rider, and twirled his weapon around to hold it behind his back. **“Well now, three Riders huh? This makes the battle more interesting.”**

Zodiac turned to Draco. “Drake, use your Water Ring, we need ways to make sure his fire doesn’t hurt us. It should be something blue on your waist.

Draco looked down and indeed there was a blue ring on his ring holder. He picked it up and swapped his red ring for his blue. In the process he flipped the hand on his belt to the right.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!~~~SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!~~~**

He then thrust his left hand over the belt.

**WATER! Please~! (Sui~(Sui~(Sui~))) SUI~!”**

The belt let out a voice like a barber-shop quartet. A blue magic circle appeared from his right and covered him. The armor itself became more streamline and form fitting. The fiery red was replaced with a watery blue. His helmet had also changed from a red to a sapphire blue.

 **“Kamen Rider Draco: Sapphire!”** he shouted.

Meanwhile Aura pulled out his Adept card, while Zodiac grabbed his phone, flicked the screen to the left and pressed the center button.

**STANDBY UPGRADE: VISCOUNT**

**ADEPT**

Rigel twirled his lance as the three Riders all charged. He caught all three attacks with little effort, even as the force of the blows cracked the floor beneath him. **“It doesn’t matter what form you all take, it is pointless to resist me!”**

In response, Aura quickly pressed the button for his Buizel.

**AQUA JET**

He charged at Rigel, his spearing thrust forcing Rigel to turn. He lifted his lance and blocked it, the force causing him to grunt due to holding up three different attacks.

However, this allowed Draco to come at him with his axe glowing blue. **“Water Dragon’s Wave Crusher!”** he cried. He swung Urvan, a wall of water in its wake, onto the Dopant. Rigel quickly recovered and saw

Zodiac knelt on the ground, gathering energy. He then began to run at the enemy, momentum increasing by the step. **“Taurus Charge!”** He stampeded towards his opponent, shoulder first. The impact stunned Rigel as the impact caused heavy trauma. However, his body retaliated by burning Zodiac’s armor. Zodiac hissed in pain as the heat burned his skin.

Rigel coughed as he recovered from the impact, his heels digging glowing, smoking trenches into the ground as he slid backwards. **“Tch, how annoying. Quite honestly, I wanted to see the destructive magic that a Dragon slayer possesses. But this has been nothing special in my mind. I will show you my true strength! Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor!”**

Rigel became engulfed in light, his magic power flowing around his body like a river. Draco, seeing him stationary, blasted his way towards him and took a swing. In a blink of an eye, however, the dopant vanished, leaving the Rider to flounder as his swing went wide.

“Wha…?” Draco asked, confused, only to get hit in the face by reappearing dopant. He tried to launch another punch, but Rigel reappeared behind him and kicked him away “Damn, he’s fast!” grunted Draco. Then he gasped in realization. “Fast? Aura!”

“Already on it!” shouted the Lightning Guardian. His eyes glowed blue, trying to find the seemingly invisible Dopant. He snapped his head to his left and barely blocked the slash.

 **“You’re fast, but not fast enough!”** Rigel blinked away and suddenly attacked Draco, glowing with power. He quickly overwhelmed the Dragon Slayer through a combination of blazing fists and blistering kicks, each blow landing with a heavy *bang!* Each attack left its mark, impacts drawing sparks and leaving dents, until finally Draco fell to his knees.

 **“I won’t let any of your attacks reach me!”** boasted Rigel, **“Let me show you my true power!”** He placed his hands together, pointer and pinky finger extended. **“Grand Chariot!”**

Seven balls of light appeared above them, in the shape of a familiar constellation. They glowed briefly before they released beams of light down on the Riders. Aura and Zodiac were able to leap out of the way, but Draco was not so fortunate. One of the beams crashed down directly on him, eliciting a scream of pain. When it died down, Draco was face down, trying to recover his strength, his armor smoking and cracked.

 **“That is what my power can do! It’s on par with the stars themselves!”** laughed the Dopant. He glanced at the ground and frowned, spying cracks in the floor. **“Though I really do need to hold back,”** he muttered, “ **I can’t afford to let you damage this tower any further.**

Unfortunately for Rigel, Aura heard him and glanced at Zodiac, who nodded. “Draco!” The dragon slayer sat up and looked at the Fire Guardian. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I need you to do what you do best and wreck this place!”

Draco grinned behind his mask and with a burst of adrenaline, aimed his fist at the floor. The power behind the punch cracked the floor.

 **“What the hell are you doing to my tower?!”** shouted Rigel.

“If you’d done your research, then you’d know that Fairy Tail is famous for one thing!” Draco boasted landing another punch. “And that’s causing billions in property damage! Just your rotten luck you got the king of it, and I’ve got free reign to wreck this place!”

 **“Why you…!”** roared the Dopant, flashing forward.

Before he could attack, however, Aura rushed in his body charged with electricity. “Forgot about us? **Volt Tackle!”**

Rigel yelled in pain as the Aura master slammed into him, electricity coursing through the metallic body. He crashed into the wall, creating a hole in the tower wall. **“You three are DEAD!** ” He bellowed and charged back into the fray, swinging wildly at his opponent, knowing that the Riders had an advantage over him due to the fact they didn’t have to hold back and he did.

As the fighting heated up, Erza slowly woke up and recovered from Natsu’s punch. She rolled up onto her knees and watched the battle. The tower shook as more damage was caused to it, causing the magic to spill out.

 _Natsu…you reckless fool. You shouldn’t have come back for me…_ She shook her head. _I guess…that’s why you captured my heart._ A pulse surged through her body. She shrugged it off thinking it was magical pulse. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadows flicker and pull towards the dopant. “Oh no,” she gasped; in a burst of adrenaline, she ran towards the fighting.

Moments prior, Rigel’s anger was reaching a furious peak. **“I’ve had it! I’ve had enough of your continued existence! How dare you ruin my Tower?!”**

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid of destroying your own tower, so you can’t use your power?” taunted Zodiac.

Something snapped in Rigel, before his power spiked even further, cracking the floor. **“That’s it! You will _all_ die here!**” He crossed his arms above his head, summoning a gold magic circle. Dark energy gathered between his arms, sucking all the shadows in the room, forming a swirling vortex of death.

Zodiac immediately went for his phone to switch to Virgo, while Aura pulled out his Protect card. Draco was about to switch rings when Erza ran in front of them. “Erza!? What the hell? Get out of here!”

Erza looked over her shoulder and then back at Rigel. “You still need a sacrifice to revive Zeref right Jellal? Then I dare you to fire!” she challenged.

“Erza, move! Zodiac ordered, “You’re not going to survive!”

**“You are correct. I do need a sacrifice, one with power on par with a Wizard Saint! But at this point, I don’t care! I’m gonna blast you all to dust! Altaris!”**

He dropped his hands and fired off the attack, a dark beam speeding towards them like a missile. It reached its destination and exploded causing a large cloud of smoke to fly up. When the dust cleared, the Riders and Erza were unharmed to their shock. They looked up and gasped in shock.

Unbeknownst to them, Simon had been watching the fight. When he saw the attack, he valiantly leaped in front of the blast and the blast tore through his chest. He groaned in pain, eyes unfocused, before collapsing, his body hitting the ground with a terrible thud..

“Simon!” Erza screamed in horror, rushing to his side.

The tall man coughed up blood, even as she turned him over. “S-sorry, Erza… But on the…the bright side, I’m glad I helped…”

“Simon, stop talking! we can get you to a medic!” pleaded the redhead, tears flowing down her cheeks.

The man reached up to thread his hand through her hair. “You were always a…gentle soul, Erza…” He coughed again, spraying the floor with his blood, before turning his head towards Draco. “Natsu…I’m leaving her…to you…” He looked back at the redhead. But instead of her present self, he saw her younger form holding his hand. He tried to reach her face. “Erza…I always loved you…” He trailed off and his arm fell slack, dropping to the ground.

“Simon?” Erza pleaded, “Please, don’t go! I just got you back! Simon? SIMON!” He did not answer, for he had already passed on. She wailed with grief, tears flowing like a waterfall.

The Riders looked away, Draco clenching his fists, Aura gripping his sword tighter and Zodiac growling. The Fire Guardian turned his attention to Rigel. “He was your friend. Erza was your friend! Why do this!?”

 **“He died for such a worthless cause,”** Rigel sneered, **“How pathetic! His death doesn’t bother me one bit; all that matters is that Zeref has revived!”**

Something in Erza snapped; her body beginning to shake. She gently lowered Simon’s corpse to the ground and stood up, her eyes turning steely. “You may not care, but I did! Simon was our friend, and he died protecting me!” As she spoke, the pulsing she felt earlier flared to life. “I won’t let his sacrifice be in vain! I won’t let anyone die again!” At her declaration, her body began to glow gold, blinding everyone in the room.

Rigel hissed in pain, his burning flesh dimming to expose the outline of bones. **“What is this light…?”**

The Riders reactions adjusted to the brightness as they watched Erza glow with power.

“Wow! Erza’s one of us!” Aura cheered.

“Who knew? Go figure, the Queen of the fairies, is now a Knight,” Zodiac said impressed.

Draco watched in wonder. “Erza…I always knew you were cool. Now, you're amazing.”

On the beach far away from the tower

Far away from the imposing tower, their friends watched the tower with worry. Lucy gasped and clenched her chest. May noticed this. “Lucy, what happened?”

The blonde glance at the brunette. “Nothing. Its just…I think another Rider awoke.”

“Really?” Misty asked. “Huh, guess because the other Riders awoke when we could see them we never felt it.”

Lucy said nothing and looked at the tower, one name in her head. _Erza._

Back in the tower, the glowing died down, revealing Erza, with her wounds healed and her clothes repaired. On her left wrist, there was now a bronze bracelet, the same one that she’d been given by Tsuki. Mounted on it, with a long thin slit through it, was a metal block used for sharpening weapons, running from her wrist to halfway up her forearm. Around her waist was a bandolier, loaded with several miniature versions of her weapons. She reached down and pulled off a blade resembling a bronze lance, holding it up to her face. She raised her left wrist to her face, glancing over her shoulder to smile at Draco. “Let me protect you; from here, to the sky, and everywhere in between!” She raised her other arm and crossed it over her occupied hand, the weapon poised near the metal block.

She struck the knife against the slit, sparks flying as friction caused it to slowly drag the blade through.

**AQUILA!**

“HENSHIN!” cried Erza. She flipped the knife around to a normal grip, straightening out her arm, and dragged it all the way back down the sharpener, the sparks accompanied by an eagle’s cry, until it burst free with a pulsating magic circle.

**TAKE FLIGHT!**

Ten ethereal swords appeared, five from behind her and five from behind Rigel. The swords cut into him, knocking him down as they sped towards her. The swords sliced through Erza, leaving no blood but ten golden cuts across her arms, legs and chest. She stayed still for a second, before the cuts suddenly flashed and her body _shattered_. As the pieces fell away and vanished, they only revealed the armor that lay beneath

Where she stood now was a completely different person. She was clad in in a bronze corset that hugged her figure and a red short skirt, her legs encased in knee-high heeled boots of the same material, with black latex covering what the boots didn’t. Her armguards were of a similar color that came up to her elbows, red latex connecting it to her shoulders. Over her head was a dark bronze helmet with green eyes and topped with a matching circlet. On her waist were her set of miniature weapons that wrapped around her waist. On her back was a large shield and a three foot lance.

She spread her arms out. “Soaring among the clouds and fighting for the freedom of others,” she intoned, “I am…Kamen Rider...Aquila!” For emphasis, she clapped her hands together, making a slash, before pointing at her former friend.

Rigel staggered to his feet. **“It’s useless…whatever you do is useless! Zeref _will_ be revived!” **He charged at the new Rider, swinging his lance.

CLANG

To his shock, his attack struck Aquila’s shield and stopped dead. In a show of dexterity, she reached behind her, grabbed her spear and, in one movement, twirled it out and slashed into him. The long weapon easily sliced through the Dopant’s weapon, breaking it.

 **“Impossible!”** he roared, even as the twisted lance evaporated. Aquila charged at him, thrusting forward and getting him in the chest. She continued her assault, swinging her lance wildly and carving deep, dark furrows through Rigel’s chest, not giving him an inch. Sparks and flames billowed from the open wounds with tainted heat and light, mixing with his monstrous screams. The ever-present glow of his plasma flesh flickered, dark bones standing out even further.

Meanwhile, Draco stood in awe his long-time friend go all out on their opponent. “Wow. Erza is kicking butt!” As if to spite him, Aquila got hit by one of Rigel’s fists and thrown back only for her to recover in mid and threw her shield catching their opponent off guard. “I need to help, but I’m running low on energy.” He looked at the Lacrima crystals and grabbed a loose chunk.

Zodiac looked at Draco. “Dude, what’re you doing?” He asked panicking

Draco said nothing, swapping his current ring for his Fire Ring. “If this crystal has magic, then it must have fire, right?”

“Are you sure it works like that?”

“No. But Erza needs me!” Before Zodiac could stop him, he chomped down on the chunk of crystal, his draconic teeth shearing through the rock with ease. Almost instantly, he grabbed his stomach in pain, hissing and groaning as he fell to one knee.

Rigel heard his gasp and turned to see Draco rolling on the ground. **“You see that, Erza?”** gloated the Sun Dopant, glancing back at Aquila, **“Your friend is going to be destroyed by his own stupidity. All of those elements will poison him!”**

Erza’s hand clenched around her spear as watched her friend writhe in pain, while Zodiac tried desperately to figure out how to fix this. “Shut up!” she snapped raggedly, “Natsu’s been through worse than this! You should be focused on me!”

Before Rigel could respond, a massive heat wave blasted through the room, making his eyes widen. They turned back to see Draco, not only standing, but also roaring in fury, flames enveloping him nearly melting the floor. Above him, the fire raged and formed into a large dragon.

 **“I’ve read about this!”** Rigel gasped in shock, **“This is the ultimate form of a Dragon Slayer! The ability to take the form of a _real_ dragon… This is Dragonforce!”**

As the flames condensed around him, his armor underwent massive changes: his arms and legs gained dragon-like scales, the fingers of his gauntlets elongating into sharp, curved talons. His ears extended above his head, while his faceplate became etched with the outline of a snarling beast. A red aura glowed around the Rider’s fist.

** “Kamen Rider Draco: Dragonforce Flame!” **

Rigel gasped in pain and surprise as the heat affected him, burning his body through his sun empowered body.. Aquila was not affected, though, grinning wickedly under her helmet.

Zodiac chuckled. “Well if that’s what it took to go next level, you should’ve said something!” Then, smirking, he jerked his head at Aquila. “I got an idea! Why not share it with Aquila?”

“How?” Draco asked curiously.

Zodiac nudged his head towards Aura. “The power of Dual Strike!”

“Huh? But…I thought you said it works best with trust between each Rider.”

“That’s why I think it’ll work;” replied the senior Rider, “You’ve both been friends for 8 years. Your friendship will shine through for sure!”

Draco nodded in realization. “Erza! Over Here!”

“What is it, Natsu?” she asked, furrowing her brow, “Do you have an idea?”

“Do you trust me?”

Aquila nodded immediately. “Yes, why?”

“I’m gonna give you a power boost. Alright, I’m Fired up!!” He clapped his hands together in prayer. She didn’t know why, but she did so as well, her magic flaring up in response. Her magic coalesced into the form of a green eagle and flew towards Natsu, whose own magic had formed a dragon. The creature, recognizing its friend, curled around it, mixing the magics together. She suddenly felt stronger, the dragon slayer magic giving her new resolve. She also felt how protective the magic was as it flowed through her being.

 _Is this how you feel when you're protecting your friends, Natsu?_ she wondered, smiling as the magic saturated her down to the bone. Harder than stone, stronger than the tightest shackle, warmer than a fire in the winter… _I could stay in this forever!_ She gazed at Draco, wondering if his expression was the same as hers under his helmet.

Meanwhile, Aura and Zodiac clasped their own hands in unison, their powers already combining as well. In their minds, all four symbols appeared: Zodiac’s lion shot red energy towards Aura’s lightning bolt. Meanwhile, Draco’s flying dragon embraced with Aquila’s spread-wing eagle.

Play Fairy Tail Theme

“LET’S GO!” they all yelled in unison, **“DUAL STRIKE!”** Their magics flared and wildly, streams of red and yellow mixing in a tornado of magic, while green and brown energy twined together in a double helix.

Rigel snarled, recoiling. **“What is this Magic!?”** His panic went unheard as Aura suddenly blinked in front of him, already swinging upward even as the Dopant registered his presence. This opened up Zodiac to charge in from behind Aura and land a solid blow to the monster’s jaw, knocking the Dopant skyward with a bang. Aquilla lifted her shield above her and Draco, seeing what she wanted, leaped onto it. The Eagle themed Rider braced her booted feet on the ground and, with a cry, hefted upward, launching him straight up, over the dopant. He ignited his fist and drilled Rigel in the stomach, his gauntlet punching through the scarred plasma. He kept up the attack, roaring as jets of flame propelled him up, up, and even further up. Rigel gagged and struggled, seizing the arm buried in his gut and searing the metal there at his touch, but Draco did not stop. He smashed into the ceiling with a pained, **“Ghah!”** and flecks of blindingly bright spit. And still the Rider kept going. The crystal gave way effortlessly, a chasm opening in the ceiling to wedge Rigel deep inside it. Only once the Dopant was firmly stuck did Draco finally move…and only then it was to _smash_ his other fist into his face, burying it even further into the Lacrima.

“You made Erza cry!” roared Draco, “I WON’T FORGIVE YOU!” With a howl of even more flames, he wound up and, with fire blazing from his elbow, punched him even harder, shattering the ceiling and sending his most hated enemy out into the night sky. Rigel tumbled limply through the air, arcing upward another few feet before he started to fall, groaning. “OH no!” shouted the Rider manically, “WE AIN’T DONE YET!” As the Dopant fell back past him, Draco flipped himself upright, swiping his belt’s hand back and forth. He _slammed_ his hand over it, snarling with fury and adrenaline.

**Very Nice! Kick Strike! SAIKOU~!!!**

A trio of magic circles formed over his leg, before bursting into a ball of bright blue flames. **“Dragon Rider Finish!”** yelled Natsu, **“SUNSLAMMER!”**

Glory Rigel heard the declaration, saw the attack, registered the name, and could only scream. That was all he had time for, for in the next instant, Draco’s boot drilled into his stomach, searing even his flesh with its heat and driving all breath from his lungs. With a sound like cannonfire, they both _shot_ downward, smashing back through the roof. The floor exploded as the Rider drove his kick through. Draco paid no mind as he continued to drive him through each and every floor, not even slowing down as his descent left a trail of brilliant blue. Over and over the Dopant felt the hard stone of his own tower slam into his body, all the way down to the bone, along with the oppressive heat of the Rider’s kick.

Eventually, however, their course had to end. “DOOOOOORYAAAA!” cried Draco, _smashing_ Rigel into the bottom-most floor. Blue flames exploded in all directions, whilst the ground and walls fractured from the force, obscuring the Dopant entirely and drowning out his howl of agony.

The dragon rider leaped back, waiting for his opponent to dig himself out of the massive crater that he’d been embedded in.

Rigel staggered to his feet. His plasma-like flesh was almost entirely burned away, flickering and becoming transparent, dark gray bones clearly visible all throughout his body. **“I will…destroy you!”** he croaked, lifting a finger to point up at his hated foe, **“M...Meteor!”** Using what little was left of his magic, Rigel once more ignited the aura around him and shot into the air, speeding back through the holes in the tower. Draco swore and pumped magic into his legs to launch himself after the Dopant.

The other Riders looked down the hole, still near the top. Aquila looked askance at Zodiac’s relaxed posture. “What’re we doing? He needs help!”

Zodiac held up a hand to quiet her and pulled out his revolver with the other. Before she could ask further, Rigel blasted past them. The Guardian quickly fired off several shots before holding his hand out to Aquilla. Seeing what he wanted, the Knight took his hand, instinctively summoning her new wind-power even as he hauled her up, lifting her into the air. At the same time, Draco blasted through the hole as well. Joining with the flying Rider, both Draco and Aquilla attacked him in sync. Lance strikes to the stomach, Axe slashes across the torso, Rigel couldn’t even block the powerful blows. One more strike from Draco knocked him out of the air, sending him tumbling back to earth. The two Riders landed near their friends.

Rigel dragged himself up, body sparking with electricity. **“I…will not fall here…I cannot die before he returns!** ” He tried to summon his magic for one more attack, but his body collapsed on him.

“Time for the finale!” Draco boasted pulling out the Finale Ring and flipping the hand author.

“Hold on Draco.” Aquilla held up her arm. “I started this fight. I’m gonna finish it.”

Draco was about to protest before Zodiac placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let her finish this.”

Draco looked at Aquila and nodded. The Rider pulled out the blade she’d used to transform and ran it through the block on her wrist.

**FINAL FLIGHT!**

She slashed it back the other way, causing the small knife to unfold into a proper-sized sword. Holding it before her, point up, she bowed her head, walking to the edge of the hole…and fell. She twisted through space, doing nothing to stop her fall. Howling with rage and desperation, Glory Rigel flew up to meet her, his fist blazing with plasma.

However, even as they met, Aquila turned and flowed through the air, his attack missing her by inches, her blade swinging out and upward gently.

** “Aquila Freedom Slash!” **

The Dopant continued on his way, streaking all the way up and out through the roof, fist still upraised. **“I…I did it!”** he gasped, voice raspy and weak, **“I…!”** His glowing flesh split down the middle and sloughed off his body, floating away into the night air and evaporating, leaving behind only his skeleton. **“I…”** With a crack, even his bones split in two, falling away from each other. Below him, the tower that had enslaved him for so long began to lean to either side, a massive cut cleaving the now-dark crystal in twain and leaving it unable to hold its own weight.

The Rider landed softly, falling to a crouch as an explosion rocked the air far above her. “My freedom is your defeat,” she said quietly. She straightened up, and gazed skyward back to see Jellal falling towards her, the memory that had given him his powers disintegrating. “Jellal,” she whispered sadly, watching as he landed on a high ledge. With one last look, she flew back to the top of the tower towards her friends.

As she landed on the top floor and powered down, the tower started to shake. This made everyone pause and look around for the source. Another tremor nearly knocked them off their feet.

“What‘s going on?” asked Ash in a panic.

“The tower…all the broken crystals are making it unstable!” Erza realized. “If we don’t get out of here, the wild magic will cause the place to collapse!”

“Right, let’s grab Simon’s body and get out of here!” Drew ordered. He and Ash quickly ran to the fallen mage’s body.

Erza, meanwhile, stared at the crystal sacrificial altar, suddenly speculative. “You protected me, Natsu;” she said softly, “Gave me the strength to overcome my past.” She walked slowly towards it. “Now…it’s my turn to protect you.”

“Erza? What are you doing!?” demanded Natsu, drawing Ash and Drew’s attention.

The redhead looked solemnly over her shoulder at Natsu as she touched the crystal. “This is the only way to keep Ethernon from killing you all.” The crystal glowed and began to absorb her, pulling her by the hand into its depths. “You're my friends, and I would do anything to protect you all.” At this point, only her face was clear; she’d turned back to properly address them. “I could never imagine a world without my friends or Fairy Tail. And especially you, Natsu. If I can protect them my sacrificing my own life …then I have no regrets.” Finishing her plea, the crystal swallowed her and the ruined tower began to glow brightly.

Outside, the observers watched as the tower suddenly glowed, then vanished, firing a beam of light up into the sky. Misty and May, panicking, grabbed their chests and sent out Aura pulses, trying to find their friends. Lucy collapsed onto the sand in shock, her eyes wide. “No…Natsu…Erza…please be okay!” she whispered, trying to hold back tears.

In an unknown place

Erza opened her eyes. She felt no pain, drifting through the void. _So this is what death feels like._ She looked down to see that she was clad in a simple white dress, a yellow ribbon tied around her waist. She closed her eyes and thought back to the first day she’d come to Fairy Tail. Makarov, seeing her missing eye, had taken her to Porlyusica; both mages noticed the eyepatch and the injury that laid underneath. The healer, grumbling about how much humans disgusted her, had created a magical prosthetic. When Erza could finally see, she cried from only one eye, much to Makarov and the doctor’s shock. When asked, the only explanation she gave was that she had cried half of her tears already.

She was snapped out of her memory of Porlyusica snapping that that made no sense when a bright light briefly blinded her. When her vision cleared, she found herself in a cemetery. Looking around, she saw the entire guild in black, as if in mourning. Turning her head, she saw that they stood before a large granite statue: a knight riding into battle. Then she noticed something. “Where’s Natsu?” she mused to herself.

As if to answer her question, a commotion coming from the back of the cemetery made everyone turn to see Natsu charging towards the grave.

“WHY, ERZA!? Come back!” wailed the dragon slayer desperately, forcing the other guild members, in particular the Riders, to hold him down. His shout, and the sight of him in so much distress, made her gasp in realization. This was _her_ grave, and they were attending _her_ funeral. She noticed Drew place something on her grave, a cursory glance revealed to her shock that it was her Aquilla bracelet.

“I…I made this choice to protect you all…!” she protested, her voice falling on deaf ears, “I just wanted to see you all smile. But…you're sad. I don’t want to see your tears. Not again. I’ve seen…so many people crying, all around me.” She held a hand to her trembling mouth. “No, this…this isn’t what I wanted! I want to live! I want to fight for you all!” As she cried out, the vision faded away.

Erza blinked her eyes, seeing that she that she was no longer in the void, but somewhere where she could see the stars. She felt a pair of strong arms carrying her. Looking up, her eyes began to water at seeing that Natsu was carrying her, his hair covering his eyes standing in the surf. “Natsu?” she asked hesitantly.

He looked down and smiled. “Hey Erza, nice to see you awake.”

She smiled, her eyes tearing up. The dragon slayer noticed this. “Huh?” he mumbled, tilting his head, “Your eyes…both of them are crying.”

“They are?” She asked surprised.

“Yeah, they are,” Drew’s voice broke them out of their trance, and she realized that he was walking alongside them, smiling tiredly. “Glad to see you're okay.” His face turned serious for a moment. “I seriously hope that’s the last time I have to save you because of your stupid pride!”

“Huh?” she asked, confused.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for Natsu, we wouldn’t have noticed,” Ash explained. “You were being absorbed and we had to bust you out of there. It was a damn close call.

Erza looked away, ashamed. “I’m sorry.”

Drew shook his head, sighing. “Don’t be. Just don’t do that again.”

At that moment, their friends saw them and rushed to greet them, shouting incoherently. Drew laughed. “Well, now that’s taken care of,” he turned to yell back, “Anyone got the number of the nearest buffet? ‘Cause I’m starving!”

“Seriously!?” asked Misty incredulously. “We just ate two hours ago! How are you _still_ hungry?”

Natsu and Erza watched them go with a smile, before glancing at each other and laughing. Natsu leaned his head against hers. “I will always protect you, Erza,” he promised in an uncharacteristically quiet whisper.

Erza blushed and smiled. Hearing splashes, she looked up and saw Lucy in front of them smiling with teary eyes. “I’m glad you're both okay,” she said simply, her voice thick.

Natsu adjusted his hold on Erza so that she could hug them both. The redhead didn’t know why, but being in the Guardian’s embrace just felt right as she relished the warmth. She closed her eyes as the last of her energy left her after today’s events and fell asleep.

With her past put to rest, Erza can look to the future; her destiny as Kamen Rider Aquila has awakened. How will her newfound powers help them? Find out next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END of Chapter
> 
> UO: Geez with editing this took forever to get out. I finished this at the beginning of May. ITS FATHER'S DAY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD
> 
> Kurogane: Well, that’s what you get for trying to cram a lot into a single chapter. With any luck, you’ll find a way to temper your writing bug so that it’s easier to update.
> 
> NS: Or just not cram an entire arc (or even half of one) into a single chapter and take the time to flesh out everything. Like I do.
> 
> Kurogane: Seriously, don’t be afraid to extend it into several chapters if you have to for an arc.
> 
> …
> 
> New Rider forms.
> 
> Aquilla
> 
> Erza’s ability to break with her past allows her to soar as the new Rider Aquilla. Her armor and weapons in her base forms are based on Pyrrha Nikos (RIP) from RWBY. The bracelet is an original design. Her other armors will get some love and attention as well. Her name sake is the Aquila constellation. The latin word for Eagle, it’s a very recognizable constellation and has been since antiquity, being associated with the Roman god Zeus. Its most prominent star is Altair, the 12th brightest in the sky. Its associated with the Tanabata legend as Hikoboshi. More recently, Altair is the name of the first protagonist in the Assassin’s Creed series.
> 
> Dragonforce
> 
> Taking advantage of the innate powers in the Lacrima Crystals, Natsu was able to bring his Dragonforce mode to his Rider Armor. This is based off Wizard when he got rings that gave his forms a boost, called the Dragonrise rings.
> 
> Preview: As the group winds down from their ordeal, feelings are revealed among friends. As the mystery of a certain symbol is revealed, one plots to bring down Fairy Tail from within. What will happen? Find out next time
> 
> Next time: Power Moves


	16. Power Moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As relationships grow, tensions rise and a guild member plots treason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY….SWOOSH!  
> UO: Finally got this thing off the ground. Let’s start by formally introducing two people who will be important to this story. First is my co-writer NorthSouthGorem. He’s been my behind the scenes beta writer. Now the curtain rises on our new partnership. Second, his OC will be coming on board as a valuable ally. We’ve been hinting in the author’s notes about his appearance.  
> NS: Just so. Though we HAVE been more than a little subtle about it, so if you didn’t catch on, don’t feel TOO bad.  
> UO: Right. Now, let’s welcome his OC   
> (A portal bursts open, the shockwave smashing the studio to pieces like a bomb. A tall figure steps through)  
> ?: I have arrived!  
> UO: GOD DAMN IT NOT EVEN A PARAGRAPH! NS, control him!  
> NS: *Bored* Heel.  
> UO: Is this going to be a regular occurrence?  
> Natsu: He destroyed the studio without even trying? AWESOME!  
> UO: Not awesome. Buddy, introduce yourself.  
> ?: Uh…like, do I have to ham it up, or just say hi? Jus-just wanna set things straight, ya know.  
> UO: At this point I don’t care, I have to keep everyone in line. I still have to clean up AFTER THE LAST BRAWL! (GLARES AT NATSU) Go ahead.  
> ?: Ten years on a war-ravaged world, with men and women doing battle with inexplicable abilities! Ten years spent fighting in a shit-hole of a city and fighting monsters that would make Godzilla think twice! Ten years wondering who the hell I am and where I came from! They call me…Foundation! To my friends and… er, to my family, I am! Friedrich Holmgardt!  
> (Dead Silence)  
> Friedrich: ...Ya fuckin’ serious?  
> Drew: When you say inexplicable abilities…?  
> Friedrich: I’m talkin’ superpowers. But like, that doesn’t really fit into the whole dramatic cadence of my monologuing, savvy?  
> May: Wait, normal people have powers? That seems boring.  
> Friedrich: Girl, if you spent a day where I came from, you’d wish for boring. (Thinks) Well, for a bit, at least, ‘cause boredom is still pretty awful by itself. An’ really…(rambles on and on)  
> UO: So, to our faithful audience, he’s gonna be an important character from this chapter on; he will show up fully once Fantasia is over. But to get an idea for where he came from, we are also posting a Gaiden story after he comes into the story that focuses on him when he’s not with the Riders. Right is everyone, (Sees studio in shambles everyone watching him with a curious look) Yeah, Fried, you mind doing the disclaimer?  
> Friedrich: Yeah, yeah, just lemme think…ahem. Neither UnitedOsprey nor NorthSouthGorem own Kamen Rider, Pokemon, Fairy Tail, etc. Only their OC’s are theirs. Not that anyone would own me.  
> NS: Keep thinkin’ that, bud.

"Dialogue"  
Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy  
_ **Attacks  
** **Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
 _Yelling in head_**

(Potential sensitive topics ahead, can’t believe I have to put this warning in...)

Chapter 16: Power Moves

August 8th X 784, late afternoon, clearing outside Fiore

When we last left our heroes, the Riders had destroyed the Tower of Heaven, a building used to revive Zeref that was built with slave labor. It was also the former ‘home’ of Erza, who had been captured and put to use as a sacrifice to resurrect the Dark Mage. Thanks to Natsu, Ash and Drew she was able to break free and become the newest Rider Aquilla. With her help, the tower was destroyed, freeing not only Erza but also her old friends. Freed from her past, she is now ready to embrace her new destiny as a Rider.

In the forest outside of Magnolia, the silence was broken by several hollow thunks and feminine yelps of pain. Erza groaned as she sat up, wielding her new weapons, Milo the spear and Akouo the shield. She wore a sleeveless, light green top with a a white belt, matching pants and her scarlet red hair in a pony tail. “Y-you’re impressive with your…swordwork,” she panted. “How long ….have you been training?”

Drew chuckled as he helped her up. “Almost since the day I got my gem. It helps that I have to train against nine different weapons. Yours is the first spear we’ve had, though it’s not the first time we had to fight lancers.” He then motioned to Milo. “Turn it into your rifle and fire that into the tree.”

Erza nodded, pressing a button near the bottom. The lance quickly folded in and shortened. It became a gold rifle with a red stock. On the back was a small channel that led to the muzzle and had red sights. She brought the rifle up to her shoulder and pulled the trigger underneath. Firing until she heard a loud ping as the cartridge automatically ejected from the top. She winced at the recoil as the gun dug into her shoulder. “Gh! T-this kick is strong. How do you people handle it?”

“Well, it helps that most rifles are military-issue or hunting rifles, so they would have to be sturdy,” explained Drew. He motioned her to put her gun down, pulling out Brave to demonstrate. “Most civilians will only see handguns less powerful than this.” He fired three shots into a tree, making Erza jump in surprise as the trunk splintered as the bullets impacted the trunk.. “Less range than a rifle, but the stronger handguns can stop an intruder in its tracks. Your rifle looks like something from World War II, a US standard M1 Garand. Good range, maybe not the best stopping power, and you’re only limited to eight shots before needing to reload; but it fires as fast as you can pull the trigger.”

The redhead’s eyebrow twitched at the torrent of information. “I-I see. I suppose I should be glad Bisca isn’t here… S-so, it can be used for hunting?”

Drew shrugged. “Possibly, if it were chambered in the right caliber, but it can get the job done in a pinch.” He holstered Brave and walked over to his bag to search for something. As he did, he heard his iPod playing some random song and shook his head in some amusement. “Where the heck does Gabby find this stuff?” he asked himself. Shrugging, he pulled out a book and paused. “Erza, I have an idea which martial art to teach you. But, it comes with a caveat.”

“What kind? I’d pay any price!” Erza declared.

He sighed. “I won’t go into the full details about this now. But suffice to say, the country this art comes from has been in more than a few conflicts. Even today, they are constantly at war with their neighbors. This is why this martial art is not just for defense or competition.” He turned to her, his face serious. “It’s designed to kill.”

Erza processed this. She was being given a way to defend herself but at the cost of potentially killing people, something that made her ask. Why give me this?”

“You’re the only one with the right temperament and strength to use it effectively. The idea is it brings your aggression and goes until the problem is solved. Which means killing or maiming people. You honestly think Natsu could handle this?”

“When you put it that way, I guess you're right.” Erza sighed. “Alright, I promise to train on this until I can protect my comrades without going into a bloody rampage.”

Drew smiled and handed her the book. “I know you will.”

Erza looked down at the book, the title of which read Krav Maga. There was another set of characters underneath that she couldn’t even begin to decipher. “This country, what’s its name?” she asked

Drew glanced at his ipod as the music changed. “Israel. The Jewish State of Israel.”

“Then, Israel, I hope I do you and your ancestors proud.”

Drew smiled. “I know you will.” Then he perked up as the first notes of the next song perked up. “I like this song,” he commented, leaning against the tree.

(Play Audioslave’s “I Am the Highway” RIP Chris Cornell T-T).

Erza raised an eyebrow as the lyrics started playing. “The song sounds...sorrowful. Like the singer’s in pain.”

Drew shrugged. “Probably wouldn’t be far from the truth. Chris Cornell, the singer, was the front man for another band, Soundgarden. They were part of what’s called the Grunge movement, one of the movement’s big 4 in fact. The others being Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and the most famous, Nirvana. Their lyrics brought up a lot of social issues which, up till that point, were hidden from view. Drugs, rape, suicide…” He closed his eyes. “That’s what brought down the Nirvana front man, Kurt Cobain. Took a shotgun and blasted his mouth out.”

Erza flinched at the unexpectedly graphic retelling. “I-I see.” She then looked away. “There were a few times…I thought about ending it too. I was so lonely, and it hurt to think about my friends betraying me.” She laughed bitterly. “But Natsu and Grey, everyone at the guild, brought smiles to my face.”

Drew smiled and leaned back, relaxing.

“You’re acting different,” pointed out the redhead, watching him apprehensively, “It’s like this is the real you.”

He chuckled. “Let me tell ya a secret. When I’m not training, I’m as lazy as a house cat. I’d rather play my games then fight. Problem is I don’t get a chance to show it often.” He regarded her outfit with a slight smirk. “You’ve changed too. Since you stopped wearing your armor everywhere, it’s like I’m looking at a brand new woman.”

Erza shrugged, smiling slightly. “I finally don’t have a reason to be so closed-off to everyone. I shouldn’t need to wear it around my friends.”

“Good.” He reached back into his bag and grabbed a small photo. Intrigued, Erza looked over his shoulder. Instead of his friends, she saw a completely different group. She could tell who Drew was, the glasses and short hair were unmistakable. The other three in the picture were different, however: two girls and another boy. The boy had shaggy, light blond hair and was wearing a black t-shirt with some sort of glowing figure on it. For pants he wore a pair of blue jeans. The first girl was a brunette. She was small, near Levy and Lucy’s height, though with a chest closer to the blonde’s. She wore a red shirt and black shorts and her smile suggested a bundle of energy. The other girl, by contrast, had naturally tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes that shone with mirth. She wore a yellow shirt and black leggings.

“My friends, outside the Riders,” he explained, “Steven, Deanna…and Nupur.” He pointed at each one, lingering on Nupur.

“The girls look cute especially Nupur. Is that a natural skin color? It looks very pretty.”

“It is,” he agreed, “It’s pretty…ah, pretty _exotic_ compared to most of my country's melting pot. I mean, my country has hundreds of different cultures blended together. She’s what we call an Indian; a person from the country of India. We met a in group session for something we all share. They’re the closest friends I have outside the Knights.” He sat up, grabbing his bags and began to walk away. “They have no idea what we do, and I plan to keep it that way. You have _no_ idea how much secrecy means to us; we’ve had to erase memories just to make sure no one on our side is hurt.” He looked over his shoulder. “In a way, we were like you before we took down the Tower.”

Erza nodded and jogged after him, the sun setting behind them. The only sounds in the forest were the ending of the song.

Next day, late afternoon

Lucy bit her lip as she paced her apartment. Since they had come back from the Akane resort, she had been building up courage to talk to Erza and Natsu about what she had been trying to figure out. Not helping was the dream she’d had last night: she was a queen in a sultan’s palace, wearing the outfit Anabel had given her two weeks ago. Natsu of course was the Sultan, but it was the other people in her dream that _really_ got her heated. She saw Erza and Mira, dancing seductively to an upbeat song, dressed in revealing dancer’s outfits of red and silver respectfully.

Both had danced for the rulers, before approaching them deferentially. Coming to a stop, Erza knelt before her; rather than pushing her away, Lucy had reached out to embrace and kiss the redhead. The feel of her lips was amazing, they tasted like the knight’s strawberry shortcakes. Turning her head briefly to see Natsu and MIra, she saw them making out like lovesick teenagers. Instead of feeling disgust, she had smiled at their interaction, watching as they approached her and proceeded to worship her body. It was when they started stripping her that she woke up, gasping for air, her mind trying desperately to process what it all meant.

Lucy groaned, flushing at the memory. She had ruined her panties thanks to her wet dream, and just thinking about it made her warm again. She looked outside. It was late, but maybe both of them were at the guild. She gathered her courage and stepped out of her apartment, passing by the boatmen as they said hello. Approaching the guild, she marveled at how the hall had transformed. It had opened the day after they returned from the Akane Resort. It was much larger than the old hall, resembling a cathedral. Outside the entrance hall was a cafe, with multiple tables strewn about on the grounds, along with a souvenir shop. The blonde celestial mage had learned that they sold, among other things, figurines of all the guild members—much to her dismay, hers came with removable clothing. Natsu had heard about this and threatened the proprietor, Max, into immediately recalling the figures.

Gathering up her courage, she entered the bustling guild. The building’s renovations were even more drastic, almost tripling the size of the old one: most of the hall was taken up by several long tables that stretched nearly from wall to wall. Mira staffed a bar table to Lucy’s left, serving several patrons. To the blonde’s right was a larger request board, with multiple mages picking out missions. In front of her was a large stage, where she’d heard Mira sing on the first night that the new Hall had reopened, and it was beautiful—up until Gajeel ruined it with his own horrible voice, igniting one of their more infamous brawls.

Behind the stage was a large indoor swimming pool. Lucy remembered Misty almost immediately gushing about it, eyes shining. The Water Guardian had spent a lot of her free time either by the pool. When she wasn’t swimming, she was in a side room with Drew, Ash and Gabby working on their music, something that surprised the blonde wizard.

Scanning the room, she spotted one of her targets sitting calmly at the bar, eating her customary strawberry shortcake. She approached Erza and sat down next to her. The knight finished her bite and glanced at the blonde wizard, her lips quirking in a frown at her nervous expression. “Something the matter, Lucy?” she asked without preamble.

The blonde bit her lip. “Can you and Natsu come with me? I want to talk to you both…privately.”

“What do you want with me and Erza?” asked Natsu from behind her.

“KYAH!”

The pink-haired boy laughed, making Lucy spin around and slap his chest irritably. “Natsuuu! Don’t do that!” she yelped.

Happy, in typical cat fashion, piped up with an unwanted comment. “Wow, I didn’t expect you to jump that high, being so heavVVVYAYYYYY!” His snark trailed off into a yowl of shock as a vine wrapped around his body and flung him into the air.

“Happy, we’ve told you time and time again. Knock. It off. With the weight comments!” demanded Drew .

Lucy sighed. Natsu noticed her dour expression and asked, more seriously, “What’s up Lucy? You wanted to say something?”

His girlfriend looked at him with pleading eyes. “Not here. Please, can we go to my apartment? This is something really personal to me.”

Before either of them could respond, a gentle voice cut in. “I think you guys should listen to her,” Tori told them, “Lucy’s held a lot back. You two are the closest to her, so this is probably something really big.”

“Tori’s right. If it’s something personal, then I don’t think a noisy guild hall’s the best place.” Drew glared around at the onlookers. “ _Some_ people can’t keep their noses out of everyone’s lives, Mira!” He pointedly called out to the barmaid, who merely blinked innocently.

Erza smiled in understanding and nodded. “Of course, Lucy. Come on, Natsu.” She motioned to the dragon slayer, who followed, frowning in curiosity.

Grey frowned. “Wonder what flamebrain wants to do with Erza and Lucy?”

“Maybe love rival wants to get rid of them and move in on Grey!” Juvia piped up scaring the ice mage. When Team Natsu came back, Juvia had asked and been admitted to the guild by Makarov. Despite some reservations about being a former mage of the guild that tried to destroy them, her perkiness allowed her to fit a lot easier than Gajeel.

“Tch flame brain getting another girlfriend? He’s already got Lucy, why would he need more?” Grey growled.

“Well he is a dragon,” May pointed out. “Dragons are by nature pretty greedy, so maybe he’s attracted Erza to him.”

“If that was the case, then Natsu would have brought it up, not Lucy,” Tori suggested. She looked at her boyfriend. “Something on your mind Drew?”

“Yeah, something we brought up when Lucy and Natsu got together. She might not be entirely straight,” he responded.

Gabby snorted. “ _Might_ is an understatement. I’ve seen her reactions to some of the girls in the guild. Mira and Erza especially.”

“Juvia’s confused,” said the rain mage suddenly, “What does ‘straight’ mean, here?”

Drew looked at her questioningly, but then realized why she was confused. “Oh yeah, most of you probably don’t know. Straight just means that you're attracted to the opposite gender, guy liking girl, girl liking guy. What we’re talking about is liking the same gender, guys liking guys, girls liking girls. There _are_ other terms, but that’s not important at the moment. The topic is really sensitive back home.”

“Alright, but what does this all mean for Lucy and flame brain?” asked Grey, though his expression indicated that he wasn’t really all that interested.

“It means, chances are Lucy has…fallen for both of them.”

Grey and Juvia were stunned into silence at the revelation. It was broken by a giggle from Mira. “That would be so cute. I think Erza needs someone to care for her. Having two people that like her might be what she needs.”

Anabel, who had been dancing off to side, stilled as she caught the tail end of the conversation. She also noticed, looking over, that Mira’s emotional state had dampened. Relaxing her stance, she prodded the girl. “Mira? What’s wrong?”

The barmaid blinked. “Huh? Oh, right, you can sense our emotions… No, its nothing. Just, you all look so happy, sharing each other. I feel jealous being left out.”

The empath smiled. “It’s nice that you’re so honest. I’m sure you’ll find someone, you definitely deserve it.” She then picked up a much more angry emotion and turned to see Gajeel storming up to Drew.

The Fire Guardian glanced uninterestedly at the Iron Slayer. “Can I help you?” he asked pointedly.

“You can help me by fixing my damn belt!” growled Gajeel, “Ever since I lost to Salamander, the damn thing hasn’t worked at all!”

Drew sighed. “I _told_ you that attacking your chosen Guardian would get you in trouble with Tsuki.” He glared at the pierced man in front of him. “She made the judgement that you were the right _carrier_ for that belt. She doesn’t make many mistakes, but I think she made a big one with you.”

The dragon slayer snarled, reaching out to grab the younger boy. However, Drew was much quicker and slammed Gajeel onto the table. “In case you haven’t figured it out, the belts don’t take kindly to traitors. Neither do I. Right now, your belt still sees you as a monster that attacked the belts’ heirs. Until another candidate appears, or you _prove_ that you're worthy of becoming Argo again, the Mage Riders won’t be needing you!”

He let go of the slayer. Growling Gajeel slowly sat up and glared at the Fire Mage. However, all he said was, “Tch...I don’t have time for this!” He stomped away, heading for the door.

“Redfox!” The Iron slayer glanced over his shoulder. “The fact that the belt hasn’t abandoned you altogether should give you comfort,” Drew told him, “Figure out a way to regain its trust. _Then_ you can maybe get your armor back.”

The dragon slayer grunted and left through the doors. Drew sighed. “I hope Tsuki didn’t make a mistake.”

“Are you gonna do a dream dive?” asked Gabby. Dream diving was something that Tsuki had taught Drew; if he needed to talk to her, he would fall asleep in his normal body, jump across dimensions and take over his clone.

“Was planning on it,” he agreed, “I have a couple of things to discuss with her. Anyway, Mira, you think we can go on stage tomorrow?”

The white haired girl smiled encouragingly. “Sure! Any hints on what you’re gonna be singing?”

The Guardian grinned. “Only thing I will say, is it’s gonna rock!”

On the street heading towards Lucy’s apartment

Lucy walked ahead of her two friends. This was partly to hide her blushing face, but also partly to get what she wanted to say over with. Natsu quickly caught up to her. “Luce? What’s the rush?”

The blonde looked at her boyfriend as she slowed down. “Natsu, can I ask you a serious question?”

The dragon slayer tilted his head. “Uh...sure?”

Lucy looked at the canal rubbing her arm. “If...something was different about me, would you still love me?”

Natsu laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You're my girl Luce. No matter how weird you get. Learning another weird thing won’t change that!”

The blonde puffed up her cheeks. “I’m not weird,” she mumbled.

The pink haired mage noticed her shyness. “Luce, you okay?” he asked more seriously.

“Natsu. Lucy is probably still thinking of what she wants to tell us,” Erza gently scolded him, “Don’t push.”

“Sorry, Erza. I’m still trying to be a good girlfriend for Lucy,” he told her concerned.

Erza smiled. “I know you are.” She strolled up to Lucy’s side. “That’s why I trust you to see this through.”

Lucy’s blush darkened, being held by her crush and her boyfriend. She would have thrown them both down and kissed them both if she had less control. Instead, she wrapped her arms around both and laid her head on Natsu’s shoulders.

“Um. Lucy?” asked Erza tentatively, her face slowly darkening to match her hair.

“Hm?”

The redhead shook her head. “N-never mind.” If she was being honest with herself, she liked Lucy’s arm around hers. But Lucy was with Natsu, she couldn’t take her away. Her face turned a dark red as images of both of them with the Dragon Slayer flashed through her head. _This is insane to think of Lucy like that. But…if May and Dawn could be like that…_ She trailed off as they approached her apartment. They entered the house after Lucy entered it.

“Make yourselves comfy.” Lucy offered as she went to get some drinks...

Natsu quickly went to her bed and laid on it. “Oh man! Lucy’s bed is the comfiest!”

Erza shook her head. “Natsu. Lucy might not like you coming onto her bed.”

“But she’s my girlfriend!”

“True, but being on her bed is inappropriate. You are her guest and being on a bed like that might lead to some...unfortunate misunderstandings.”

Before Natsu could ask, Lucy came back into her room with the tea. She sat down on the bed after giving Erza her drink.

“Luce? What’s going on?” Natsu asked her.

“Are you hurt? Is it something serious?” Erza pressed. “Lucy, please tell us!”

The blonde shook her head and took a deep breath. “What do you know about...s-same-sex relationships?”

“Like me and Grey? Gross, Lucy!” Natsu groaned.

“No!” Lucy panicked, “Not like that! Geez! N-no, I was…talking about romantically!”

“Huh?” asked Natsu, tilting his head with a catlike look in his eyes.

“She’s referring to how some guys don’t like girls,” Erza explained, catching on, ”Instead, they go after other men. Same with girls going out with girls.”

Lucy nodded. “Misty and her friends explained it to me. Gay is the term for guys liking guys and lesbian is girls liking girls.”

Natsu tilted his head the other way, clearly still not getting it. “Are you this ‘less bein?’ Is it contagious?”

“NO!” Lucy snapped with such vehemence that the pink-haired boy flinched in surprise, “It’s not a disease! Misty told me, it’s not something you can catch. It’s…something that you’re born as.” She took a deep breath as she calmed down. “Most people don’t realize it, until they’re our age. Where they come from, it’s still looked down upon.”

 _“Are_ you a lesbian, Lucy?” asked Erza, bluntly.

The blonde girl looked away. “No, I’m something else.” She took a deep breath and faced her friends. “I’m bisexual, which means I find both sexes attractive.” She glanced at Natsu. “Natsu, remember how I asked if you’d be open to sharing?”

“Yeah, and I told you that it was hard to not appreciate the girls in the guild. And that I found Erza and Mira pretty attractive.” He saw Erza blushing bright red and laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Guess I can say I had a crush on you . But I was scared to approach ya!””

Erza looked down. “Sorry. I promised I would be better.”

Lucy giggled at their interaction. “You two are so cute.” She smiled, her own blush coming through. “Guess that’s why I fell for both of you.”

Natsu smiled and approached the bed. “Luce, if you’re asking if we can add Erza to our relationship, then I’m not gonna stop ya!”

Lucy smiled and gave a gentle kiss to her boyfriend. Releasing the liplock she watched as Erza’s mind overloaded with the new information. Natsu stood up and walked to her. “Erza, no matter what happens, I promise I’ll care for you as much as I care for Lucy. Do you really like me?”

Erza gazed at Natsu longingly. She could see the warmth and truth in his eyes. Among the things her armor hid were her romantic feelings for the dragon slayer, hiding it behind the guise of a sibling bond. She had been a little sad that Lucy had got him first, but she would have stepped aside and encouraged the growing bond between the two. Now, literally sitting in her lap was the opportunity to have Natsu, even if it was with another girl.

“Yes.” She whispered reaching up to wrap her arms around his shoulders and bringing him in for a deep kiss. The moment their lips met, Erza immediately melted into the dragon slayer’s embrace. She would normally try to push back, making sure she dominated the situation. but Natsu’s gentle yet forceful kiss made her moan and close her eyes in bliss.

As for the dragon slayer, the feeling of his longtime friend’s lips was different from Lucy’s; the blonde’s lips were soft and tasted like peaches, while Erza’s were firm, yet tender, and tasted like the strawberry shortcakes she loved. The liplock lasted for several seconds before oxygen became necessary and they broke apart panting.

“Wow, that was…” the dragon slayer began, his eyes gleaming.

“…S-so…” Erza continued shakily.

“Hot!” Lucy finished with a squeal, her nose bleeding slightly. Her answer snapped them out of their little world and turned to the giddily grinning wizard. Erza gently pushed Natsu away and approached the quivering blonde. It may have been a trick of the light, but Lucy could’ve sworn that the redhead was trying to dance for her.

Erza paused in front of her, subconsciously going between Lucy’s legs and lifted up her chin.. “Are you sure you want me? You could have had Natsu all to yourself.”

“I’m sure, and I also sure that we might not be the only ones.”

Erza giggled, a sound which Lucy and Natsu both agreed sounded wonderful. “Alright, but until then.” And she took the blonde’s lips in her own. Lucy swooned into the embrace and wrapped her arms around the knight dragging her into the bed while Erza tangled hers in the younger girl’s hair. Both moaned as they landed on the bed, their breasts squashing together.

Off to the side, Natsu watched, transfixed at the sight in front of him. He never knew such a sight be so...fun to watch. The fact that Lucy liked both girls and boys was irrelevant to him. She was his weirdo girlfriend; so what if she and Erza liked each other like that?

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that the two had broken their kiss to cast their gazes at him. Erza groaned as her head was nestled between Lucy’s pillowy breasts, even through her clothes, and the celestial mage’s hands were tangled loosely in the knight’s hair. Both of them smiled at him through their blushes.

“Natsu~ don’t be shy, come here!” Erza _purred,_ tilting her head to throw him a _look_. Natsu gulped and slowly approached the girls.

“It’s only us, we’re not gonna bite,” giggled Lucy, almost slurring her speech.

The dragon slayer crawled onto the bed and looked down at his first girlfriend. Her pink and blonde hair formed a halo around her. He leaned down to kiss her getting a pleased moan out of her. Her bed squeaked as Erza snuck behind him and pressed her large breasts into his back. Lucy moved up the bed to put all three on the bed as they kept up the liplock. Releasing, bi colored hair giggled. “Do you two have anywhere to be?” She asked.

“Nope!” Natsu answered enthusiastically, while Erza shook her head.

“Good.” With that they descended into a mass of limbs, kisses and groping.

When they came out of their stupor, the sun had long set and the moon began its rise into the sky. Lucy groaned as she stretched her arms out, leaning her head back into Natsu’s broad chest. Her lips were swollen, her hair was a mess and her clothes were rumpled from all the groping.

“Wow...that was...intense!” she panted, catching her breath.

Erza snuggled into Natsu’s shoulder, her blouse having fallen partially open to reveal the cups of her rose-colored bra. “It was,” she agreed softly, her eyes regaining its normal shine, after all the pleasure she was subjected to. “I never knew having a boyfriend and girlfriend could be so much fun.”

Natsu grinned, his cheeks covered lip marks. “What can I say? You girls bring out the dragon in me.”

The redhead smiled, but sighed. “As much as we want to, I’d best get home.” She said sadly. She turned to leave when two pairs of hands grabbed her arms.

“Stay, Erza,” Lucy pleaded softly.

“Please, Erza?” added Natsu, his eyes watering for a puppy dog pout, “I don’t want you to go yet!”

Erza shook her head. “You two are just too loveable.” Then she sighed, stepping away to summon her magic. Her blouse and skirt changed into with a pink nightgown that stopped at mid-thigh.

Lucy blushed how beautiful and how open Erza was to them. She then sat up. “Guess I need to get ready too.” She reluctantly left Natsu’s embrace and went to her dresser.

“You can change in front of us, Lucy,” the redhead teased. This got a huge blush out of the blonde, making her sputter. Erza cooed at how adorable Lucy’s blush was, while Natsu laughed at her sputtering.

“M-maybe in the future,” stammered Lucy, “I, I’m not _that_ comfortable yet.” She glanced away with a blush, before picking out her night clothes and dashing into the side room.

When she came back, she was dressed in a light blue shirt that clung tightly to her growing chest, exposing her midriff along with a pair of pink sweatpants. She blushed and shyly looked away. “Sorry, I didn’t have anything better. This shirt is getting a little small for me.

Natsu chuckled and held his arm out. “Lucy, you’re beautiful in whatever you dress in.

Lucy smiled and approached the bed. She squeaked as she was pulled in and placed between the two stronger mages. Natsu wrapped his arms around her stomach and nuzzled into her neck kissing it tenderly. Erza scooted closer and placed the blonde’s head on her chest while laying on the pillow. The combined warmth of the two bodies around Lucy lulled her into a peaceful sleep, her bedmates shortly joining her after another kiss to both the celestial mage and each other.

Across town, another mage was also readying himself for bed, priming himself for his self-assigned mission. Gajeel, for the last three days, had unsuccessfully tried to talk to the woman who’d given him his belt. Part of the problem was he had no idea how to even find her, as Tsuki had appeared out of nowhere in his dream and told him about being a knight of her Kingdom. If it wasn’t for Drew acknowledging her, he would have believed she didn’t exist.

He had stormed off after Drew made a fool out of him. He remembered the Fire Guardian last words; he needed to ‘get his belt to trust him again,’ whatever that meant. He glared at his dulled rings, which rested lifelessly in his hands. “How in the hell do I get a _belt_ to listen to me? Gahh!” He hurled the rings down onto the floor in disgust. “This is too confusing. Stupid Guardian! Stupid Salamander!” He grumbled, shutting his eyes.

Gajeel’s Dreamscape (Play Zelda’s Lullaby, Wind Waker version.)

Moments later, he was awoken by a swaying. He groaned as he sat up and looked around. He found himself back on the ship where Tsuki had met him and gave him his armor. Sitting up, he looked towards the bow. He spotted a familiar silver-garbed woman on the bow and stormed up to meet her.

Tsuki, for her part, paid no attention to Gajeel’s approach, instead letting the sea air flow through her dress and the moon shine down on her porcelain skin. She felt the Iron Dragon Slayer’s approach, didn’t turn around or even open her eyes. “Hello, Gajeel Redfox.”

“About damn time I found you! I want answers!”

She still didn’t turn around. “I assume it's because of your belt?”

“Damn right it's about my belt! I want it back!”

Tsuki slowly opened her eyes, gazing out over the sea. “It’s not my decision whether a belt obeys or not. I only pick those who are descended from the knights of old.” She twirled around to face him, her light blue stare pinning him in place. “The original belts had no failsafes. They were redesigned after several of their wielders betrayed the Guardians and nearly wiped them out. As a compromise for freewill, they were designed so that only those who consciously betrayed their assigned Guardians would have their armors removed.” She pointed at him. “You, unfortunately, fall under such a rule. If the belt had vanished altogether, I would be seeking a new Knight. And trust me, there were three candidates in Fairy Tail that I could have chosen.”

“Damn you!” He charged at her, his arm glowing and transforming into a large club.. He was instantly thrown backward, flying clean off the bow onto the deck. He looked to see Tsuki’s eyes glowing silver.

“Do _not_ test me, Gajeel Redfox!” she shouted down at him, “My powers may still be weak from thousands of years of disuse, but I can assure you, they are _far_ stronger than Drew, and he’s not even at 20% of his full potential. Every one of them, from Misty all the way to Dawn and Max, has more power waiting to be unleashed!”

“You mean that punk will get even stronger?” he growled only to slammed back down, cracking the deck of the ship.

“He’s the leader of the Guardians for a reason. If he and by extension Misty and Ash _were_ at full power not even your old guild master could have hurt them!”

Gajeel scoffed. “So how do I get my belt back? You said that belt was mine and now I can’t use the dumb thing!”

Tsuki smiled and eased up her powers. “I believe Drew told you: you need to prove, not only to yourself, but to others, that you're willing to carry the Argo mantle. You need to show that not only are you willing to protect Draco and Pleiades, but also _every_ Rider, current and future.” She stepped aside and motioned Gajeel to follow her to the railing. Confused, the dragon slayer did so. She waved her hands as he approached and stilled the waters, images forming in its surface. With a start, Gajeel recognized the events of his former guild’s attack on Fairy Tail. “You have the power to do great good, but it’s been corrupted by your old master’s lies and deception from multiple sides.” She waved the image away, though his gaze stayed on the water. “Your past, the past unknown to you, serves a greater purpose than you know. A past tied to not just Lucy, but also Natsu. Until you grow as a person, the way forward will be forever clouded.” Tsuki walked towards the captain’s quarters. “Drew told you the same thing I’m telling you, and it’s doubly true. Prove yourself to be the Knight I know you can be, and keep moving forward.”

Before Gajeel could say anything in response, his body glowed and he vanished from the dreamscape.

Tsuki sighed and entered the captain’s quarters. On the wall in front of her were thirty five portraits, arraigned in groups of 7. She approached a set to the left of the Aura Riders. She could see Natsu, Lucy in the center with Grey, Erza and Gajeel’s faces surrounding them with black haired mage’s portrait cracked. She noticed one near the bottom glowing, showing a new female Rider.

“Gajeel’s past isn’t the only one that’s holding them back. The truth is much more complex than she realizes.” She groaned, then, rubbing her head tiredly. “But that’s for another night. I have to go to sleep. She pouted. “Stupid math test! Drew gets to save another world and _I_ have to deal with finding the value of x! I never needed to learn this stuff when the Kingdom stood.” Sighing, she closed her eyes and the dreamscape collapsed around her.

Waking world, Lucy’s apartment

Lucy groaned as she blinked herself awake, feeling extremely warm and comfortable. As her vision cleared, she almost squeaked when she saw Erza snuggling into her. Based on where her head was, she was snuggled into her partner’s soft and bountiful chest, her cheek smushing into firm, creamy flesh. The redhead had tenderly tangled her fingers in the celestial wizard’s multicolored hair, while her other hand laid under their large pillow. Lucy smiled bashfully as she watched the knight sleep; it was adorable how cute Erza was, in this state. A gentle squeeze made her realize that there was more than two people in the bed. Looking over her shoulder, she could make out the salmon haired visage of her boyfriend, who unconsciously scooted closer and kissed her neck getting her to giggle lightly. The soft sound was enough to stir Erza awake. Lucy turned to see her companion shift her head and yawned. The knight blinked herself awake and smiled sleepily at the sight of her partners’’s innocent brown orbs.

“Morning,” whispered Erza.

“Morning,” Lucy greeted. “Comfy?”

“Very.” She pulled the blonde deeper into her expansive bosom.

Natsu in turn snuggled closer, making Lucy moan at his warm weight pressing down on her from behind.

Erza giggled as she hugged Lucy closer. “You’re so soft.”

Lucy pouted. “I didn’t train as much as you before I came to the guild. We had servants to do everything.”

Erza squeezed the younger girl, making her squeak. “It doesn’t matter. That just means you’re more cuddly than I will ever be.” She sat up, letting the sun reflect off her nightgown. “Come on, I bet you reek from yesterday.”

Lucy took a whiff and gagged. “Good idea, I forgot to take a bath yesterday.” She looked down at the arm around her stomach. “I could use some help getting free,” she pouted.

Erza sighed good naturedly. “Alright.” She leaned over the blonde’s chest. “Natsu?” She asked sweetly poking his shoulders.

The dragon slayer groaned. “Five more minutes Erza. I’m too comfy.”

The redhead poked Natsu’s arms a little more forcefully, succeeding in pushing him off the bed and onto the floor.

Natsu rubbed his head. “Wow, I had the craziest dream. Lucy let me into her bed willingly and we slept in the same bed with Erza!.”

Lucy giggled and crawled to the side of the bed and looked down at him. “You need some better dreams Natsu.”

Natsu looked up to see both girls smiling at him. He returned the smile rubbing his head. “Guess so Luce.” He stood up. “So where do we go from here?”

Erza softly walked over to him. “Nothing in regards to our friendship. We’re partners in this relationship. I expect to be treated like Lucy.” She wrapped her arms around the dragon slayer. But I’m not fragile, I can stand on my own two feet.”

Natsu chuckled. “You can count on me Erza!” He reluctantly left the embrace. “You guys coming to the guild?”

His girlfriend shook her head, smiling slightly. “No, we’re gonna take a bath first. We’ll be there soon.”

He pouted. “Fine.” He wrapped Erza in a sudden, strong hug and kissed her, making the red almost melt into him. Releasing he turned to the celestial mage and leaned down to give her a kiss as well.

“Love you both!” Natsu cheered and ran briskly out the door.

Lucy giggled. “He’s something, huh?”

“He’s always been energetic,” agreed Erza, smiling slightly.

The two gazed at each other affectionately for a long moment, but then Lucy looked away awkwardly. “So...uhh... wh-who should go first?”

Erza blushed as she thought of something “I was thinking of...sharing the bath...with you,” she stuttered out, “You know, to...save water?” she trailed off.

Lucy’s body blushed at the thought. Taking a bath with Erza like this? “A-are you sure? I-isn’t this too fast? ” she asked hesitantly.

“It shouldn’t be bad if it’s us just girls,” Erza replied. “I took baths with the boys when we were younger.”

“Okay…if you insist…”

The bi-colored mage followed Erza timidly into the bathroom. Turning on the water, the redhead glanced curiously over her shoulder at Lucy. “Are you going to stand there, or are you going to join me?” So saying, she unequiped her nightgown.

Lucy gulped as the cloth dispersed into particles of light and she beheld Erza’s nude form. Toned legs and arms, a flat stomach, breasts as big as hers and a heart-shaped ass to match, topped off by the scarlet hair she loved… She was everything she wanted in a girl, at least as much as Lucy wanted to admit. She watched as the knight stepped to step into her bath feeling like she was watching a goddess bathing in her bath. The knight glanced over to her side before easing herself into the inviting water. “Coming, Lucy?” she asked.

The celestial wizard snapped out of her dreams when she heard that and merely nodded. She unzipped her pants dropping them to the floor before slowly pulling off her sweatshirt, exposing her body.

Erza took in Lucy’s naked form. They both had the same-sized breasts, but because of Lucy’s smaller height and more petite frame, they stood out more, jiggling with the slightest movements, such as the blonde shaking her hair out. She noticed that the girl’s skin shined, clearly well cared-for. Looking at her butt, she could see they were almost as large as hers, being almost comparable to melons. Overall, Lucy was the very image of a cultured lady. Erza smiled unwittingly as her partner shyly covered up. “Lucy...look at me” she told her softly. The younger girl looked at Erza hesitantly. “Don’t be shy, come here,”

Lucy nodded, biting her lip, and padded over to the bath, easing her way into the water on the other side of Erza. The knight was having none of that, however. She suddenly wrapped her arms around the younger girl and dragged her over to her own side. Lucy squeaked at the sudden move. “E-Erza?!”

“Shh...let’s just enjoy the moment,” whispered the redhead. Lucy nodded apprehensively, but nuzzled into the older woman enjoying the combined warmth. For the next few moments, both girls settled themselves in and sighed contently as the warm water caressed their abundant curves.

“So, Miss Fairy Tail’s in a couple of days. Are you going to enter, Lucy?” Erza asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Huh? Miss Fairy Tail?” Lucy asked curiously.

“Yeah. It’s essentially a beauty pageant, where all the girls in the guild show off their magic and normal talents. The winner is decided by a fan vote and gets a lot of Jewels. It’s part of the Fantasia festival that’s coming up this weekend.”

Lucy gave it some thought, but then frowned. “That means I’d have to face you all. With how popular some of the girls are, I doubt I’d win.”

Erza chuckled. “Come on. You would probably beat me if you used your celestial magic properly. I also think you’re one of the prettiest in the guild.”

Lucy smiled through her blush. “Thank you.”

The redhead returned the smile and reached over grab Lucy’s shampoo. “You don’t mind if I help with your hair right?”

Lucy nodded turning her head to let Erza reach. Opening the bottle and taking a whiff, she smiled. “Who knew you liked strawberries?” she teased. Squeezing out a generous amount, she started scrubbing it into the blonde’s hair, making Lucy hum in satisfaction. Erza smiled, loving the feel of the younger girl’s hair. “I’m jealous, Lucy,” she remarked lightly, “Your hair is amazing.”

Lucy bit her lip to hold back a moan at the calloused fingers massaging her scalp.. “T-thanks. Misty and the others think so too. I like to think hers and Dawn’s are much better.”

Erza hummed as she scrubbed her hair down. Once finished, she grabbed the soap and washcloth “I’m gonna scrub you, okay?”

Lucy nodded and almost let out a gasp as Erza proceeded to scrub her arms and legs. The older girl reached around and rubbed the blonde’s stomach, making the younger girl giggle with surprise at the touch. Then, slowly, carefully, the redhead reached up and grabbed the blonde’s large breasts, fingers sinking into creamy, plush flesh. Lucy gasped and moaned loudly, the feelings almost indescribable. She pushed back into the knight’s embrace, whimpering at the gentle touch. Erza chuckled. “Easy there Lucy, I’m just cleaning you.”

Lucy came down from her euphoria as the redhead scrubbed the last of her skin thoroughly. She let Lucy drop beneath the water to rinse off the suds. The pink-blonde groaned from the combination of the ministrations and the warm water.

“You okay?” Erza asked amused at the younger wizard.

“Yeah...that was intense,” Lucy breathed out, chest heaving, “Hah, it was great…Can I return the favor?”

They switched places so that she was laying against the blonde’s chest. Moments later, Erza melted under her partner’s tender touches. She had more self control but she still purred in delight. “I could spend all day like this.” Erza slurred.

“Yeah, but I don’t think our boyfriend could stay away for too long,” teased Lucy. Finishing her scrubbing/groping, she leaned back in the tub. “I could get used to this.”

Erza hummed. “Maybe next time Natsu could join us.”

Lucy’s eyes glazed over at the notion. “Yeah, maybe.”

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, before getting out. After drying and dressing themselves, they left Lucy’s apartment. As they walked, Lucy reached out to grab Erza’s hand. The knight smiled at the gesture and squeezed it in return. Heading towards the guild, they understood that their partnership with Natsu would be strong.

Magnolia Park

Gajeel grumbled as he walked through town after his latest assignment in the next town over. It had been a short mission, but enough to get him away from the guild to think. Although most of the guild had started to warm up to him, he had yet to win over the team that had sparked Phantom Lord’s skirmish with Fairy Tail, Team Shadow Gear. Every time he saw them, the girl, Levy was her name, would squeak and try to hide behind her books, while her two lapdogs constantly belittled him whenever he approached. He didn’t care for what they thought of him, he was trying to make amends.

Approaching the large tree in the park, he looked up to it. Memories of what he did to the three made him wince. He stopped in front of it and placed his head against the trunk. “ After all I did, how does a belt determine if I’m good or not.”

Before he could delve further, he heard a squeak. He looked to his right and saw tuff of blue hair sticking out from behind the tree. “Mcgarden? Is that you?”

Blushing at being caught, Levy hesitantly stepped out from behind the tree. “H-hello, Gajeel,” she greeted with a stutter.

Gajeel could understand why she was scared of him. He attacked them, knocked them out and used them to send a message to the rest of the guild. Still, he would try to be civil, especially without her guard dogs. “Mcgarden,” he began.

“We’re guild mates, Gajeel,” the bookworm nervously told him, “You can c-call me Levy. ”

“Right...Levy. In hindsight, everything that happened was stupid. We didn’t...I mean Jose didn’t think you had the power to fight back without all your best mages. I mean, Erza was taken out and the other S-ranked mages were nowhere to be found.” He sighed. “If I knew what I did now, I wouldn’t have gone through with what I did. I hurt you and I…damn, this is hard.”

Levy approached him, still hesitant. “Gajeel...I...there are some nights I still have nightmares about what happened. But I’ve seen you try to get everyone’s approval. Some of them already consider you a member of the guild.” She looked away. “I know I should try to accept you as a guild member. But, it’s hard to forget what you did.”

Gajeel sighed. “I know. I-” Before he could go further, he felt a harsh blow to his back. Even though it did nothing, the Dragon slayer growled in annoyance and turned to see Jet and Droy glaring daggers at him.

Levy spotted her teammates and marched over to them. “Jet, Droy! What the heck are you doing?”

Jet glanced at his smaller teammate, glaring harshly. “Teaching this punk a lesson!” Snapping back to Gajeel and pumping up his legs, he snarled. “You can’t fool us! You’re just waiting till we drop our guard!” He dashed towards the dragon slayer and struck him in the chest, making him in pain. Droy quickly joined in and landed some punches as well. After landed several they noticed that despite their punches, he wasn’t returning them..

“Hey! Why ain’t you fighting back?” Jet demanded frustratedly.

Gajeel grunted. “We’re guild mates.”

Before Jet and Droy could respond, they heard a grating laugh. “Guildmates? Don’t make me laugh.” Everyone turned to see Laxus marching up to him like a pompous duke. He pointed at Jet and Droy with hatred. “You two are among the weakest in the guild!” Then he glared at Gajeel. “And you! You have no right to be in our guild! You think you can walk in here after what you did? I don’t need weak pieces of shit like you in my guild!”

“Then what’s that make you?” taunted Gajeel, “Way I hear it, you weren’t even there and tried take Salamander’s girl as a prize! Hell, I heard that Mouse boy and Firebug beat yours and Erza’s asses quite easily!”

Laxus growled. “Don’t you lecture me!” He summoned lighting magic in his legs and charged at Iron Mage. The older mage reared back and drilled a lightning-infused punch into Gajeel’s stomach, blasting him into the tree. Not letting up, he reared back and unleashed several powerful blows, smashing into the metal man’s stomach and not giving him any respite. Despite the pain, Gajeel didn’t fight back or otherwise react, something those on the side noticed quickly.

“Why isn’t he fighting back?” Jet asked.

“He could have taken us both down, but he never threw a single spell at us,” Droy realized.

“You idiots. He hasn’t done anything because he still feels sorry about what he did!” Levy snapped. “Before you knuckleheads came by, he was trying to finish his apology!”

Jet and Droy had the decency to look away from their diminutive mage in guilt. The speedster took a deep breath. “HEY! Cut it out!”

Laxus paused his assault and twisted his head. “You stay out of this, weaklings!” He let go of Gajeel, allowing the mage to slump to the ground.

“Stop this! He’s a member of our guild!” pleaded Droy.

Laxus scoffed. “Just a moment ago, you were attacking him for the same reason.”

Leaning against the wall, Gajeel privately thought the same thing.

“Well, yeah,” Droy admitted, “But it doesn’t mean we’d have kept going, we stopped!”

Laxus tched. “Weaklings...can go fry!” He powered up another bolt of lighting and hurled it, making the two men cry out as he’d aimed it not at them, but at Levy, who trembled in fear behind them, eyes widening in fear. Before the bolt could reach her, Gajeel, out of instinct, jumped in front of her and turned his arm into a metal pole, pulling the blast into his body and crying out as he took the brunt of it.

Levy gasped in shock. “G-Gajeel?”

The dragon slayer grunted in pain. “Y…you alright, shrimp?”

Laxus growled. “You dare get in my way!?” He reared up for another attack and fired off another bolt, only for a purple screen to appear in front of him and absorb the shot. Before Laxus could shout, two large vines broke out of the ground and handcuffed his hands.

“That’s enough! All of you!” a female voice ordered. Everyone turned to see May and Anabel marching up to them, eyes and hands glowing.

“May? Anabel?” Levy asked in shock.

Laxus snarled at the interruption. “Stay out of this!” His order was met by another vine that wrapped around his waist and pinned him to the ground with a large thud.

“We heard your conversation, and if we can bring you down like this, based on your logic, maybe _you're_ the one who doesn’t deserve to be in the guild!” May taunted, releasing the vines and freeing the Lightning mage. Laxus snarled from his knees and charged up his magic. He was about to leap at the brunette when Anabel snuck behind him and held up her transformed chakram into his back.

“Walk. Away. Now!” she ordered, her normally kind demeanor taking on a dark growl, emphasizing her threat by jabbing her weapon into him.

Laxus growled and stormed off.

The empath sighed. “He should be lucky. Drew and Ash would have put him in the ground.” She turned to the group of four. “Everyone alright?”

At everyone’s nods, the two Riders smiled.

Jet walked up to the girls hesitantly. “Th-thanks, you guys. Um...what were you two doing here?”

May smiled. “We were taking a walk around town before heading to the guild. We saw Gajeel talking to Levy. Then you two come up and beat him down. We were about to intervene, but Ana felt at least from your side, what you were doing wasn’t intentionally malicious.”

“However Laxus showing up changed our plans,” Anabel continued, “We got here as fast as we could. We did see Gajeel take the first blast and we weren’t gonna let him take a second.”

Jet and Droy glanced away, guilty at their actions. “When you put it that way…” Jet began.

“We were acting like idiots,” Droy finished.

“We know. You were still upset over Gajeel joining a guild he attacked,” the empath replied, “You want to know _why_ he’s winning over people?”

At the group’s nod, May continued. “It’s because he feels that despite everyone accepting him, he doesn’t feel he’s earned it.” She looked at Gajeel, who turned away in a huff. “Drew only said what he did because he feels that being a Rider means protecting each other, regardless of who we’re defending. Using a power that was given to him by the same person he sees as a sibling to fight against his allies, he had a right to be upset. Until you can prove to him that you can use the belt as intended, he won’t consider you a Rider.” She turned and walked away with Anabel in tow.

Gajeel glanced at Levy, who merely smiled. “Thanks for defending us.”

The Dragon slayer grumbled. “Yeah, well I didn’t want that pompous ass hurting such a small girl. He could have squashed ya!”

Levy puffed up her cheeks. “I was trying to thank you, idiot!”

“Gihihihi, you don’t have to thank me shrimp!” he laughed.

“I’m not a shrimp!” she snapped. When she calmed down, she saw Gajeel was smiling at her reaction.

He reached down and ruffled smaller girl’s hair, making her pout. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll win over Drew eventually. You can count on that.” He let go of her hair and walked off. Levy watched him leave, blushing at how good his rough hands had felt.

Away from the blushing mage, May and Anabel were making their way out of the park, holding hands. “Do you think Gajeel can do it?” asked the brunette.

The empath nodded. “He will. Drew’s words may have been harsh, but he spoke the truth. If I know Fairy Tail, they’re not the ones to give up without a fight.”

“True that. Especially when they have someone to rally behind,” May agreed. She then remembered something. “What are you going to do for Ms. Fairy Tail? Other than show off that sexy body of yours?”

Anabel giggled. They’d seen some of the girls practicing for the show, like Bisca practicing with her guns and Levy using her pen to write incredible effects into the air. She felt confident she could beat some of them, but not others, like Erza or Juvia. “I was thinking of busting out the DJ table. One of the dance club songs, not my mixes. Combine it with a little bit of magic, its gonna be awesome. How about you?”

May hummed. “Well...Misty is doing a song. Tori’s doing some dog tricks with her Mightyena and Arcanine. Dawn’s gonna do an Appeal with her Pokemon. Gabby’s doing some trick shots. I was thinking of doing a song and dance with my Pokemon; I have the song lined up if your interested.”

Anabel smiled. “Sounds good.” The empath replied. Then she squeaked as May pulled her into a strong embrace.

“I can see you doing some dancing as well,” the brunette whispered into her ear. “Shaking that sexy ass of yours in a silk bikini.”

The purple-haired knight blushed. She caught something out of the corner of her eye and snapped her head to the side. “May, did you feel that?”

“Your smooth legs in these hot pants? You bet I did,” purred the brunette.

“No! There’s something here!” Anabel insisted seriously, silencing her. She reached into her back pocket and grabbed one of her chakrams. Folding it into its dagger form, she threw it at the wall, striking something that tore easily.

“What’s wrong, Ana?” May asked worriedly. The empath ignored her and approached her weapon. Impaled on the edge of the blade was a paper doll, struggling to break from its predicament.

“What is it?” The brunette inquired.

“It's a Shikigami. A paper spirit, normally used for messages and spying,” Anabel explained. She pulled the spirit away and held it up to her partner. “Someone wanted to spy on us. Care to do the honors?”

The Wood Knight nodded, summoning a small leaf twister. Anabel tossed the paper doll into the tornado, shredding it instantly.

“Strange, wonder who could be spying on us like this?” asked May, “We’ve got more than a few people looking to get an edge on us.”

“We’ll let Drew know later. Come on, we should hand in our mission. We don’t want to miss our friend’s debut, right?” Anabel teased.

“Right,” agreed the Wood knight. They picked up the pace and headed back to the guild to tell of their success.

Several hours later, early Evening, guild Hall

The guild hall was bustling with its normal energy. Many people had heard that Drew, along with Ash, Misty and Gabby had some musical talent. They had offered to play some of the songs from their world.

Lucy was anticipating the coming musical and was curious what type of music they would play. Turning to May, she noticed she was handing out two small objects to many confused guild members.

“What are those?” She asked the brunette.

“Oh, these? These are ear plugs.” May took one of them out and squashed it. “It goes it your ear and muffles sounds. Try it.”

Lucy nodded, though still confused about what type of music could warrant this reaction. She put the plugs in her ears as directed and though it felt weird, she noticed the ambient noise around her had dropped. “So what type of music do they play?”

“Hard rock,” May answered simply, “Remember Anabel’s music?” At the blonde’s nod, she continued, “Well, this is pretty much the opposite.”

Before Lucy could ask what she meant by that, the curtain rose and the spotlight shone on a lone figure. It was Gajeel, in a white suede outfit, strumming a guitar.

“It’s time for some real music in here,” he started softly. However, the crowd immediately booed him before he could get a single note out. Moments later, a large cane appeared out of nowhere and yoinked the nonplussed Dragon Slayer off-stage.

The lights brightened revealing the musicians. They were all dressed in darker clothes than they normally wore. The girls wore midriff-baring tops and shorts, the guys, tight muscle shirts and jeans. Drew was out front with a thin red guitar that connected into a machine behind him. Ash was off to the right, a large yellow guitar with metal strings hanging from his neck. Misty stood at the left; compared to the other two, her blue guitar had a longer neck. Behind them on a very large drum kit, was Gabby, twirling her sticks.

Drew got up to the mic. “Sorry about that. Anyway, hey guys!” he shouted, “We are the Guardians! I’m the voice, Ash is on guitar,” Ash did a rift as acknowledgment, “Misty is on bass,” the red head waved to the crowd, “And Gabby is on drums.” She beat the drums in reply. “She’s gonna be the girl showing you how hard we roll.”

He took a deep breath. “So, I have a question: Are you ready to rock?” The crowd cheered, but Drew shook his head in dismay. “Oh, what is this, a morgue? You’re Fairy Tail! I asked… ARE. YOU. READY. TO. ROCK?!” The crowd was much louder and the hall shook from the volume. “Alright! This little song is called Seal the Deal. I hope you got your earplugs ready!”

He turned towards, Gabby who nodded. She tapped her drumsticks several times.

(Seal the Deal by Volbeat. I don’t own this EPIC Song! If the lyrics are an issue I will remove them)

Almost immediately, all four instruments came to life, shocking the audience with the volume that blasted forth. Underneath the loud riffs, there was an underlying groove that mesmerized the guild. Above them, the lights mesmerized the crowd, as if they were a spell. On stage, Ash was played a quick solo, mesmerizing the onlookers with how fast he was going. Moments later, Drew approached the the microphone, finishing his own riff.

_Sold my soul and signed my name in blood,_

As he sang out the first verse, Drew looked out at the crowd. He already could see people already bouncing around to the beat and it was just the first verse. Natsu and Lucy were already grooving to the beat and jumping around like crazy.

_Stole it back, now praying in the dark!_

Ash shredded notes to the beat, electric infused hands providing a light show by sending it through the strings. Closing his eyes, he sent out an aura pulse. The pulse resonated throughout the hall. It showed several shining blue auras, indicating most of the guild was enjoying this.

_Fooled the devil, begging for a fight_

Misty’s role in the band was often overlooked as the bassist, but with the way both Ash and Drew liked to go off-script, someone had to keep them in line. Looking off-stage, she noticed some of the boys drooling over her attire. Not that she could blame them; her dark blue shirt clung to her breasts. They were complemented by a pair of black short shorts showing off her long legs. She winked flirtatiously and then whipped her head around, the lights gleaming off her hair. The gawkers nearly had nosebleeds at the sight.

_Count the dollars, make your bet tonight!_

Gabby’s blisteringly fast drumming amazed the onlookers. She had to work hard to match how fast the boys were playing. The intense effort she put into each note sent her dark blonde hair flying about wildly as she bopped to the beat.

_Feel strong like an oiled machine!  
All the anger boils within!  
Move it,  
Give it,  
The high rollers are in!_

_I get groovy,  
now turn it on and fight!  
Seal the deal and let's boogie for a while!  
Let's get groovy,  
Burning out with rage!  
Seal the deal and let's do it all again!_

As the first chorus came in, the beat slowed briefly, then picked up again. If it wasn’t for the loud notes, they could have easily passed it off for Mira’s songs

_Knuckles crushed,  
My eyes no longer see!  
I paid the price and fed the family!_

Lucy didn’t know what came over her when the song started, but she loved it. The music filled her with a sense of rebellion as she cheered and screamed like a maniac, a far cry from what she grew up in. She saw Natsu jumping around as well, almost spitting fire in excitement with his hollering. Impulsively, the blonde reached out, grabbed his scarf and pulled him in for for a heated kiss. He was briefly caught off by his girlfriend’s boldness but quickly reciprocated, squeezed her close deeping the kiss.

_Feel strong like an oiled machine!  
All the anger boils within!  
Move it,  
Give it,  
The high rollers are in!_

Next to them Erza was nodding along to the beat. She had to admit, this music was nice, but wondered if they had any music that was less intense. She glanced to her right and saw her partners making out, bobbing with the beat. Her eyes met Natsu’s and she could see the desire in them. He suddenly grabbed her, getting a cute eep out of her and kissed her as well. Erza moaned as she fell into the three way embrace.

_I get groovy  
now turn it on and fight!  
Seal the deal and let's boogie for a while!  
Let's get groovy,  
Burning out with rage!  
Seal the deal and let's do it all again!_

As the song slowed down, the lights fell on Drew as he strummed his guitar more slowly than before. One look at him and all they could tell was a boy with a guitar playing with his friends around him, not some near S-class mage

_Sing hallelujah,  
The devil in disguise.  
There'll be no more pearly gates,  
So stand up for yourself this time!  
Fight for honor, let no one drag you down no more!  
Be your own man with blood, sweat, tears you fall!_

Drew stepped back, allowing the spotlight to fall on Ash. The black-haired boy immediately cut loose with the solo, a personal favorite of his The extreme speed and dexterity impressed many onlookers. As he cut loose, electric magic built up in the head of the guitar. One last rift sent the magic in the air, bursting into sparkling lights.

_I get groovy,  
Now turn it on and fight!  
Seal the deal and let's boogie for a while!  
Let's get groovy,  
Burning out with rage!  
Seal the deal and let's do it all again!_

_I get groovy  
now turn it on and fight!  
Seal the deal and let's boogie for a while!  
Let's get groovy,  
Burning out with rage!  
Seal the deal and let's do it all again!_

The song finished with one more set of riffs. The crowd kept bouncing around as if they were hopped up on sugar. When the song ended, Drew approached the microphone. Though slightly winded and sweaty, he looked like he was having a blast. “Alright! That was some hard rocking music, right?” The crowd cheered in response. “So, how was it? You wanna hear some more?” The crowd responded even more enthusiastically. “I’ll take that as a yes! Fairy Tail! You are ready to rock!?”

Drew nodded to Gabby to start timing in her next song. The next hour and a half, the guild was treated to the ear busting riffs of Rock. In many guild members minds, they wanted to know more after they recovered from this impromptu party. For the Riders, it was a temporary reminder of home, where they could listen to this as much as they wanted to.

Meanwhile, outside the guild, there was one person not enjoying the festivities. Laxus Dreyar growled as he listened to the music blasting out of the hall. “Those idiots, they're spending so much time worrying about their dumb parties, they are ruining our rep!” He had recently came back from a mission and had to beat up several members of a band of mercenaries when they opened their mouth about his guild. Finishing the mission and handing it in, he had stormed out of the hall, ignoring the pleas to stay and watch the music act.

“Tch.” Laxus knew what he had to do. However, he knew there was an obstacle to his plan. While he didn’t like what May had said, she _did_ unfortunately have a point. If she, one of the so-called weaklings, could get the jump on him and bring him to his knees, then facing those two again without restraint would be a disaster. They had already proven that they could beat him and Erza without magic. If he was gonna beat them, he would need an edge; a way to turn the newcomers against each other.

“Damn, no matter how I look at it, those damn foreigners will just make my life a living hell!” he swore, “I need…something. Something to make me stronger. Strong enough to purge everyone everyone of my guild!

“Stronger, eh?” hissed a mysterious voice.

Laxus jumped in shock and, gritting his teeth in chagrin, turned towards the alley where he heard the voice. “Who’s there?” he demanded. He spotted a hooded figure materializing from the shadows. The high pitch of the voice told him it was female. “Who the hell are you?” growled the Dragon Slayer, shoulders hunched tensely.

The woman raised her hand. “My name is not important. What _is_ important, is that you and I seek the same thing.”

“What? Power?” he asked, still suspicious.

“No. A revolution. Your precious Magic Council disbanded, leaving all of the guilds to run rampant. Your monarchy is stifling this country’s progress. Your very guild is holding you back.”

Laxus nodded. “Yeah, there’s only four or five people worth my time. Maybe some of those foreigners. But everyone else needs to disappear.

“Yes, you could take over the guild,” the woman agreed sensuously, “But, why aim so low?”.

“What do you mean?” asked the dragon slayer intrigued. “All I want is the guild! Gramps is getting too old! He should be appointing a successor, not dealing with those brats!”

“Ah, but why have a guild when you can have a whole country?” The woman asked him. At that, the lightning mage raised an eyebrow.

“A country? You lost me lady.”

The woman giggled. “Simple my Dragon Slayer friend. Why stop at your own guild? With what I have, we can take over all the guilds in this country, and beyond.” She said with a honeyed voice at the end.

“What do you mean, what you have?” Laxus asked interested.

The woman said nothing as she snapped her fingers. A shadowy figure materialized with a metal briefcase. Snapping it open, Laxus observed they were the same memories that had been terrorizing the country and the town. A small part of him, the one that had once sworn to protect the guild, was pleading with him to take the memories and turn them over to his grandfather. But the side that wanted to take back the guild, to make the guild all it was supposed to be had overcome all doubts.

“So how much?” Laxus asked, giving serious thought to his treasonous actions.

“Ah, interested in them I see. They’re 150,000 Jewels each. I’m sure you and your friends can...come to an agreement.”

The Dragon slayer grinned and reached into his pocket. Picking out several large bills, he shoved into the woman’s face. “That’s 600,000.”

“An S-ranked mage sure gets paid a lot,” the woman praised. After making sure it was all there, she waved her arm. “Go ahead and pick any 4. And remember, you get to keep these if you use them to destroy the guild.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he agreed, holding up a yellow memory, “The guild won’t know what hit them!”

The woman laughed as she pocketed the cash. She vanished as quickly as she had appeared, into the shadows. Laxus smirked as he headed back down the street. He had plans to make.

3 Hours Later, Strauss Residence

Mira arrived at the house she shared with her brother. It was a nice little two-story apartment in the upper class district of Magnolia. Her ears were still ringing slightly from the concert, but she was all smiles regardless. She had never seen the guild so lively, or well-behaved. The music though loud, was something she really enjoyed. All four were extremely talented. She did wonder if there were other styles that they could perform. The music was good, but maybe not in large doses.

Sighing tiredly, she headed up the stairs to her room. Passing by Elfman’s room, she giggled as she peered inside. For all his talk about manliness, he was a really big child, sleeping with his limbs thrown all about the bed. As she continued her walk, her feet paused momentarily in front of another door. There was no one behind it. There hadn’t _been_ anyone behind it for two years.

She bit her lip; Mirajane and Elfman still remembered that day. The day that Lisanna, their baby sister, died. After that day, she had undergone a personality change. Whereas before, she had a wild streak and dressed in black and skimpy outfits, now she dressed more tastefully, and her attitude became as sweet as honey.

Suddenly, she realized that she’d reached out for the doorknob, hesitated, then turned away. _No. I can’t look now. I can’t open that door…_

Entering her room, she turned on the light. It was a large room, with light blue walls and several of her centerfolds spread across them. In the center was a queen size canopy bed with white sheets. Turning towards the closet, she pulled down the zipper on her dress, letting it pool at her feet. This left her flawless body bare to anyone in the room, silken skin gleaming in the moonlight. She took a good look at the mirror in the corner. Her long legs, complimented by her soft, round ass, narrow waist and large breasts, were on sensual display. She giggled as she took a pose, hand behind her head and breasts jutting out, swaying slightly with the movement. Not to sound narcissistic, but she looked amazing. Sighing, she crossed the room and entered her closest. She re-emerged a few moments later, a sheer white negligee draped over her shapely body, barely covering her ass and hiding absolutely nothing of her breasts with its transparency.

Sitting down to brush her hair, her thoughts turned to Natsu and Lucy. She smiled at the scene before her. She giggled at their interaction; she’d personally thought they were made for each other from the first moment she’d seen them together. Curiously, she’d also noticed that Erza was close to both of them most of the night. And whether or not it was because of the so-called mosh pit, she briefly caught sight of Lucy and Erza saddling up to the Dragon Slayer as they bounced around to the music. At the end of the night, she watched the three of them leave together, the multi-colored girl on Natsu’s back.

She paused in her hair-brushing. Something in the way they had interacted made her curious how close they were. Noticing something underneath her lingerie, she glanced down to see that her nipples had stiffened a little at the thought of their relationship. When she was younger, when she and Erza weren’t at each other’s throats, they experimented with each other. She’d liked kissing her rival, though she hadn’t wanted to admit it at the time. She blushed now at how kinky they’d gotten with their magic… Mirajane shook her head briskly, dismissing her thoughts, and took a deep breath to calm down. _Memories later. Sleep now._ She padded up the bed and crawled into the sheets. Sleep came surprisingly easily to her thanks to the exhaustion from the concert.

Her Dreamscape

A few moments later, she blinked her eyes open. She didn’t expect to be dreaming quite so soon. Sitting up, Mirajane found to her surprise that she was in some sort of park. It was quite beautiful, with fields filled with one of her favorite flowers, white lilies, as far as the eye could see. Above her head were several sakura and magnolia trees, in full bloom.

She looked down and saw she was still in her short nightgown. Something about this place comforted her, enough walking around like this. Seeing no one around, she walked deeper into the park, bare feet padding on the smooth stones.

As she went, she noticed how quiet it was. This was fine for the barmaid; she liked the quiet, dealing with the guild’s rowdiness can take a toll on one’s energy. What seemed like minutes of exploring later, she came across a large pond. It was crystal clear, with a flock of multicolor swans swimming about on its surface. She saw one that had striking black plumage along its right side paddling along leisurely off to the side. Finding a bench, she sat down and watched the flock interact.

She felt someone sit down on the bench next to her. Turning, she was surprised to see a woman with silver mid back length hair with a matching dress. Reflexively, she covered her breasts, only for the girl to giggle.

“It’s fine. This is your dream, you can be dressed in whatever you like. Besides, your very pretty/

Mira slowly lowered her arms hesitantly. “Oh, uh thank you.?”

“Yes.” The silver haired girl turned back to the pond. “They’re like your friends, you know.”

“Hm?”

“The swans.” She pointed at two swans, who looked ready to fight each other. A larger swan swooped down and buffeted them into submission with its wings, croaking raucously.

Mira laughed. “They really are.” She glanced at her guest. “Which one’s me?”

The woman raised her arm and pointed at the black and white one. “That’s you. A swan that can be sweet but has a much darker personality locked away.” As she said this, the aforementioned swan quickly struck the lead bird to calm it down. “Though it seems like there’s more to you as well, Mirajane Strauss.”

(Zelda’s Lullaby: Ocarina of time version)

Mira scrambled to her feet in shock at the woman knowing her name. “W-who are you?”

The woman stood up and curtseyed. “My apologies. My name is Tsukihime. As to your unspoken question, I am here to grant you the power of your ancestors as a Knight.”

Mira gasped. “You mean, like Lucy and Natsu?”

Tsuki nodded. “Yes, though I sense something holding you back.”

Mira looked away. “I lost my sister, and nearly my brother, due to my arrogance. I can’t use my magic. I’m next to useless. Misty and May had to come save me when Phantom Lord took me.”

Tsuki watched as the black and white swan swam up and fluttered to the ivory haired woman. Mira knelt down to place her hand on its beak. Despite its previous attitude, it allowed her to pet it, happily honking as she rubbed the bird’s head. “Come let me, show you something.” The princess led Mira and the swan away from the pond.

“What’s his name?” Mira asked.

“Hm? Oh the swan? Its Cygnus. Not original, I know, it means swan.” Tsuki replied offhand. A few moments later, they reached another pond. Unlike the one with all the birds, this pond was empty. Around the pond, the trees and grass were dead, or dying. It was as if a dark spell had been cast on the area.

“What...is this horrible place?” Mira asked in horror.

Tsuki smiled sadly. “This is the representation of your inner sorrow. The sorrow that you feel for your sister being gone. The sorrow that’s sealed your magic away.”

“Sealed my magic?”

Tsuki nodded. “In Drew’s world, there is a field of study called psychology. The study of the mind, how it reacts to certain stimuli and the various disorders that affect people. What you have is a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition normally seen in troops returning from combat. Seeing your sister fall, your mind blamed your magic, thus blocking it.” She walked through the dry ground to the center of the dry pond. “However, I believe you have the ability to overcome it.” She reached the center and knelt down to pull out the debris blocking the water from flowing. The result was a gushing fountain springing forth out of the ground. Unlike the previous pond, this one was cloudier, but still very pretty. Around it, the trees and flowers slowly returned to life, as if Spring was returning to park. Cygnus quickly hopped in with a croak, clearly enjoying the new environment.

“I unlocked your magic, but in order to access it, _you_ need to be the one to overcome your trauma,” Tsuki explained, “You need to find a way to overcome the burden of your sister’s accident. Only then, will your true destiny awaken.”

“My destiny as a Rider,” murmured Mira.

Tsuki nodded.

Cygnus approached the shore, glowing and shrinking as he did so. The princess reached down into the water to grab small object. Holding it up, the light down to reveal a black deck case with a spread winged swan on the front.

“When you finally break free of your burden, this will become available to you. Use it well.”

Mira nodded. A stray thought passed through her head but she decided to not ask it.

Slowly, and without another word, Tsuki vanished.

Desperately Mira reached out to stop her before the moon princess disappeared. Moments later, her dreamscape collapsed blinding her.

(End song)

When she opened her eyes, she found herself back in her room. From the moonlight reflecting off her sheets, it was still late at night. She sat up, trying to process what the woman in her dream had said.

_My family isn’t as broken as it appears? What the heck does that mean? My sister’s gone and Elfman just got his magic back. Is there something to that day…?_

She turned to go wash her face when she noticed something reflecting the moonlight on the nightstand. She let out a soft gasp when she realized it was the deck case Tsuki had given her.

“How in the world did this get here?” Mira wondered out loud. She shook her head. “No, it’s too late; I need to get up early for the bar.”

She put the card case down and went to wash her face. Then she went back to sleep, her dreams peaceful for once.

Worlds away

Tsuki opened her eyes and sat up from her sleep. “That was pleasant. Mira seems like a nice girl. I am glad Cygnus found a good owner.” She glanced at the clock on her desk. It read 12:30 in the morning. “Good thing it’s the weekend.” She rolled out of bed, wearing her silver nightgown. Grabbing her robe, she stepped out of her room and headed to the kitchen. Despite it being a relatively old house, her footsteps didn’t even cause the floor to squeak. Entering the kitchen, she got a glass and pour herself some water.

“Tsuki? What are you doing awake?” A quiet voice almost made her drop her glass. She turned to the entrance of the kitchen to see Drew walking up to her in a grey shirt and blue boxers.

She sighed. Drew’s clone had most of his personality, but she missed the real one, just because she enjoy his presence. “It’s fine Drew, I was talking to a future Rider.”

“Oh really?” he asked curiously

“Yes, though it will be a surprise for your main self.” She rold them, laughing at the pout he made. As she finished pouring her water, Drew gasped. She snapped around to see him grasping his chest. “Drew, is your asthma acting up? Did you take your medicine?”

The younger boy calmed down and caught his breath. Slowly raising his head, Tsuki widened her eyes at his change in demeanor. Whereas before, the clone was hesitant, he was now full of confidence and swagger.

Drew took a deep breath. “Whew, what a trip!” He looked to his sister figure and grinned. “That dream dive is intense.”

Tsuki realized what he meant. “You dream dived? From the new world?”

“Yeah, and boy let me tell ya, it's a doozy. But I bet you know some of it, being the mystic shaman you are Tsuki.”

Tsuki nodded and both headed to her room. For the next half an hour, Drew talked about his adventures so far and the New Riders that have joined them.

The silver-haired maiden giggled. “Sounds like you're getting along with everyone.” She smiled sadly. “It's nice you’re expanding your friend network. I remember when you would only seek my companionship.”

Drew chuckled. “Yeah, well, once you have my friendship, woe to anyone who messes with it. Guess the guild rubbed off on me.” He looked up at Tsuki, his face morphing to a frown. “I know you have your reasons, but why Gajeel? Didn’t you say those who consciously betrayed a Guardian would have their belt taken.”

Tsuki closed her eyes, having expected this line of conversation. “Yes. However, he did not know he was attacking his Prince and Princess. All he did was following his guild master’s orders. I seem to recall that only the leaders get blamed and the soldiers under them are not always to blame because they were following orders.” She looked outside. “Besides...there is more to him and Natsu then they know.”

“Why both of them?” Drew asked, confused, “Only thing they got in common are being dragon slayers.” He paused. “Actually, that is something, why train an ancient and probably very deadly art, if there’s nothing to fight?” Then he sighed, shaking his head. “Regardless, the fact that the belt hasn’t rejected him outright when they should have is what’s bothering me.”

“He was misguided. He will prove you wrong,” she said pleasantly, but firmly.

“Right...I’ll keep it in mind,” Drew sighed, raising his hands in surrender “Anyway, I got about maybe 10 minutes left, I have one more question.”

“Go ahead. You know you have to sleep as well.”

“Hang on, it’s back in my room.” He stepped out for a moment and came back with a folded piece of paper. “I had Gabby sketch this. Do you recognize this symbol?”

Tsuki took the folded paper and opened it up. She gasped in horror as she recognized the planted sword with the flying V above it.

“I take that as a yes,” Drew replied.

“Where...Where did you see this symbol?” She demanded.

“From what we gathered, it was whoever backed the guild that attacked Fairy Tail. They were also backing a group trying to finish a way to summon their version of the Devil.”

Tsuki turned back to the window and took a deep breath. “This...symbol is the symbol of one of the Dark 5 Generals. Matthew, the Infernal Black Knight. He was personally in charge of the army that began the Kingdom’s Fall War. The Army of the Black Sun.”

“So, his army is invading Fiore and the rest of the continent?” Drew theorized.

Tsuki shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t bother with magical worlds. Another of the Dark Generals would be in charge there. Have you any clues on their identity?”

Drew sighed. “No, though Max did see someone on the hill during the attack on the Heartfilia mansion. Didn’t get a look at them.

Tsuki approached him and took his hand. “If you see ANYONE with that symbol, _put them down._ Immediately! If they are allowed to live, then they will cause destruction unseen since the fall.”

Drew could see the seriousness in her eyes. If she, the pacifist of the two, wanted to end someone’s life, then he was bad news. “Alright, we’ll keep an eye out. Good night Tsuki, I’ll talk to you again soon.” He walked out of the room, unaware of the girl’s tears threatening to fall.

She went to her drawer and pulled out a silver locket. Opening it, it revealed a picture with three young kids. The girl in the center was her looking innocent and full of life. On her left was a black haired boy, who had stern demeanor, while on the left, was a silver haired boy with a very energetic smile..

 _Matthew...Emet...why do I have see my family fight?_ A tear rolled down her cheek and hit the silver haired boy’s face. She stared at the picture for most of the rest of the night.

Meanwhile

A man groaned and croaked with pain, twitching from where he lay, beaten and battered in a splintered hole in the floor.

“I told you not to mess with me,” sighed the other man standing over him. He held up a dark gray Gaea Memory, tapping the side lightly with his index finger, “Honestly…” He glanced around at the wrecked building, which was strewn with broken, unconscious bodies. “I just can’t _fathom_ how stupid you people can be. Even when you’re totally outclassed, the moment you think you’ve got even the slightest edge, you’ll take on a guy who outclasses you in every way.” He ran a hand through his brown hair, exhaling through his nose. “Ah well. Guess we live and learn.”

“That was most impressive.” A soft, feminine voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.

With a flick, a set of long spikes settled in between the man’s fingers, kept out of sight as he turned partially. The newcomer was a girl, a slender young thing in the midst of blossoming into a lady. What caught his eye immediately was her hair, gathered up in a short ponytail with a blue bow, which was a stark, pure white. She wore a modest T-shirt, colored an icy blue about the chest that faded into white at the edges, clinging lightly to her small, but perky breasts. A pair of white stockings covered her slender legs, leaving a small gap of creamy thighs between them and her navy shorts. Oddly enough, a pair of billowy detached sleeves were cinched around her biceps, obscuring her arms and hands entirely.

Her brown eyes were full of curiosity and more than a little trepidation. “Good evening,” she greeted politely, “May I…ask for your name?”

He smirked, turning to fully face her, not bothering to hide the nails gripped between his fingers. “You can. Can’t promise I’ll remember if it you’re with these…” he waved his hand disdainfully at the wreckage strewn around them, _“_... _People.”_

“I-I,” she swallowed, “I assure you, I’m not. M-my name is Yukino.” She bowed hastily, agitated by the unnerving aura that rose from him, but trying desperately to keep cool.

Detecting no lie, he shrugged, nails vanishing with another flick of his wrist. “I see. So, Yukino, what are you after, exactly?”

The white-haired girl licked her lips nervously. “I was…in the area, looking for someone who could join my- um, the g-guild that I’m part of,” she explained, “We, ah, really value strength, and you seem like a s-strong fighter!”

Smiling tightly, the man nodded. “You assume correctly. What’s the name of this guild?”

“Sabertooth!” she said quickly. Biting her lip, she delicately pulled up the hem of her shirt, revealing a white sigil stamped across the left side of her waist. The mark bore the visage of a snarling, great-fanged beast in profile.

He raised his eyebrows, gazing at the mark with a scrutiny that made her tremble. “Sabertooth, you say…?” he murmured. His head tilted to the side, as if in thought. “Hm…well, fighting these guys was fun enough, but I suppose now I have nothing better to do.” The man swirled his hand, taking a step towards her.

As he moved, his dark blue coat fell open slightly. For an instant, Yukino saw a glint of light from within, reflecting off of a pin that the man wore inside the lining.

A pin in the shape of a golden sword.

“Well? I’m waiting. Tell me what I ought to expect…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter   
> UO: So...another long chapter, sorry. But the game’s afoot from multiple angles. Who is the mysterious man talking to Yukino?   
> Kurogane: I honestly can’t tell whether you’re insane or motivated…15.5k words? You may as well have done a one-shot and been done with it. You could’ve broken it down and taken your time with different chapters.  
> UO: It isn’t insanity if you’re motivated. Also what I wanted to put in, was important to the plot. Well maybe not the music scene. Anyway...Sad as it is, I hoped to get this chapter out before Fairy Tail officially ended. But it’s not to be. But this story will go on. I had previously planned to stop at the Grand Magic Games, but all the post GMG stuff will come into play. So there!  
> Preview: As the Fantasia festival gets underway, an attack by their own guild turns brother against brother, friend against friend. As they fight the culprits, one member’s past ignites her own future.  
> Next time: Protect your future Cygnus


	17. Protect Your Future Cygnus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fairy Tail descends into Civil War as Laxus declares his intention to take over the guild. Can the Riders stop the Thunder God Tribe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH!!!  
> UO: Much quicker turn around this time. Mainly because during the eternal edits, I was working on Saint League in the background. Is everyone here?  
> Ash: Uh yeah. Is the Friedrich blowing up the studio gonna be a thing?  
> Drew: Considering our normal operations  
> (Two of the girls shriek.)  
> UO: (Groan) Who is it now?  
> Misty: That new guy walked in on me and May while we were changing!  
> Friedrich: *Straight-faced* Considering how little you wear, I thought you were already done.  
> Misty: WHY YOU! (Summons water to wash him away)  
> Friedrich: Too slow! *Dodges, letting the blast take out a studio wall.* Ah. *Points at her.* She did it.  
> May: Hold still! *Fires off a Razor Leaf*  
> Drew: Should I tell them that they’re still in their towels?  
> Ash: *Blushes* I won’t if you won’t.  
> Friedrich: How about you tell them to stop attacking me, you little shits!  
> Drew & Ash: Not our call!  
> UO: NS?  
> NS: The hell do you mean it’s not your call? They’re your girlfriends, dumbass!  
> Drew: You ever see their temper? And they’re not mine!  
> UO: NS do the Disclaimer! Ash, Drew go control them! AND GET THEM SOME CLOTHES!  
> *Girls scream in mortification as they realize that they’re still in towels*   
> UO: Thank god it wasn’t Erza.
> 
> NS: Pokemon, Kamen Rider and Fairy Tail are not owned by myself or UnitedOsprey1991.  
> UO: If we did, we’d make some biiiiig Changes!  
> NS: If we did, we’d be rich.  
> UO: We also don’t own the music by Nintendo, La Bouche, Daft Punk and the Father-daughter duo, Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

"Dialogue"

_Italics: Song Lyrics_

Time Change  
 _Thoughts, Flashbacks, and telepathy  
_ **Attacks  
** **Yelling, Kaijuu voice and Belt noises  
 _Kaijuu thinking_**

Chapter 17: Protect Your Future, Cygnus!

August 11th X784: Miss Fairy Tail contest

When we last left the Riders, Erza had settled into being a Rider. In addition, she found herself welcomed into the loving arms of both Natsu and Lucy. Meanwhile Laxus Dreyer, upset at the perceived weakness of the guild was found by a mysterious benefactor. World’s away, Tsuki informed Drew of the mark of their greatest enemy: the down-thrust golden sword, sigil of Matthew. Why this person scared Tsuki so much was something the Fire Guardian would have to figure out.

The hall was bedecked in colorful streamers and balloons: people were at the table, drinks in hand as they conversed with each other; others simply danced to the music at the podium; overall, a joyful atmosphere. It all came to a stop when the lights turned off; it was time for Miss Fairy Tail, the annual beauty pageant hosted by the guild. It was just one part of a much bigger celebration that was its annual Harvest Festival. Though the timing seemed off to the visiting Riders, in no way did it mean they couldn’t enjoy themselves.

Drew and Ash were by the stage, the entire guild was packed to the brim with guild members and visiting tourists.

“Geez, this place is packed. This pageant must be like Miss USA!”

“Except with magic, and _much_ prettier girls!” Ash conceded.

“Well almost almost all of them,” Drew corrected, glancing at Tori who was pouting at not being able to compete. She had a routine ready to go with Arcanine and Mightyena, but the Dark type came down with a stomach bug and she regretfully had to pull out. Still, she would definitely support her friends especially Gabby who was on after Juvia.

“I know you want to be up there, Tori.”

Tori sighed. “Yeah. I’m just as talented and good looking as everyone else. Stupid bug got my poor Midnight feeling as sick as...well a dog!”

Before Drew could laugh, the spotlights shined down on the stage. Out of the curtains was a brown haired man in a Purple suit slid onto the stage.

“Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the X784 Miss Fairy Tail Competition! I am your host, Max Alors, Sand Wizard Extraordinaire! We have a plethora of talents ready to dazzle everyone here! Are you ready?” The crowd enthusiastically responded making Max laugh. “Alright! Contestant number one!” The curtains pulled back to reveal the the resident drunk mage. “It’s the lovely Cana Alberona!”

Cana strolled up to the edge of the stage and flipped over a card, grinning cheekily. “Time for this show to kick off right!” A green magic circle appeared from the card and caused her cards to swirl around her. When the cards vanished, her clothes had been transformed into a brown and green bikini. “How about this?!” This made everyone cheer in delight as the Card mage winked to the crowed and strutted off stage.

“What a great way to start off this show! Moving right along is our newest member Juvia Loxar!”

The water mage enthusiastically ran on stage. “This performance is for Grey!” She summoned her magic, a water spout swirling around her. Before long, it dissipated, leaving the water mage in a skimpy purple-spotted bikini. “I hope you’re watching, Grey~!”

In the audience, Grey grumbled, “Shut up, crazy woman!” Natsu noticed that he had a small blush, making him laugh.

“Next entry is number 3. She’s Fairy Tail’s number one Archer: Gabriella Sirgant!”

The dark blonde appeared on stage, carrying her bow. “I hope my shots pierce your heart!” She lined up in front of a target, drawing the string before firing off a golden shot It pierced the bullseye, leaving the crowd in awe. She fired off three more shots in succession, never once wavering from the bulls eye

Then she motioned to Max, who walked up. “Is something wrong, Gabby?”

The girl smirked, glancing out to the audience before notching another and firing without even looking. The arrow found its mark again, making the crowd gasp in surprise. “Anyone got a beer bottle?” she asked the audience. Soon enough, someone placed a full bottle of beer behind the target. Not knowing where it was, she notched another arrow and fired. It sailed high in the air before sailing behind shattered the bottle.

Max was bouncing up and down at seeing how flashy the shots were. “Wow! This is so amazing! Do you have other tricks up your sleeve?”

“You bet I do. I need a volunteer!” Gabby smiled at the enthusiasm of the crowd, but her eyes immediately darted to Tori. “Come on up, Tori!”

The water mage smiled and proceeded towards the target. Gabby followed after her and put an apple on the brunette’s head, before returning to her original spot and and taking a deep breath. The crowd held their collective breaths as the dark blonde took her position and pulled back her string. Tori stood still, calmly facing her possible demise. The archer released her breath and let go of the string. The bolt shot straight through the air and pierced the apple, not even touching the brunette’s hair. The crowd cheered as the girl caught the two apple halves. Meanwhile, Gabby turned and bowed to the crowd before hugging her friend.

“Wow! That was an impressive display of marksmanship. Let’s keep moving right along with Contestant number 4. She is the number one girl in all of our fantasies, Mirajane Strauss!”

Mira giggled as she watched the crowd screamed their lover for her even as she sashayed on-stage. “Thank you. Here I go!” Her face glowed brightly, the crowd hanging on for the payoff. Their delight turned to shock as the barmaid’s face suddenly morphed into a copy of Happy’s.

“Aye!” she squeaked, a near-perfect imitation of the cat. Most of the crowd’s hearts cracked at the abomination that took over their barmaid’s face. She then waved her hands around her face, Happy’s expression melting into the uglier mug of the Iron Dragon Slayer .

Gajeel did a spit-take in shock. “O-oi! Why am I part of the performance?!”

Happy was the only one laughing; he enjoyed Mira’s different faces. Ash sighed. “So glad _someone_ enjoyed that performance.”

“Not one of her best,” Drew agreed, wrinkling his nose.

Backstage, Erza and Lucy watched as Levy climbed on the stage. The multicolored blonde groaned. “Some of these are so good! Goodbye rent money!”

Erza giggled. “Don’t be like that, you haven’t even gone yet,” she reassured her, before adding with a mutter, “Though I will say, the outfits were a little over the top…”

Levy finished her act by summoning several words in the air with her Solid Script magic. Jet and Droy, of course, cheered the loudest, shouting out, “Levy~!”

“Contestant number 6 is the sniper with sights on your heart! Bisca Mulan!”

Said mage strolled out, wearing a purple bikini. She held up her left hand, holding up four coins between her fingers. She tossed them up and summoned her sniper rifle, barely even taking aim before firing once. That one shot caught each coin right in the center as they came down. She smirked as she caught the coins. “Yee-haw!”

The crowd was impressed, especially her partner Alzack. “That was hot!”

“How am I gonna top that?!” Lucy demanded plaintively.

“Patience, Lucy. You still have a few acts before them,” Erza reassured her.

“Wasn’t talking about the act,” muttered the blonde with a blush.

Max cheered. “Alright then! Lucky contestant number 7 is the lovely mermaid of the seas, Misty Waterflower!”

Instead of a bikini or her normal outfit, the Water Guardian arrived clad in a blue-silver dress. The bottom had a slit to show off her legs, which were complimented by a pair of silver two-inch heels. Instead of a ponytail, her hair was down to her hips. And instead of her normal cocky smirk, her smile was gentle, almost inviting someone to dance with her.

To say that Lucy was impressed was an understatement. She could barely say a word as she stared, her mouth agog as she tried to find the right words. “Wow...she’s gorgeous.”

“A true Siren of the sea,” Erza agreed

Misty smiled as the crowd drank in her image, even hearing some whistles. She wave her hands and summoned water into her palms. She stepped up to the mic and took a deep breath. A slow piano played behind her, Anabel providing some backdrops.

(Play: “Lost in Thoughts”, Birthright Version)

_You are the ocean’s grey waves, Destined to Seek,_

_Life Beyond the shore, just out of reach!_

_Yet the Waters Ever Change, Flowing like Time._

_The Path is Yours to Climb!_

As she sang the first verse, she waved her arms around, as if swimming. She controlled it as though she was a conductor. She slowly raised her hands over her head as she smoothly transitioned to the next verse.

_In the White Light~ A hand reaches through._

_A Double Edge Blade Cuts your in Heart in Two._

_A Waking Dream cuts your heart in two,_

_Embrace the Brand New Day~_

Crossing her hands, more water coalesced and slowly floated in the air around her. Bringing her hands down, the water stilled around her. Doing a twirl, dress swirling around her legs, the water spun with her, the crowd mesmerized by both her singing and her dancing.

_Sing with me~ about birthrights and love_

_The Light scatters to the Skies above!_

She twisted around, raising her leg as she glided through the water. She took a couple of steps back, allowing the water to trail after her. Doing one more twirl, she built up magic for her last part of her act.

_Dawn breaks through the gloom, White as a Bone!_

_Lost in Thoughts All Alone!_

Her last spell sent water spiraling in every direction passing over the audience. With the way the light shined through, it created a dazzling rainbow effect that mesmerized the audience with its beauty. She gently curtseyed to massive applause and waved to the crowd as she left the stage.

Drew smirked as he turned to his brother in arms. “Who know Misty could sing so well?

Ash shook his head. “No, I knew she could. It’s just...she’s always been nervous to.”

The Fire Guardian chuckled. “Well, guess the cat’s out of the bag. You know we should invite her to sing when we play.”

“Yeah,” Ash absently replied, still enraptured by his girlfriend’s singing.

“After that kind of performance, it will be hard to top but let’s see if Contestant number 8 has anything to say about that! She’s your minx with an attitude, May Maple!”

May flew out to a raucous applause. Her outfit was a red sleeveless top with gold sparkles across it with a short black skirt and black heeled sandals, complimenting her tanned legs. She summoned her Pokemon in flashes of light. They all got in position around her, ready to perform their tasks. She turned to the left and raised her hand, palm facing up. Her right was straight in front of her, in front of Blaziken. Off to the side, Anabel had finished setting up her table. At the brunette’s nod, she flipped it on. The music started almost instantly, an hypnotic tune emanating from the table.

(La Bouche-Sweet Dreams)

_Sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing_

_Sweet dreams of passion through the night_

_Sweet dreams are taking over_

_Sweet dreams of dancing through the night_

At the beat drop, she sprang into motion as she dropped her hands to the ground to pick up her Wartortle and tossing it high into the air. The turtle soared in a high arc, spun in a rapid circle took a breath and fired off a Bubblebeam. The bubbles scattered around the stage, the crowd watching in awe at the size of them. May hopped up onto one of the larger bubbles gracefully, doing a pirouette.

_I wanna get into motion, a better devotion_

_So I can make it through the night_

_So the music is playin', you know what I'm saying_

_Now everything will be alright_

She raised her hand to Ivysaur. Obligingly, the green pokemon fired off a Petal Dance, the pink petals scattering through the bubbles. She danced as the petals fell around her. She flipped onto another bubble her Beautifly swooped in from behind her. Flapping its wings, the butterfly fired a String Shot and grabbed the brunette. May used it to backflip to another bubble, where her Blaziken ignited its claws and summoned a fireball.

_Sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing_

_Sweet dreams of passion through the night_

_Sweet dreams are taking over_

_Sweet dreams of dancing through the night_

_Ola ola e, ola ola e_

_Ola ola e, ola ola e_

She spun on her toes, the fire from her starter pokemon caressing her like a lover. She hopped off and, using another String Shot, floated towards the center where the bubbles had formed a tower. As she flew, from the stage floor, Ivysaur wrapped a vine and wrapped it around an ice blue fox. Glaceon, the pokemon’s name, was launched towards her mother, who caught her by the front paws. They spun a few times time before Glaceon leapt away and fired a Shadow towards the top of the tower.

_Keep dancin' hard_

_Give this groove more feeling_

_Dance trance dance more dealing_

_In out up down all around_

_On the dance floor gettin' down_

_Take time just to show them who_

_We can make your body move_

_Totally, yes the party's started_

_Sweet dreams keep comin' harder_

May landed atop the bubble tower, her landing not even disturbing it. Blaziken leaped down over and grabbed a small but pudgy green pokemon, before sending it towards the top of the tower. Munchlax cheered as he sailed through the air.

_Sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing_

_Sweet dreams of passion through the night_

_Sweet dreams are taking over_

_Sweet dreams of dancing through the nigh_ t

May caught the normal-type in her arms before tossing him in the air. Once free, she flipped so she was facing down and dove towards the tower. Munchlax took a deep breath, light building up in its mouth, before firing it off in a massive beam of light. The beam traveled swiftly, missing May’s nose my mere inches. The solar blast struck the Shadow Ball, causing to build up speed before sending into into the bubbles. The combined attacks blasted the tower into a burst of sparkles, sending her flying even higher into the air, twirling slightly. She landed with a graceful thud, sinking to one knee and spreading her arms as the sparkles showered down around her. The crowd cheered loudly over the music as it began to fade out.

(End song)

Drew nudged Ash as they clapped for the performance. “How was that?”

“Um…she was, uh…amazing…so pretty…” The Lightning Guardian stumbled over his words, staring in completely besotted befuddlement at the stage as May sashayed away. He blushed at thought of having a similar performance with all four of his girls, in a more private setting.

The Fire Guardian noticed this and laughed to himself.

“Wow! After a performance like that, the remaining contestants will be hard pressed to win this!” Max announced. “Contestant number 8: she’s a dancer with a grip on our souls, it's Anabel Soleil!”

Anabel said nothing as she took center stage. She flipped a switch under the keyboards which swapped it from the record May played, to the one Anabel had set up. Taking a deep breath and making sure she had all buttons set, she flipped the table back on. Almost immediately, the music came in loud and fast.

(One More Time by Daft Punk)

Compared to May’s music, this one had more instruments, almost like trumpets. As the first bar played, the empath pressed a couple of buttons that repeated the note, almost like it was skipping it. The beat picked up but the lights were drawn to the stage. The music also had a strange effect on the audience. Compared to the rock music and the previous song, this had a more consistent beat, a beat they could easily dance too. Another set of skips and keyboard strokes happened and this time the lights went from fluorescent to a multitude of colors.

The beat dropped, and suddenly everyone was dancing and clapping along with the rhythm. Backstage, Lucy was nodding along to the song, noticing the colors swirling through her vision. “So that’s what she’s doing,” she noted with a smile.

“What was that?” Erza asked over the music.

“She has a condition that causes her to see sounds as colors! She’s using her magic to show others the same thing!”

Erza nodded. “I see…very unique, and beautiful.”

As the beat picked up, Anabel hopped from foot to foot in time with the beat, directing the entire guild as they mimicked her. Stepping away from the table, she quickly started to freestyle as her hands telepathically pressed each button. In her eyes, she saw the colors blending together in a cacophony of strobing lights and pulsating sounds. She let herself fall into the beat of the music as she hopped across the stage. The crowd bounced around to the beat as the empath showed off her moves; all the while leaving the guild speechless over her dance moves. The beat paused before she did a flip and resumed dancing. This went on for a minute before the music went silent, save for a single tune. The lights darkened as well leaving a spotlight on the empath who was now laying on the floor as if she were a fallen angel.

Slowly, she raised her hands up to the spotlight, gathering and focusing her aura into a small ball as she began to lean back.

Lucy smiled as Anabel continued her routine. “Misty told me something about her. When she’s not training, she’ll find a way to dance.” Lucy explained to Erza, “Whether it’s in private or in a hall, she can go for hours in her own world, dancing like an eternal ballerina. Misty said she spent hours just watching her, sometimes joining her, other times Dawn and May join her.” She watched as each repetition of the lyrics, the ball in Anabel’s hand grew. “Drew and the others may have skill with their instruments.” She watched as the beat slowly increased, with the empath rising in time. “But Anabel doesn’t just create it, she feels it: every note, every beat, every pulse, she can see it and turn it into something really magical.”

As the music picked up with, the globe grew bigger and bigger. It was as if the happiness in the guild was making it grow. Anabel stood up fully, the orb now twice as big as her. At the final beat drop, she sent a pulse into sphere, detonating it to create a spectacular rainbow explosion that brought color back into the hall. The guild cheered louder, instantly dancing again as the empath shuffled back to the table to finish the song. One last set of beats and she let the music fade out. The crowd screamed in applause as she took her bow before leaving the stage.

“What an amazing performance by Anabel!” Max cheered loudly.

Erza and Lucy shared his enthusiasm. “Who knew Misty and her friends had it in them?” Lucy praised.

“Next year, we need to come up with some better performances,” Erza muttered.

“Next is contestant number nine, the Fairy queen who needs no introduction!”

The redhead, realizing that it was her turn, ran out did a high front flip onto the stage.

 _“Erza Scarlet!”_ The crowd cheered loudly as one of the most popular mages in the guild made her way into the spotlight, exuding power from her armored frame.

The knight smirked at them all. “If you want to see magic, then watch this!” She took a deep breath and summoned her magic, which flowed out in an intense wave. It shielded her from view making the crowd tense up in anticipation. When it died down, her outfit had pulled a reversal; instead of her armor, she was clad in a black and white corset, with long sleeves and a flared skirt. Her legs were encased in black, thigh-length frilly leggings. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail, with a black bow adorning it. She grinned as she soaked in the adoration. “Looks like I’ve got a chance!”

Lucy was stunned into silence as her partner transformed into a gothic lolita dress, a small stream of blood coming from her nose. “Damn, she’s beautiful! I hope she comes to one of our fashion days.

“Moving right along, is contestant number 10! She’s the girl that’s as sweet as honey and the clothes to match! It's Dawn Berlitz!”

Dawn skipped out onto the stage, making the crowd gush over her cuteness. She was dressed in a black and white lace corset and skirt that showed a tasteful amount of cleavage and her pale shoulders. She also wore similar colored gloves and stockings with matching knee length boots. She revealed two pokeballs in her hands and crossed them over her chest.

“Alright! Buneary, Cyndaquil! Spotlight!” The two balls sprang open and released two bright ribbons from each capsule. Trailing behind them were the two pokemon, the Normal type cheering and the Fire type igniting its back “Buneary, **Ice Beam!”** she called out.

The bunny took a deep breath and fired off an ice cold beam at the fading ribbons. The ray of ice chilled and then the entire length of the airborne ribbon. The path the ice took turned into a series of loops and ramps, gaining the curiosity of the audience. “Alright! Cyndaquil, **Flame Wheel!”**

The Fire-type gave out a cry and curled up into a ball, turning itself into a rolling fireball. He propelled himself up to the top of the ramp and began carving out a path through the ice. Buneary followed behind, sliding down the melted ice like she was on a water slide.

Ash smiled as he remembered the last time he saw her perform. “This was her preliminary performance for one her festivals…”

“The Sinnoh Grand Festival. The one she won,” Drew finished.

Dawn smiled as the audience ate up her performance. “Alright, Cyndaquil, **Smokescreen!** Buneary, **Ice Beam** one more time!”

Cyndaquil landed at the top of the ramp and spewed out a large black cloud, blocking the two pokemon from view. The crowd waited with baited breath as the smoke slowly dissipated. Their patience was rewarded as it cleared, revealing that Buneary had created the Fairy Tail Symbol out of the Ice and was sitting on its talon. Cyndaquil meanwhile was behind it, using its flames to mimic the wings of the symbol. Dawn curtseyed as the crowd cheered for the great performance

“That was awesome!” Lucy cheered. Then her look soured briefly. _Damn it, they really went all out!_

Max clapped his hands. “What a way to show Fairy Tail Pride! Onto our last contestant; another newbie!”

Lucy realized that she was up and grabbed her keys. “Alright, it’s my turn!” she told herself. The blonde walked out on stage waving to the crowd and grabbing her keys to summon her spirits. Before she could take her spot, however, a haughty laugh made everyone off stage.

“I believe this farce of a show is over,” the voice announced. Out of the shadows, Evergreen arrogantly stepped forward. “The title ‘Queen of the Fairies’ is all mine!” she declared.

Lucy growled and stomped up to her. “Hey bitch! You weren’t even in this contest!”

Grey gasped, realizing what was about to happen. “Lucy! Don’t look at her eyes!”

Lucy, momentarily confused, was caught off guard as Evergreen lowered her glasses. There was a flash of light and the blonde’s body froze in place, before solidifying into solid stone, her expression startled.

Evergreen laughed madly. “Now there’s no one left! You’ll have to crown me Miss Fairy Tail!”

“Hey! Check your math, Snake-Lady!” Dawn suddenly spoke up, her skin glowing a faint green and unaffected by her gaze

Evergreen sputtered at the nerve of this girl. “Snake-Lady? H-how are you resisting my spell?”

“My Safeguard can deflect any attacks that can cause ailments,” she taunted, “Things like burns, sleep; or in this case, petrification!”

Before Evergreen could respond, a snide voice called out to her. “Evergreen, this is not the time to lose your cool.” In an instant, the other members of the Thunder God Tribe revealed themselves, a smirking Laxus leading the way. In addition to the well-dressed, green-haired visage of Freed Justine, there was also a man in a dark blue knight’s armor, whose mouth was hanging open This was Bickslow, a man who, despite his eccentricities, was one of the more powerful mages in the guild.

Laxus glared out over the hall. “I hope you weaklings enjoyed this little charade, because this’ll be last time you all see this guild!”

For emphasis, the curtain was drawn back. Much to everyone’s horror, every girl that had competed already, save for Dawn, had been petrified. Based on their surprised or neutral expressions, most were caught off guard, though it looked like May and Anabel were in the process of trying to fight it.

The Lightning Dragon Slayer grinned maliciously as he wrapped an arm around Lucy’s stone form, eliciting an enraged growl from Natsu. “I’m here for a _real_ competition. This will be a true battle of Fairy Tail: the goal is to be the last man standing! That means that you have to face off against everyone else, plus the four of us.” He waved his arms at the doors. “The battlefield will be the entirety of Magnolia. You all have three hours to find us and defeat us. Otherwise…” He chuckled, stroking Lucy’s petrified cheek. “These stone statues will become nothing more than dust in the wind!”

At that, everyone scrambled over each other to find the Thunder God Tribe. Makarov went with them, intent on fighting alongside his guild and stopping his grandson. However, he grunted with pain as he slammed face-first into an invisible wall.

Laxus laughed. “You're not going anywhere, Gramps! This barrier prevents anyone over the age of 80 from leaving! And only the caster can release it!” he taunted, fading away. So, you can watch this guild fall before your very eyes!” A projection screen appeared thanks to Freed’s magic, so that the Guildmaster could watch the fireworks.

The conscious Riders met up before heading out themselves. “Our priority should be to find Evergreen,” Drew ordered, “Find her and we can end the spell on the girls! Then we’ll take on the others! Save lightning rod for last!”

“Right,” they agreed. They left the guild swiftly. All save for Natsu, who suddenly grunted as he too smacked headlong into an unseen barrier.

Everyone turned to see his flattening against the edge of the spell.

Happy flew over worriedly. “Natsu, are you alright?”

Natsu growled. “Yeah! Somehow this stupid barrier is blocking me! Gaaaah, I wanna beat that bastard’s ass so bad!”

Drew raised an eyebrow at the phenomenon, but put off the thought that popped into his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll find Freed and get you out of there. Everyone, fan out!”

The Riders quickly raced into the streets, everyone save Grey climbing onto the rooftops.

Max flew over the city trying to get an idea where everyone was. Flying over one of the roads, he spotted Alzack, Jet and Droy standing around doing nothing. “What the heck are they doing? We need to find the Thunder God Tribe.” Then without warning, Alzack pulled out his revolver and launched several spells at the unaware duo. They were easily taken down, the gun mage not even looking back.

Horrified at the double-cross, he radioed to everyone. “Guys, I don’t know what’s going on, but Alzack just took down Shadow Gear!”

As he was keeping an eye on the market, Ash noticed signs that another fight was about to break out. “I got one here too! What’s going on?”

Drew leaped across the roofs and saw another fight finishing with Laki the purple haired Wood Mage emerging victorious. “I think it’s Freed again. He’s probably laced the city with some sort of magic! Only one mage leaves the circle! Stay separated and make sure you stay on the roofs! I have a gut feeling the rooftops are safe!”

Back at the guild

Makarov could only watch as the guild tore itself apart with infighting. He glared at the projection of his grandson. “Laxus, this has gone far enough! Release the girls and end this madness at once!”

Laxus chuckled darkly, not looking at him. “I’ll be more than happy to, if you turn over the guild to me!”

Before Makarov could even respond, Natsu snarled . “No way! Gramps will never turn the guild over to you! When I get out of here you're gonna go down!”

Gajeel who had been trapped in the hall as well snarled. “You're gonna wish you killed me bastard!”

The blond man laughed. “Like I need to do that, when the rest of the guild can do it for me. Take a look at your precious guild!” He waved to the projections; in almost 15 minutes, most of the guild had been defeated, with few survivors. Said survivors were being hunted down by the other members of the Thunder God Tribe. A projection showed that Gray had been defeated by Bickslow, the puppet mage flouncing away with an arrogant flair. “With you and metal-brain trapped as the only two left, this game’s over. Say goodbye to your friends!”

Natsu fell to his knees, staring at the screens in shock, unable to comprehend not only losing to this prick, but losing Lucy and Erza. Looking up at the screens again, he had a sudden brainstorm. “Are you sure we’re the only ones left? What about Drew and his friends?”

Laxus chuckled. “I’m pretty sure they were defeated as well. Being taken out by your own comrades would certainly shame them to the point of quitting as well.” He turned to Freed. “Freed, have those punks gotten into any fights?

The rune mage scanned his runes moving each one in sequence, looking for signs that the newcomers had gotten caught in the traps. Frowning at the findings, Freed checked them again, getting the same result. “Laxus, I don’t know how, but none of them have been in a fight!”

Laxus snapped to him in confusion. “What do you mean they haven’t fought? How have they avoided all of your runes?”

A stray thought went through Natsu’s head. He remembered before they went to Everlue mansion, they both saw Drew and his friends earlier that day leaping across the rooftops.

“What if they knew how to avoid the streets?” he asked, the words escaping before he could think about it.

Laxus scoffed. “As if! No one could avoid the runes Freed’s hidden. Unless…” He trailed off, his disbelief fading as he considered the possibility. Then he glared at his partner. “FREED! WHY DIDN'T YOU TRAP THE ROOFS?”

The green haired mage, undeterred by his partner’s yelling, snapped back, “DO YOU THINK IT WAS EASY TO LAY DOWN SO MANY AREAS TO BEGIN WITH?!”

Makarov hummed in thought. _If I know them, they would also avoid being together to make sure the traps don’t go off._

“It doesn’t matter!” Laxus roared. “You _will_ turn over the guild to me, or your precious family will be destroyed!” His voice faded with a furious snarl as his magic projection disappeared.

Natsu pounded his fists. “I wanna waste that guy so much, but we’re stuck thanks to those runes!” He glanced at the stage and approached the stone statues.

“Salamander, what are you doing, ” Gajeel asked confused

“I’m gonna try to free Erza! We need all of the fire power we can get!” He channeled his earth magic into his hand; he was getting better at his Guardian power, having learned to move the ground and raise pillars. However, the fact that he had to learn something new made the progress slower than he liked. He raised his glowing hand to Erza’s cheeks and focused, power flowing into the statue. At first, nothing happened, making him frown in worry. Then the stone began to crack, scaring Natsu into thinking he was going to kill Erza. Before he could pull back, the stone shattered into dust, making him flinch back. Once it settled, he looked to where her statue was worriedly preparing for the worst. Instead, he saw Erza’s body returned to normal, her eyes closed as if in sleep.

Erza took a deep breath as she blinked her eyes open. Seeing her boyfriend, she asked in amazement. “Natsu? Did you free me?”

“Yeah, didn’t think it’d work,” he replied, grinning.

I think I also helped you in that regard,” Erza told him. “My magic eye severely weakened the spell. Your magic was the final catalyst,” She then stood up and leaped off the stage. “I best be off; I’ve a bitch to punish!” She ran out of the guild, swords in hand.

Natsu grinned as he watched his girlfriend march into battle.

Out in Town

Drew was getting worried. He noticed the fights had dropped off considerably, which increasingly concerned him. “Guys, roll call! Are we the only ones left?”

Ash looked around. “I think so. I know only Grey went down. Brock, Max, Dawn, Tori are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine!” Brock announced, with Max floating nearby.

“I haven’t met anyone!” Dawn replied with concern..

“I’m trying to heal people as best as I can,” Tori answered.

Drew rubbed his head in frustration. “We’re running out of time and manpower. We need to find those bastards now!”

“Even if we could, what are the chances they’ll release the girls?” Brock asked.

“It's not like we have a way to...heal...them…” Drew trailed off. A long silence followed as everyone realized that they had overlooked something important.

“You forgot Dawn has Heal Bell,” Ash deadpanned.

“I forgot Dawn had Heal Bell,” Drew parroted, facepalming. “Dawn, if you would be so kind?”

“On my way!” Dawn replied, immediately taking off across the roofs. Unfortunately, someone had caught sight of her leaping away.

“So she’s got a way to end my spell? I think the little fairy needs to be taught a lesson on hierarchy!” She reached into her dress and pulled out a dark green Gaea memory with an M. On the end of the letter was a snake tail.

**MEDUSA!**

She raised it to her right arm, where a strange black slot appeared, and jabbed it in. Her body melted and reformed into a large green human-snake hybrid. Her legs fused into a long green snake tall while the rest of her body turned green. Two bronze plates covered her breasts while on her head was tall crown

(For visual reference she’s Cassiopeia from League of Legends)

**Now it’sss time to ssshow that _Queen Medusa_ is the queen of the Fairies…!”**

Dawn rushed across the rooftops, skirt billowing around her. Glancing up from her run, she spied the spires of the guild. “Almost there guys! This time, I’ll be the one to save you!” she told herself, picking up speed. As she leaped onto another roof, her instincts suddenly cried out for her to pause. She pulled out Sylveon and her buckle, strapping the latter on. Glancing around, she tried to pinpoint where these feelings were coming from. A small rattling behind her made her jump into the air, avoiding two snakes that nearly struck her. She activated Safeguard again; she didn’t trust whoever she was fighting to not have some means of paralyzing her.

**“Sssso you do have s _some_ bite to you. But it doesn’t matter; once you go down, thosssse other girlss will be hissstory!”**

“Not if I have something to say about it!” Dawn declared. “HENSHIN!” She quickly flipped the lever on her belt before Medusa could do anything.

**EVOLVE**

Her fairy wing-marked shield burst from her buckle and shoved the snake woman back, then collapsed back onto Dawn. Medusa quickly recovered and fired off a green projectile. Hanabi quickly drew a rectangle in front of her and cried, **“Light Screen!”** The slime crashed into the pink shield, sliding off harmlessly as the acid tried to burn through..

**“You can block my acid shotssss, but you can’t posssssibly keep up your little sssspell!”**

“That just means I can’t look at your eyes directly!” she retorted. Internally however, Dawn frowned. _She’s right about one thing, though. Even using Safeguard on just myself, I can’t keep it up for long. At best, I can do 6 minutes, and it’s already been a minute and a half. She doesn’t know that, and I don’t plan on telling. Time for those Aura-sensing skills to be put to work!_

Deciding against testing whether her helmet qualified as cover, she closed her eyes and let her Aura pulse out. If she knew anything about the legend of Medusa, it was that staring into its eyes without something to reflect the stare was gonna hurt her. She didn’t have the sensing prowess of Ash or Anabel, considering she focused on healing, but she _did_ have enough skill to not worry about her sight.

 **“Your little tricksss won’t ssssave you!”** the kaijuu boasted haughtily. She slithered around the shield and lunged at Hanabi. The Rider snapped around, throwing her sword up to deflect the blow away and danced away.

“Just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean I can’t fight you!” Hanabi reversed her grip and pointed her sword down. “If you have the powers of a snake, it also means that you have the weaknesses of one. That includes being susceptible to the cold! **Ice Beam!”**

From the tip of her blade, a wave of cold shot forth. It quickly raced across the roof before crashing into the transformed woman, grabbing her tail and freezing it in place. Not giving her a chance to recover, Hanabi twirled around and caused dozens of icy spikes to materialize in the wake of her sword. **“Ice Shard!”**

The glittering shards shot forward, twisting and whirling in a minor tornado of agony. Medusa roared in pain as the shards struck across her serpentine body, the sharp tips cracking her scales with bursts of sparks. The ice chilled her to the core as they surrounded her body. **“Y-you little _bitch!”_ **she hissed, gathering her magic around her shoulders. In an unexpected move, two sets of black-scaled wings snapped out of her shoulders, flaring and straining impressively, shattering her frosty prison in a gust of wind. Hanabi reeled from the shattering ice. She needed a new strategy fast. _Compared to everyone else, I don't have the most powerful spells or the strongest magic. I can stay in a fight for a long time, but I don’t have the damage to put her down. I need backup, fast!_

Unfortunately, the woman turned kaijuu was one of strongest mages in the guild. **“You won’t essscape me!”** She raised her clawed hands skyward. ** “Leprechaun Machine Gun!”** The lamia glowed brightly before multiple balls of light appeared across her wings and fired at the smaller girl. The amount of shots fired off caught the pink Rider off guard, preventing her from moving out of the way due to the speed and width of the attack. She raised her sword to brace herself from the attack, when a scarlet haired visage leaped out in front of her and deflected the shots.

Hanabi raised her head and was surprised to see Erza with her shield Akouo deployed, not even taking damage. “Erza! You’re free from the spell?” Hanabi asked, shocked at the red head’s revival..

“Yes, my fake eyes seems to have negated her spell over me. To the point that Natsu was able to free me.”

 **“You’re free!?”** hissed the Dopant angrily, **“You musst be sstronger than I thought.”**

Erza scoffed at the reptilian kaijuu. “I see that you’ve turned to that despicable power source, Evergreen.” She summoned a magic circle, pulled out her Aquilla bracelet and strapped it on. Her bandolier flashed onto her skirt, blades jangling.

Hanabi perked up. “Oh yeah, Drew told us you're a Rider now!” she gushed,hopping up and down in excitement.

Erza nodded and picked up the bronze lance from bandolier. “Yes. Now, let’s finish this so-called Fairy Queen!” She raised her bracelet and inserted the lance blade, before grinding it up. “HenSHIN!” she yelled, grinding the blade back down and flinging it out with a flourish.

**AQUILA! TAKE FLIGHT!**

Ten ethereal blades appeared and sliced through Erza. Before Hanabi could voice her concerns, her body shattered, revealing Aquila in all her bronze glory. The medic, despite seeing the red head sliced through moments before, had to whistle at the new armor. “Wow, that looks so cool! Like something out of the Greek mythology!” She glanced at the kaijuu. “Ironically appropriate, all things considered!”

 **“Ssso what? You can’t posssibly beat me!”** She roared flying away.

Hanabi frowned. “Great she’s taking to the air!”

“Do you have a way to catch her?” Aquilla asked.

“I do, but…I don’t really want to use it on such a weak opponent.”

 **“I heard that! Acid Sssstorm!”** Medusa leaned back and spat a sickly green corrosive spray at the two Riders. Hanabi quickly summoned another Light Screen and caught the attack. Despite the hissing and bubbling of the acid, it slid off the spell’s glass structure.

“If you have it, use it!” Aquilla ordered sternly.

“Fine!” Hanabi sighed, reluctantly pulling out a red card. This one bore the image of a red and white avian creature with a long neck and jet like wings.

“What’s that?” Aquilla asked.

“This is Latias. I don’t summon her unless I want some extra firepower. Or in this case, some wings,” Hanabi replied as she brought the card down to the buckle to scan it.

**EON**

Hanabi glowed brightly. The armor plating popped up with a click and shifted from her chest to her arms and shoulders; at the same time, the pinks of her armor darkened to a brilliant red. Flashing out of her back, two white and red jet wings appeared, extending above her shoulders. Her helmet’s ears shifted to the back to increase aerodynamics. Completing the ensemble, she had a pair of boosters that would allow her to float or fly.

** “Kamen Rider Hanabi: Eon Form!” **

Medusa hissed in anger. **“So what if you have wings too? I’ll clip them like piecessss of paper!”** She flapped her own wings and flew away. Hanabi sprinted towards the edge of the roof to gain lift and blasted off into the air. Aquilla quickly followed, pulling out a silver sword and swiping it through the the grindstone.

**HEAVEN’S WHEEL! TAKE FLIGHT!**

Her bronze armor glowed before several ethereal blades crashed through her. The armor shattered, revealing her Heaven’s Wheel armor. Bronze gave way to silvery blue, armor that snugly fit around her curves. Two metallic white wings sprouted from her back, while a pair of silver knee high boots covered her feet. Her helmet became silvery blue, topped off with a white-winged tiara.

 **“Aquilla: Heaven’s Wheel!”** she cried. She quickly flight flapping her wings and flew in front of Hanabi.

Medusa looked over her shoulder and snarled. **“You ssstupid fliesss jusssst won’t _take a hint!_ Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!”**

Her body glowed again, summoning multiple balls of light and firing them at two approaching Riders. Before Aquilla could defend herself, Hanabi shot forward and pulled out one of her Ambipom cards.

**SWIFT**

She swung her sword in a wide arc, a shower of stars following in its glowing wake. The stars streaked forward and intercepted the shots in mid-air. The resulting explosions, created a dazzling fireworks display.

“Go! I’ve got the bullets!” Hanabi called out, keeping up her own barrage. Aquila nodded and summoned two twin swords. Medusa gulped nervously as her attack flashed and burst harmlessly against the twin attacks of the stars and the Titania’s swords. Before she could react, Aquilla commanded her swords to fly at the fleeing kaijuu. They slashed across her body, causing her to scream in pain and sending her plummeting into the roof. The remaining swords rained down and pinned her to the roof.

The two Riders landed on either side of her struggling form. Aquila grabbed the silver sword trinket and slid it through her bracelet while Hanabi grabbed two of her cards and powered them up.

**FINAL FLIGHT!**

**DRILL PECK! MAXIMUM ENERGY!**

**ICE BEAM! MAXIMUM ENERGY!**

**COMBO: FROZEN SPIRE**

**“Wait!”** Medusa screamed as she struggled in her prison, **“My magic hass one more ability! If I sso choossee, I could remote detonate the sstatuesss. Unlesss you both sstrip down and admit I am your better, your friendsss will all blow sky-high!”**

Aquilla glanced at Hanabi who looked like she might go through with it. Then, to her partner’s surprise, she raised her swords to eye level. “So be it!” she declared, “In that case, we will have to avenge our fallen comrades!” She pushed off from the roof, charging towards the downed kaijuu.

Hanabi stepped back in surprise at Aquilla’s charge. _Erza, what the heck!? If she_ does _have a kill switch, she’s gonna trigger it if we do this!_ Sensing her conviction through her Aura, however, she sighed and raised her sword. _Sorry, guys,_ she thought. She boosted towards the frozen kaijuu, flying low over the roof with her sword pointed straight in front of her, ice trailing behind her.

 **“WAITWAITWAITWAIT _WAIT,_ I SURRENDER!” **shrieked Medusa hysterically, flailing and thrashing desperately.

Aquilla sliced through Medusa’s back, multiple glowing cuts flashing all over her body in showers of sparks. Hanabi, meanwhile, pierced through the ice prison with her sword, glowing with ice-blue Aura energy and striking the center of the chest. More importantly, her attack struck the Gaea memory and destroying it. They landed opposite of where they’d started, swords gripped tightly

Hanabi swung her sword and waved it to the side. “That’s your curtain call!” she exclaimed. Behind them, Medusa screamed one last time, her body freezing up and solidifying into stone before falling to the side and shattering into dust. (1) Both Riders sheathed their weapons and turned back towards fallen mage, who had reverted to her human state. “How did you know she was bluffing?” asked Hanabi as they powered down.

“Despite her actions, Evergreen cares for this guild,” Erza told her, smiling wryly, “She wouldn’t put a kill switch on her spell. With her knocked out, everyone should be free.”

Dawn smiled in relief. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Come on!” She leaped to another roof, while Erza picked up Evergreen. The blue-haired girl gave a glance back over her shoulder. “Can I say that you look amazing in that outfit?”

Glancing down at her Gothic lolita attire, Erza blushed, having never received such a compliment, especially from a girl. “Th-thank you…”

“You ever consider coming with Lucy to our fashion days…?”

Their conversation lasted until they reached the entrance to the guild. Before Erza could respond, Dawn was tackled by a brunette missile.

“Great job sweetie!” squealed May. “All the girls are back to normal!” The two girls giggled as they twirled around in glee.

Briefly separating, they headed inside the guild, where they saw the guild laughing and talking like they hadn’t just participated in a battle for their lives. They were quickly met by Ash and their partners, all smiling at the appearance of their unfrozen friend.

“Everyone’s fine, apart from some bruises and wounded pride,” Misty told Dawn before she could inquire. Then she hugged the smaller girl. “Thanks for saving us.”

Dawn blushed at the praise. “It’s nothing. You guys would have done the same.”

After sharing thanks, the guild quickly got heated as they began to argue what their next issue, with some almost coming to blows. Most agreed Laxus should be punished but the severity differed wildly. Some demanded his head, others for his exile.

Natsu, being the fighter he was, laid out his plans pretty simply. “If Laxus wants to prove he’s the best, then let me at him! I’ll kick his butt!”

“Four things wrong with that,” Drew told him flatly, “One, we only have a vague idea where the heck he even is. Two, we still don’t know where his friends are. Three, if Evergreen had a Gaea memory, Bickslow, Freed and Laxus would _clearly_ have their own too. Finally, if we get into a fight with Laxus, the town will turn into even more of a battlefield than it already is, putting people in danger!”

“Then we need to figure out how to get everyone out without them knowing,” Lucy proposed.

Before they could think of a plan, they noticed several of Freed’s runes glowing and floating into the sky, forming into a skull. The skull’s mouth opened, revealing a projection of Laxus’s smug grin. “If you’re watching this, then you're in for a treat! This battle’s just getting started!” As he spoke, multiple magic circles appeared in the sky and several clear orbs containing lighting bolts descended from them.“These orbs are the Thunder Palace! If Gramps does not surrender in seventy minutes, this town and everyone in it will _fry!”_

At this, Makarov suddenly grunted grabbed his chest, legs giving way as his heart suddenly seized up. Considering the shocks to his system, it was a wonder he was still breathing at the moment. Mira, noticing at once, gasped. “Master! Hang on, I’ll go get your medicine!”

Drew’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully “Guys! Get the civilians out of town! _Someone_ find that bastard and his buddies! I don’t care who does what! GO!”H

The Riders agreed and sprinted out. Bisca ran to the top of stairs, a sound idea in mind. “Stand back, I think I can take these down!” She took aim with her rifle and fired a large round at one of the orbs, shattering it. Unfortunately, the orbs reacted violently and sent back her shot, doubling its power. Only the timely intervention of Ash and his Lightningrod ability saved her from being shocked into the infirmary.

“Okay, don’t shoot the orbs. Good to know!” Drew complained sarcastically. With disaster temporarily averted, they quickly raced back into town.

Back in the guild

Natsu growled as he pounded his fists, stomping around the guild hall like a caged beast. “We gotta get out of here and help them!”

“I’m trying, Natsu, calm down!” Levy told him firmly, from behind the pile of books. Knowing the nature of Freed’s magic. Using her Wind-reader glasses, she scanned each book and wrote each note quickly. _Freed’s runes are strong, but I know there’s a way to break them! It’s in these books!_

“Can you break it, shrimp?” asked Gajeel.

“I’m not a shrimp!” she snapped, “But if I can find the code in this, I _can_ break you all out; I just need time!”

“Or an extra set of hands?” Brock suggested, walking over to the stack and sitting down beside her.

She smiled gratefully. “Thanks. Here, grab those books and try to find something related to runes.”

Brock was quick to get to the books, Max following shortly. They _needed_ to figure out this trap soon.

Over in the Kardia Cathedral,

Freed released the last of the Thunder Palace with an exhausted sigh. “Everything is in place...Laxus.” He turned to the dragon slayer, who was punching the wall, knowing his plans were falling apart. “Laxus. We have no hostages, and none of the people that you wanted gone are even phased. I don’t think we can continue”

“I’m not stopping!” snarled Laxus, “And if you don’t follow my orders, you can fry with the rest of the weaklings!”

Freed glanced the mentally unstable dragon slayer and sighed. “Very well, Laxus. I will go and defeat as many as I can.”

Laxus said nothing as Freed left the cathedral. _Erza, Mystogan, Gildarts, Drew, Ash. They will all fall!_ he thought sinisterly. Clutched in his hand was a dark yellow Gaea memory.

In a side alley

Lucy, May and Happy were crossing through an alley looking for a way out of the town.

“Wish I’d brought something more to cover this top, but in a fight you gotta take what you can get,” May said aloud, trying to pull down her to cover up skin she wasn’t normally used to showing.

“Aren’t you basically a nudist at home?” asked Lucy, deadpanning.

“Just because I like showing off my body doesn’t mean I don’t have _some_ modesty,” the brunette responded, blushing slightly, “If I could, I’d change into my normal outfit. But it’s a fight, no one’s gonna wait for you to change.”

“Modesty, modesty, modesty~!” trilled several childlike voices. The girls turned around and saw several floating totem heads.

Happy gasped. “Those are Bickslow’s dolls!” He quickly grabbed Lucy and flew up high. May followed them by springing up on a nearby wall, leaping off an awning and landing on the roof, followed shortly by the flying duo.

 **“Gahahaha! Well what do you know? It's two of the newbies!”** a mad voice taunted. They looked up see a large wooden puppet. On its legs were a pair of loose blue pants, while iit wore a red vest that was open revealing its gearwork chest. Its face looked like a scarecrow’s, with a red skull cap on its head. Completing the look was a marionette and strings on its back. Floating around several totem heads giggling like the mad man controlling them.

“Bickslow? You’ve turned into one of those monsters?” Happy gasped.

**“That’s right, stupid cat. You can call me Master Puppet! And you two ladies? With those outfits, you could be my personal cheerleaders.**

Normally, May had no problems being called that, considering she and Dawn did perform in similar attire, gymnastics and cheerleading respectively. To hear it from a creep like him sent shivers running up her spine. “U-ugh…what a pervert!” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest uneasily, “Lucy, let’s take this guy down already!”

“Right behind you!” Lucy agreed as she pulled out her keys. She shuffled through them before stopping on Sagittarius and summoned her belt. May followed soon after summoning her buckle and inserting her change card.

“HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

**SUMMON: ARCHER!**

May quickly transformed into Kusa. Meanwhile, Lucy slotted the Sagittarius key into her buckle and turned it, flipping over the face to show the arrow symbol of Sagittarius. Her body was engulfed in a blinding light as the armor assembled itself over her. When it faded, she was clad in a green, twin-tailed long coat with thigh-length boots. Flowing out from behind her helmet was a long blonde ponytail, held up by a large bow on the back of her head.

 **“Kamen Rider Pleiades: Sagittarius Form!”** she announced. _Sagittarius, are you with me?_

_ “Moshi-moshi! I am at your service, Mistress Lucy!” _

“I got the dolls!” Pleiades called out. She reached behind her and unslung her bow, notched an arrow, pulled it tight and fired. The arrow pierced one of the dolls, shattering it in a shower of wooden debris. She then took more shots, quickly pivoting to each target and hitting with pinpoint accuracy

“Good job!” Kusa praised, raising her hand **“Razor Leaf!”** A green magic circle appeared materialized her hand and a gust of razor sharp leaves fired out. The projectiles sliced through the the Dopant, making him grunt in pain as sparks burst from light scratches. The leaf storm sped up and sliced through the dolls surrounding him,

Puppet reeled, covering his eyes in anguish. **“Oh nooo~! My poor babies! What will I do now?”** He then dropped his act and laughed maniacally **“Gyahaha! You bitches _really_ think you’ve beaten me? I can just make more!”** He snapped his fingers. **“Just like that! That’s why I chose this toy store! My Human Possession magic can take control of any inanimate object!”**

The girls watched in surprise as more dolls appeared underneath them. Before the Riders could react, the dolls all dove at Pleiades. She yelped in pain as they relentlessly tackled her, their surprisingly hard heads and fists denting her armor. 

The spirit superimposed over Pleiades grunted in pain, absorbing the blows for his master. _“I’m sorry Mistress, but I can’t keep this going!”_ cried Sagittarius as he left the armor. His abrupt departure forced Pleiades to revert back to her silvery-gray base form.

 **“Heh, such a weak spirit! Now to make sure you can’t do anything else!”** One of the puppets flew down and snatched the keys away. Happy was quick to react and flew up to grab them, only to yelp in pain as another doll blindsided and tackled him, falling back onto the roof.

 **“What are you gonna do without your keys girlie?”** The Dopant taunted.

**FIRE SPIN**

The puppet barely flinched as a whirlwind of fire ensnared him. Rather, he only cackled loudly, even as his body took damage from the embers burning his skin. **“You think a little fire will stop me? Bayron Formation!” **

The five floating dolls flew into a circle in the air and began glowing green. Their target was the Metal Guardian still on her knees. Before Kusa could attempt to intercept the attack, the dolls glowed an eerie green, distorting the air around them before firing. Pleiades braced herself for the attack, figuring it was going to hurt a lot. Unseen to anyone, a gold magic circle appeared behind Pleiades. A tall figure leapt out of the circle and pulled the celestial mage out of the way

The Guardian blinked behind her helmet, seeing the scorch marks of the Dopant’s previous attack. Looking down, she saw she was in the arms of a well dressed man. She turned her head to get a good look at her rescuer. Her savior was a brown haired man with a set of familiar glasses, dressed in a very expensive black suit. “Hey, beautiful,” greeted the lion spirit, winking flirtatiously, “Fancy seeing you here!”

“Loke!?” Pleiades asked in astonishment, even as he set her down, “What the heck are you doing here!?”

Loke chuckled, fixing his glasses. “I sensed you were in trouble, and since I’m strong enough to pass through the gate by myself, I did. No way am I letting my master get killed again!” He turned to the puppet, his grin vanishing, and raised his fists. “Now stay behind me. I got this guy.”

The celestial mage shook her head and placed a hand resolutely on the spirit’s shoulder. “No. You can’t take them by yourself. These kaijuu can only be brought down by a Kamen Rider.” She drew her whip, Mutsuraboshi, and pulled it tight. “And _I’m a Kamen Rider.”_

Loke looked into the silver blue eyes of his master’s Rider form. Then he shook his head and laughed. “You really are a different master.” He glowed brightly, “Alright, let’s do this!” His body dissolved into particles and flew into the Guardian’s body. Her buckle glowed briefly before flipping over to reveal the Leo symbol. As the glow subsided, plate mail gave way to a long green dress, before settling on a metallic black-frilled armor. The chest was similar to a corset, tight across her chest with detached sleeves and gold trimming. Her legs were encased in a similar black material, complemented by pair of two-inch heels. Painted on her right breast was the symbol for Leo, also in gold.

 **“Kamen Rider Pleiades: Leo Form!”** shouted Pleiades. _Loke, are you okay?_

_ “Yeah, I am! This power is amazing. How much power were you holding back my love?” _

Behind her mask, Lucy sweat-dropped. _“Focus! We need to save our guild!”_

_ “Right, sorry!” _

Meanwhile, Puppet growled and fired a wave of magic, dispelling the tornado. He glared at the Rider. **“So I was right. You _are_ a Celestial Spirit. So many times I saw you, and I could tell you weren’t human. No wonder I couldn’t beat you; every time we fought, my magic couldn’t even touch you.”**

Pleiades started in surprise, looking down at the symbol on her chest in surprise. “You and Loke...fought? And you knew the whole time…?”

Happy chimed in. “Bickslow can use his magic to see weird stuff like that!”

Loke spoke through the armor. _“I’m here to keep a promise to protect my master. Though, I wouldn’t be focusing so much on me.”_

Before Puppet could respond, he grunted in surprise and pain as a foot connected with the back of his head, sending him toppling to the ground. “Forget about me?” Kusa asked sweetly floating around in her Fairy Form.

 **“Grrr...Go my babies! Destroy them!”** He laughed as the multiple dolls floated above him and launched towards the Celestial Rider.

Loke smirked. _“Time to show you why I’m one of the strongest spirits! Lucy Follow my lead!”_ Obligingly, the Rider held up her right hand and clenched it, a golden magic circle swirling open beneath her feet.

** “Oh Regulus! Grant us your Strength!” **

The effects of the the incantation showed its effects immediately as golden energy flowed through the armored war. With a cry, Pleiades reared back and threw her fist forward, launching out a bright yellow beam of light, vaporizing the incoming dolls.

“Whoa!” The girl said amazed.

Puppet growled and summoned more dolls. **“You- GAHH!”** He screamed as a flurry of leaves sliced into him The celestial mage cleared through the dolls and charged at the stunned Dopant. Rearing back with another shout, she delivered a powerful fist to the puppet’s chest, cracking and denting it, sending him flying across the roof with a cry to smash heavily into a wall.

Kusa floated towards her partner. “Nice shot!” she praised.

“Thanks! This Star Dress is awesome!”

 _“Glad you ladies enjoyed it!”_ Loke exclaimed, a mysterious wink-like sparkle glinting at the corner of Pleiades’s visor.

Puppet groaned, growling as he hauled himself up into a sitting position. **“Feh…You really don’t know when to quit, do ya girlies?! I guess I need to stop fooling around, then!”** He reached up to grab his face and ripped it off revealing a mannequin face.

Happy recognized what was about to happen and quickly shut his eyes “Guys! He’s about to use his Doll Eyes Magic! Close your eyes!”

Not needing to be told twice, the girls did so. Happy continued in a blind panic, “All of the Thundergod Tribe have special Eye magics! Bickslow’s eyes let him control you like a puppet!”

 **“HAHAHA! That’s right, cat!”** boasted the Dopant **“Combined with my Human Possession magic, I am unstoppable!”** He raised his hands, silently ordering his dolls as he focused energy into his palms. The charging dolls streaked towards the Spirit-empowered Rider, closing in on her quickly.

She reflexively tried to evade the horde by leaping back. The doll stampede pounced after her, one of them catching Pleiades by the ankle, followed by all the others diving on her with high-pitched cries of triumph. The monster laughed. **“That’s good, my babies! Now for the other bitch!** He turned his attention to Kusa and ordered his minions to charge at her. He was caught off guard, however, when she danced around the attack and fired a Razor Leaf right back at him. Undeterred, he shot to the side. and tried again, only for the same thing to happen, this time followed up with a Vine whip that grazed his face, making him growl at how he was missing with everything.

 **“Girlie, what the heck is up with you?!”** he snarled, **“You can’t seriously be dodging all of my attacks without looking!”**

Kusa giggled. “Of course I can! I don’t need my eyes to see; as Aura wielders, we do our best sensing with our eyes closed. I may not be the best with the ability, but for a fight like this, it's more than enough.” She grinned behind her mask. “If Eye magic is your team’s special ability, then we’re your worst opponents!”

Master Puppet, in a fit of rage, flung out his arms with a deranged shriek of, **“Damn you!”** He swiped his hands, directing the dolls holding Pleiades down to attack Kusa instead. Unfortunately, his shout caught her ears and she fired a Vine Whip at him, making gasp in pain

“Unfortunately for you, I am good enough at using my other senses to compensate,” Kusa boasted. “Now then,” she raised her hand into the air, summoning a bright ball of light. **“Flash!”**

The ball exploded spectacularly, blazing with what seemed like the force of the sun, accompanied by an obnoxious screeching. The Dopant screeched in pain, his pupils shrunk, eyes going red. **“My eyesssss!”**

“Now, Pleia!” Kusa shouted, snapping her vine and slamming him down onto the roof.

“Right! Loke! Let’s go!” Pleiades whipped out her weapon and grabbed her keys. Finding Loke’s, she took it off the ring and inserted into the belt, turning it upwards.

**UNLOCK! HEART OF THE LION! _HEAR ME ROAR!!!_**

The belt buckle flashed and sprang open, unleashing a flash of light that poured over her body before gathering around her legs in a blazing golden aura. She braced herself on her right leg, before racing towards the bound Dopant, who was still staggering around, hand over his masked face from the blinding light. She leaped up into the air backflipping and aimed down at him.

 **“Regulus Impact!”** shouted the Mage and spirit. The Rider blasted down, Loke flying behind her in spirit form. She crashed into his face, the power drilling through the mask. Springboarding off of him, she launched herself into the air, flipped and landed behind him, smirking behind her helmet. “Time to cut your strings, Bickslow!”

The monster’s face cracked from the force, before the mage screamed and disintegrated, falling into dust. She glanced over shoulder to see Bickslow knocked out and his Memory lying busted in front of his face.

“Well that’s that.” May announced, having powered down.

Lucy nodded, powering down as well. Loke appeared next to her, and the blonde turned to the spirit. “Thanks, Loke,” she said gratefully,

Loke smirked. “No problem. Anything for you, love. If you need me again, call me!” The lion spirit launched his magic upwards, bursting into a brilliant shower of sparks overhead. The sparkles formed a sentence reading, “I Love Lucy!” Once it dissipated, Loke disappeared in a golden circle.

A few moments passed, then May glanced at Lucy out of the corner of her eye. “Your spirits are weird.”

“Don’t remind me,” Lucy groaned, “Come on let’s get back to the guild.” The blonde had Happy fly her off. May quickly followed behind, leaping off the roofs and onto the ground before sprinting behind Lucy.

As she flew, Lucy let out a gasp as a pulse ran through her. _Again?!_ she wondered, biting her lip, _This is like when Erza got her bracelet!_

“What happened?” May called up to her, concerned.

“Its another Rider. They’re awake!” she replied worriedly.

“Who do you think it is?”

Before Lucy could respond, a dark magic circle appeared in the sky outside of town and rocked the area. The blonde placed a hand over her heart. _Mira...be safe._

Minutes prior, while Lucy and May were fighting

Mira and Anabel raced along the river, scanning the area for any sign of the rune mage or an exit.

“Our biggest priority is the civilians. If we fail, we need to evacuate them quickly,” Anabel told her companion.

“We should be near the town line. This river marks the edge of the canyons east of here,” said Mira, pointing out the water and the distant formations.

“Still no sign of Freed,” muttered the purple-haired girl, glancing around worriedly, “This is bad. Nobody else found him; or at least, we haven’t heard anything.” Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pile of rubble on the ground on the other side of the river, no doubt from one of the battles. Jogging over, she let out a gasp and dashed to a particular spot when she noticed a familiar head of blue hair. “Juvia!”

The rain mage struggled to lift her head, tears streaming down her bruised face. Her eyes were blackened and multiple bruises marred her pale body “A-Ana…bel…Juvia is glad you came…!”

Before the empath could reply, Mira screamed. “Oh my god! Elfman!” She dashed over to another pile, the giant man lying half-buried was groaning in pain and bleeding from his arms.

Anabel turned to female mage. “What happened?”

Juvia coughed. “Juvia and...Cana were fighting Freed. We got trapped in…his magic. I…didn’t want...to hurt...my guild. All Juvia…does is…hurt people. So…Juvia attacked the…the Soul Link magic...with her Water Magic…Juvia is sorry for being…so weak.”

“Hang on Juvia. We’re gonna get you help!” She tapped the microphone in her ear. “Guys, send the healers out east; Juvia and Elfman are hurt!

 _“Freed did that?”_ Drew replied surprised.

“No, I think Elfman was already hurt,” Anabel realized, looking at Elfman again. “Juvia’s seriously injured, we need a medivac NOW!

 _“Got it. Tori, Dawn find Anabel!”_ he ordered the two medics. He continued his orders with Anabel. “ _These runes are extremely dangerous! Find Freed and knock him out!”_

Anabel nodded and hefted Juvia onto her shoulder, while Mira hefted her brother up over her shoulder in an impressive display of strength. “Come on, brother! You’re gonna be alright!”

“Sister...it’s unmanly…to be defeated…like I did,” grunted the bigger mage, his face twisted in shame.

“Elfman, shut up!” Mira snapped, “Just calm down, we're gonna get you out of here-!”

Before Elfman could respond, an explosion rocked the area. They looked ahead and watched Cana fighting Freed. Unfortunately, it looked like Freed was winning as the brunette had fallen through the bridge.

“It seems you're tougher than I thought. As expected of a veteran of this guild,” taunted Freed.

“SHUT UP!” snapped the brunette, “I’m gonna make you apologize to Juvia! She’s just as much a member of Fairy Tail as we are!”

The pompous man scoffed. “Then consider this the end of our fight.” He traced something with his sword and summoned his magic. Runes appeared on the Card Mage, tattooing her body making her look down in confusion. He snapped his fingers, sending a pulse of magic into the etchings. The runes glowed, causing Cana to scream in pain and crumple to her knees. The rune mage humphed and turned to walk away. In a burst of adrenaline, Elfman broke away from her sister and rushed up with a roar to punch him..

Freed spun around and pointed his sword at the charging mage, freezing him in place with a rune. “I don’t have time for people that have already been eliminated!”

“What the hell did you to me?” demanded Elfman, trembling as he struggled in vain.

“This is your punishment for re-entering the game. **Dark Ecriture: Pain!”**

Elfman screamed, the pain amplified by his wounds. Mira gasped in horror. “Freed, no! Stop this! Please!”

The Rune Mage paid her no heed, raising his sword to strike down Cana. Anabel’s chakram flew in from behind and struck his arm, knocking the sword down. He snapped around to see the empath racing up to him. “If you want to fight someone, fight me!” As she spoke, she leaped into the air, folding her chakrams into their short sword forms. Freed vaulted out of the way, quickly summoning Dark Ecriture runes and inscribing them quickly onto Anabel’s back. With a wave of his hands, she fell to her knees, grunting in pain as they spread down her back.

“I hope you realize that I’m not just any mage.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar device. It was green and purple, with a large, square capital G, resembling a book, “I am the right-hand mage to Master Laxus himself.”

“Where…where the heck did you get that?” Anabel demanded, summoning her buckle instantly.

“WIth Laxus, anything is in our grasp,” Freed explained cryptically, pressing the button.

**GRIMOIRE**

He flipped the drive in his hands and slotted the device into the connector on his left shoulder. His body glowed ominously, purple and green flames consuming him. When the glow died down, the rune mage was no longer human. Instead, he was now a large green and purple imp. He had a long, spade-tipped tail, with thin black wings and clawed feet.

 **“Hm...so this is what the power of these memories give us,”** Freed pondered, flexing his him, **“I guess I need a new name. Perhaps, Count Scriptus. Yes, that is a fitting name to serve alongside Laxus.”**

Anabel quickly stood up and flipped her belt’s lever, shouting, “HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

Grimm looked surprised at the transforming Rider. **“So, you're one of these Kamen Riders. What use is that armor against the likes of me?**

“Let me show you!” Kyokan roared, throwing both of her weapons like buzzsaws.

The Dopant growled deflecting the thrown weapons. **“Well, I hope you provide a better fight than this oaf!”**

Elfman roared, breaking free from his sister’s grasp. Without even looking, however, Scriptus snapped his fingers and reactivated the runes he’d previously inscribed, making Elfman scream in pain. **“Stay out of this!”** he ordered. He turned to deflect a Focus Punch by Kyokan. Despite her abilities, one of her weaknesses was fighting dark-elementals spells, due to her Pokemon’s weakness to Dark types carrying over. Also not helping was that she had to protect four people, so her focus was split multiple ways.

“Elfman, please! Stay down!” pleaded the Rider.

“No way! It's a man’s job to protect his sister and her friends!” Elfman yelled back.

**“You naïve fool! Dark Ecriture: Fear and Suffering!**

Elfman screamed as memories of his past, particularly those involving his dead sister, Lisanna, bubbled forth. His body was racked with pain as healed cuts tore themselves open on his body. Mira looked up in tears. “Please! Stop this! I’m begging you! I’ll do whatever you want!”

 **“Begging? And from the mage that used to be one of the strongest in the guild? My, how the mighty have fallen!”** He mocked, scribbling another set of runes onto the large man’s head. **“Perhaps if I use my Dark Ecriture: Death, you will see how useless your struggle is!**

Kyokan, who had a grasp on everyone’s emotions, watched Mira’s face going blank, then felt something break loose from her. “Freed, for God’s sake! Stop! You are going too far!”

Scriptus laughed. **“Now you’re begging!? HA! This is truly a day to remember. The day I proved I was better than these so called Kamen Riders!”**

“I’m not trying to save myself!” Kyokan denied, throwing the Dopant off, “You're the one in danger!”

 **“What are you talking about?** ” Grimm demanded.

As the two fought, Mira’s eyes went blank. Memories of Lisanna, who’d died because of her arrogance, flowed through her mind. And now because of her lack of magic, she was about to lose her brother.

 _Lisanna._ Her heart started to beat. _Lisanna!_ The pulse grew stronger. In her head, the wells that represented her magic glowed then spread throughout her body. “LISANNAAAAAA!” A dark magic circle etched itself above her, magic forth around her as it formed a pentacle. At the same time, her body glowed silver, the power Tsuki had given her combined with her sealed magic bursting from her body.

Scriptus staggered back, throwing a hand over his eyes to shield them from the glare. **“W-what is this!?”**

Over in the town proper, the Riders were dashing across the roofs the wave of magic hit them, the shockwave almost knocking them off. Ash spun in the direction of the blast, flinching from the force. “What the heck is that?”

“You think it's a new Rider?” Max yelled.

“It wouldn’t explain _this_ much power,” Misty pointed out. “If it was a Guardian, maybe, but Lucy and Natsu are no where near there!”

Slowly raising his head from the under his arms, Drew looked at where the magic was coming from. “Maybe not as a Rider by itself. Maybe it's someone that’s getting their power back.” He smiled. “Someone who was once on par with Erza.”

Upon realizing what he meant, everyone thought the same thing. _Mira._

At the same time, Levy was hard at work breaking down the rune barrier surrounding the guild hall. During one of their arguments, the Iron Dragon Slayer mentioned something about two opposing forces that triggered something in her mind. She’d quickly deduced that if Freed’s magic worked with a particular set of runes, she just need two sets of letters that could counteract each other to disable it. A tense few moments of inscribing later, the barrier collapsed.

“Alright time to kick some ass!” exclaimed Natsu, igniting his fists with a savage grin.

“Gihi, thanks shrimp!” Gajeel praised with an identical expression.

Ignoring the cheek, Levy spoke up. “We’ve got 25 minutes! He’s over at Kathria Cathedral! Please! Save our Guild!” she pleaded.

Natsu grinned. “Like you need to ask. We’ll kick his ass! C’mon metal-head!”

Gajeel clenched his fist. “I’ve been waiting for a fight like this!” He followed the Earth Guardian out. On his way, though, he stopped briefly to regard Levy. “We’ll save this guild or die trying, Shrimp!” He rubbed her head before stepping out of the guild, only to stop again as Natsu stopped running. “What the hell Salamander?”

Natsu turned his head in the direction of the magical pulse, brow furrowed. “It’s...another Rider. Whoever it is, they’re giving off a lot of magic! Lucy told me that if we’re too far away from a Rider awakening, we’d still feel it. She felt Erza get her powers when she got kidnapped! Come on, we can’t be wasting time!

Gajeel grunted and raced after the Guardian, unaware of his Rider rings starting to glow in his pocket.

With Mira

The glow slowly died down, Mira’s screaming along with it. Kyokan, who’d had to look away from the light, slowly raised her head. Her vision returning, she caught sight of Mira’s figure standing atop the rubble. The once kindly barmaid had undergone a drastic transformation. Instead of a flowing red dress, she was clad in a tight red latex suit, split down the middle to expose her cleavage and midriff. A pair of thigh high boots encased her legs, while her hands had elongated into a set of claws. On her back were a pair of two bat-like wings, with a long, scaly tail wrapped around her legs. Her white hair now stood straight up, wavering in some ominous wind that only affected her. The most drastic change, however, was her face. Instead of the cute smile she’d always worn, the girl in front of her now sported a malicious scowl, along with a crack that ran up the side of her left eye.

Kyokan hesitantly stepped forward. “Mira? Are you alright?”

(Play Armed and Ready by Casey Lee Williams.)

Mira’s face turned towards her and despite the fury that simmered in her eyes, Kyo knew it wasn’t directed at her. “Never better!” She grinned, raising her left hand. To the empath’s surprise, she held a black deck case, emblazoned with a long necked bird stretching out its wings.

_It happens every night,_

_I watch my world ignite,_

_But there's no waking from this nightmare._

She raised her case to eye level. A metallic belt with a large slot in the middle shimmered into existence around her narrow waist. She raised her other arm, as if preparing to take flight

_The stage is always set,_

_The place I can't forget._

_The hidden eyes that I can feel there!_

“HenSHIN!” she yelled crossing her right arm over her chest, and slammed her deck into its slot. The bird sigil flashed brightly. Three transparent images appeared out of thin air, spinning around in a two-dimensional manner before colliding and superimposing themselves over her. When the images merged, her clothing became replaced with a skintight, shimmering black and white armor. She had black-striped knee-length boots, with matching elbow length gloves. Her helmet was silver with black eyes and two small devil horns on top. On her back were a pair of metal wings, the left one black, the right one white. Attached between her wings was a grey sheath, holding a short sword with a long ribbon on the pommel.

She stretched out her right arm slowly. “Battling Darkness, inside and out.” She mirrored it with her left. “Fighting with Light, outside and in.” She raised both hands above her and clasped them together and pointed at the Dopant. “I am…Kamen Rider Cygnus!”

Scriptus took a step back at the sheer power she expelled. **_So this is the power of an S-ranked mage. And the power of a Rider!_** He scowled impassively. **_No matter! She’ll fall like her brother!_ **He leaped down from the remains of the bridge and charged at the new Rider, streaking across the ground with his blade whipping around for a wicked slice.

_My eyes are open wide,_

_I’m racing to her side._

_There’s nothing I won’t do for her!_

*CLANG!*

To his surprise, the Rider pulled out her sword and swung swiftly to counter it, the impact destroying the rubble and almost knocking down Kyokan. Even as the Dopant struggled against the deadlock, Cygnus reached up with her free hand to grasp the bottom of her hilt. Flipping a small switch, the blade slid back, revealing a small barrel. She pulled a trigger under the hilt, firing seven bullets into his chest. Scriptus cried out in pain as the bullets bored deep into his flesh with the usual sparks and flashes of light, disengaging by zooming up into the air.

_But this is not a dream._

_My mind repeats the scene,_

_I can’t forget it and it's torture!_

Cygnus wasted no time, rearing back, and hurling her gun after Scriptus with the attached ribbon. The kaiju bent himself out of the way, wings beating desperately, but the movement allowed the Rider to set her wings and leap up to him. She snapped her arm back and launched a rapid punch right into his jaw with a solid crunch, nearly dislocating it. While he was stunned, reeling from the heavy blow, she yanked the ribbon, pulling the blade back towards the kaijuu in a spinning, boomerang-like arc. Scriptus had been frozen in place with multiple sword strikes quickly streaked across his body. Cygnus backed off momentarily and gathered up dark magic in her hand. **“Darkness Stream!”** The built up magic erupted from her palm, distorting the air around it as it roared forth as a shimmering black ray of darkness.

Scriptus barely dodged the powerful blast and raced for the ground. He was so focused on avoiding Cygnus that he didn’t see Kyokan leaping up from the ground nor her glowing fist. **“Focus Punch!”** she cried out. Her punch smashed into the joint of one of his wings, sending him spiraling out of control until he slammed down into the ground, cracking and cratering it with extreme force. Shaken by the physical blow, he scrambled up and away, flapping erratically until he finally took off again.

_That was before,_

_But not anymore._

_I've left it behind!_

_As much as I lost,_

_Once I'm across I'll find…!_

Cygnus glanced down and over his shoulder to see Kyokan holding up a card. “Let me help you!” she called up to him, holding the blue card over her belt buckle.

**ZEN**

Kyokan’s armor glowed brightly. The purple of her armor shifted to a darker blue and slimmed down, becoming more streamlined. On her back were two jet-black wings and two low heeled boots, equipped with boosters.

** “Kamen Rider Kyokan: Zen Form!” **

Cygnus watched her ally transform with an impassive expression. “Just don’t get in my way!” she demanded, unsettling Kyokan with her aggression.

_I've found the strength to grow so much more!_

_A whisper to a roar!_

_No more crying,_

_It's time for me to soar!_

Cygnus took flight after Scriptus, Kyokan following shortly after. Scriptus looked behind him and panicked at seeing both Riders chasing them. **“No! G-get away from me! Darkness Stream!”**

He fired off a dark stream of his own, intending to knock both Riders out of the air, or at least shake them off. Kyokan quickly threw one of her chakrams, the glowing weapon absorbed the blast. Cygnus flew forward uninterrupted and lashed out with another vicious blow. Scriptus quickly countered with one of his own punches, just barely knocking her gauntleted fist off-course. Both connected, creating a shockwave that radiated outwards in a visible bubble that shook everything around them. Kyokan briefly flailed about, trying not to lose her balance. “Holy cow. Is _this_ what Mira’s been holding back all this time?” she gasped.

_Feel like I'm finally unbroken!_

_Feel like I'm back from the dead!_

_My strength back and confidence growing!_

Scriptus spied a crevice in the ground and dashed into the opening. Cygnus saw him flee into the ground and summoned more magic gather it into a sphere of oscillating colors. **“Soul Extinction!” **She raised her hands above her head and then thrusted the magic ball down. The blast sped away, whirling and flashing, to crash point-blank into the divide. On contact, it exploded with the force of a ten tons of TNT, a sphere of vividly-colored energy blasting out and incinerating the surrounding land with a thunderous boom. The explosion knocked the Dopant into the air, his body sparking madly from the damage.

Watching the Dopant’s limp form fly high sailing towards her, Cygnus reached into her deck and pulled out a glowing card with her symbol on it. Slapping the side of her sheath, a panel popped open, providing a slit into which she fed the card, before slamming it shut.

**FINAL VENT**

_Cause I'm armed! And! Ready! (Armed and Ready)_

_Ready! (Armed and Ready)_

_I'm ready! (Armed and Ready)_

_Feeling pretty (Armed and Ready)_

Her sword glowed purple as she charged the stunned Dopant. Grabbing a handle on the side of the sheathe with her other hand. In the blink of an eye, she struck like a wolverine, slashing across his body multiple times with both her sword and sheath, carving gleaming arcs through the night sky as she hacked and slashed furiously. The result was a pained scream and a fountain sparks as Scriptus was sent flying away.

Scriptus painfully opened his eyes to see Kyokan floating above him. Her chakrams were hovering in front of his face, spinning rapidly and glowing brightly.

**LUSTER PURGE: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

The empath twirled in place and thrust her hands out in front of her. The chakrams stopped charging and firing twin bursts of silvery, metallic Aura at the dopant, twisting and coiling around each other in a double helix, vaporizing anything it touched and completely obliterating the Dopant, kicking up a cloud of dust and a fireball. Freed’s battered body fell limply, landing nearly head first in the crater Mira created.

(End Song)

Kyokan looked at Cygnus as they floated down. “Great job for your first time.” Cygnus said nothing as she landed. She then stomped over to Freed, more magic flaring in a dark aura around her hand. Kyokan panicked, knowing what the mage was going to do. “Cygnus, no, this is not our way!”

“Stay out of this! He almost killed my brother!” She growled.

“And that means killing him?” The empath pleaded. Cygnus didn’t respond as she stopped in front of Freed. She sat on him, straddling his legs and pinning his arms, drawing back her arm with ominous silence. “Cygnus! Please stop! What would your brother think?” pleaded Kyokan.

Cygnus stopped, but not because of Kyo’s words. Rather, a memory of her departed sister flashed through her head. _‘Cause I still love you, Mira,_ Lisanna murmured softly, slowly fading away.

There was an almighty crash as her fist smashed down, splitting the ground open for several feet in all directions…just to the side of Freed’s head.

The rune mage looked up into the Rider’s face as she mechanically pulled the case out of her belt, her armor vanishing as she returned to her normal self. “I-I don’t understand...why did you stop?”

Mira looked away sadly, fingers squeezing tightly around the black rectangle. “Because in the end it doesn’t even matter. This battle is pointless.”

Freed scoffed. “Spare me your pity Mira, just finish it.”

The barmaid rolled off and knelt at his side. “No. We’re allies We’re members of Fairy Tail.” Behind her, Cana and Elfman had caught up to them, the latter carrying an unconscious Juvia. “That means that we work together, we grow together and we celebrate together.”

“NO!” snapped Freed, a bit of fire coming back into his eyes, “Laxus is my true ally! I don’t need anyone else!”

“Liar,” Anabel retorted softly, shutting the defeated mage up. “If you really wanted to kill us, then why were the runes only set to stop when someone was knocked out? You could have easily made it to the death.”

“She’s right,” Mira agreed, “It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to shut anyone out. It’s perfectly fine if you have that one person as your friend; it’s human nature. But we’re part of something bigger than the two of us.” She glanced up at Anabel. “Something bigger than this guild.” She took his unresisting hand in her own. “If you would just open up, I promise, you won’t be lonely again” Her tears began to flow. “When you find that special something, you won’t ever let it go.”

Freed’s own eyes watered as his regret spilled forth. He covered his eyes with his forearm to hide the shame. “Why...did it come to this? I-I’m sorry!” he cried out.

Mira smiled softly. Then, her own eyes drifted closed and she fell backwards. Anabel quickly caught her and laid her down gently. Elfman panicked at seeing her sister fall. “MIRA!” he roared rushing to her side.

“It’s okay Elfman,” the empath assured him, “She unlocked her Rider powers _and_ her magic. The strain on her body was probably even more immense than normal.” She looked down at her and smiled. “I’m surprised she lasted this long.”

“So what do we do now?” asked Cana.

“Now...we relax. Our part is over. Please, sit down.” Anabel waved her arms. “If anything happens, I’ll take care of it.”

Not needing to be told twice, the two mages sat down, the empath’s calming presence soothing them. Her radio went off and she answered. “Go for Anabel.”

 _“Is everyone alright over there?”_ Worriedly asked Ash..

“Yeah, everyone’s fine.” She looked down at the unconscious woman in front of her. “Tell Natsu, his team is now six.”

 _“REALLY!?”_ yelled Natsu, almost deafening the listeners, _“WHO IS IT!?”_

 _“Doesn’t matter Natsu, we need you at the Cathedral now!”_ Drew ordered, _“And don’t yell so loud! Just talk normally. Jesus…”_

Anabel tried to keep herself calm. “How much time do we have left?”

 _“15 minutes. And that’s if we don’t take down Laxus!”_ Ash relayed.

 _“Tori and Dawn should be there soon.”_ Drew explained the underlying order was to make sure they could survive as well.

“Be safe,“ the empath whispered, her voice shaking, “I love you.”

 _“Love you too!”_ Ash declared, hanging up and leaving Anabel almost catatonic..

At the cathedral

Laxus grinned as he stared down his opponent. “So, the great Mystogan makes his appearance. This will be a fight to determine who the strongest in this guild really is!” He laughed at the cloaked man in front of him.

With the Thunder Palace looming ominously and Laxus poised to take over, how will the Battle of Fairy Tail end? Find out next time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> UO: NS is going to kill me.
> 
> NS: Not till my man gets his time to shine I won’t.
> 
> Kurogane coughs for your attention, standing nearby with a nailed baseball bat in hand>
> 
> This is Cassiopeia's death animation)
> 
> New Riders
> 
> Cygnus: Mira unlocking her magic also unlocked her Rider Belt and she became Kamen Rider Cygnus. The belt itself is modeled after the Ryuki gear, her emblem similar to Femme, the first modern or Heisei era Female Rider. Her weapon is Gambol Shroud, Blake Belladonna’s weapon from RWBY. As for the constellation itself, Cygnus is known as the Swan. A very prominent constellation in the northern sky. Because of how its shaped, its also known as the Northern Cross and thus is used in celestial navigation. Along with Altair in Aquila and Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus makes up the Northern Triangle.
> 
> New forms
> 
> Kyokan Zen and Hanabi Eon: Both forms are the next levels for both Hanabi and Kyokan. Using the two Eon Pokemon, Latias for Hanabi and Latios for Kyokan they gain increased strength and the ability to fly. Something that most of the Aura Riders don’t normally have access to
> 
> Preview: The Battle of Fairy Tail reaches its climax. Will Laxus be defeated? Or will Draco and Zodiac fall before the might of an empowered S-ranked mage?
> 
> Next Time: Battle of Katheria Cathedral. Dragon and Lion vs Snake


	18. Battle of Katheria Cathedral: THe Land vs the Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of Fairy Tail concludes with an explosive finish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOSH  
> UO: Okay, time to end the Battle of Fairy Tail.  
> Natsu: About damn time I take down Lighting-Ass! (Exhales a ball of fire and sets off sprinklers)  
> UO: If you would stop doing that I might have money to pay rent. (Calls 911) Hello. Yes…Natsu again…yes…thanks. Tell your wife thanks for the cookies. While the fire department arrives, EVERYONE HERE?  
> Erza: Yes, I made everyone show up, or else they would be in serious pain!  
> Lucy: *Grumbles* Not our fault we have two stories.  
> Grey: Where are my clothes?!  
> UO: Of course. NS, do the disclaimer.  
> NS: Mm. Neither I nor UnitedOsprey1991 own Fairy Tail, Pokemon or Kamen Rider or the music by AC/DC We claim no profit from any of these mediums and are writing this only for entertainment.

**OSPREY...SWOOSH**

**UO: Okay, time to end the Battle of Fairy Tail.  
Natsu: About damn time I take down Lighting-Ass! (Exhales a ball of fire and sets off sprinklers)  
UO: If you would stop doing that I might have money to pay rent. (Calls 911) Hello. Yes…Natsu again…yes…thanks. Tell your wife thanks for the cookies. While the fire department arrives, EVERYONE HERE?  
Erza: Yes, I made everyone show up, or else they would be in serious pain!  
Lucy: *Grumbles* Not our fault we have two stories.  
Grey: Where are my clothes?!  
UO: Of course. NS, do the disclaimer.**

**NS: Mm. Neither I nor UnitedOsprey1991 own Fairy Tail, Pokemon or Kamen Rider or the music by AC/DC We claim no profit from any of these mediums and are writing this only for entertainment.**

“Speech”  
 _Thoughts_  
Text  
 **Monster/Rider form  
Spell/Technique/Finisher**

Chapter 18: Battle of Katheria Cathedral: the Land Fights the Thunder!

In the Guild Hospital

When we last left Fairy Tail, the Miss Fairy Tail contest was interrupted in an attempted coup by Laxus and his team. Taking the contestants hostage, he forced everyone into a fight to determine who was the best and purge any members from the Guild that he deemed too weak. Thanks to the Aura Girls, along with Lucy, Erza and newly Awakened Mira, three members of the Thunder God Tribe were defeated in short order. But Laxus still remains in his base at Katheria Cathedral. With the threat of Thunder Palace looming overhead, Ash, Drew and Natsu race towards the church.

A pink-haired elderly woman stood over Makarov. His face was pale, skin slicked with sweat as he shivered.

Dawn, who was in the room, turned to the doctor. “I gave him some of our aspirin; it’s supposed to help him, Miss Polyrusca.”

The elder woman grunted. “Your medicine might have stopped the heart attack, but the damage is already done.”

“What are you saying?” asked the blue-haired girl, horrified at the implications.

“What I mean girlie, is that you’d better get his grandson here…to say his goodbyes.”

Everyone froze, all talk ceasing as they contemplated the grim implications of her words. Dawn fell to her knees, tears welling up. May quickly scooped her up and hugged her in comfort.

Misty had to step out and cover her mouth as her own tears began to flow. She had to be strong right now for everyone here.

At the Katheria Cathedral

Laxus sat on the makeshift throne he’d created at the altar. He remembered years ago, when his dad was thrown out of the guild. When questioned, Makarov had stated that Ivan, his own son, was a threat to the guild and would not be tolerated.

Flashback, seven years ago

_“Family or not, if someone threatens this guild, they will be excommunicated!” Makarov told a younger Laxus sternly, his expression cold and stony._

_“Screw you old man! I can never get any serious credit with you around!” Laxus roared back at him, fists balled up, “If you think the guild is so damn great, throw me out too so I can join dad!”_

_Makarov took a step back in surprise. “You’re talking nonsense, Laxus! Why would you want to leave?”_

_Laxus turned away. “You don’t care about me at all!” He stormed away thinking._ ‘I’ll surpass you one day old man and one day this guild will be mine!

End Flashback

Laxus scoffed, shaking away the memory. _Soon, it will all be over and this guild will be mine._ He was broken out of his musings by an approaching figure. The person wore thick, dark robes that shrouded them from head to foot, arms and legs wrapped in bandages. Several staves of varying shapes hung from their back, while another one thumped the ground from their hand.

The man stood up, grinning cockily. “Well if it isn’t the mysterious Mystogan! How nice to finally see you after all this time!”

Mystogan planted his staff into the floor with a resounding thunk. “Laxus…this has gone on long enough! If you stop now, we can still convince the townsfolk that this whole thing was preparation for the festival.”

Laxus crossed his arms. “In eight minutes it won’t matter,” he replied flatly. Slowly he strode towards the staff wielder. “Tell me, you’ve heard the rumors in town, right? The debate on who’s stronger, between the two of us?”

Mystogan shook his head. “Frankly, I don’t care. But I will say that there are other, stronger mages. Gildarts is _far_ stronger than both of us. Erza is on par and I’ve heard great things about Drew.”

“Those three? Gildarts is gods’ know where, Erza was on the right track but lost her nerve. And that punk is _not_ as strong as me. He was just lucky he had his pal to take all of the lightning for him. In my mind, only you and I are considered the strongest in the guild.” He grinned. “After all you're just another--”

Before he could continue, Mystogan suddenly hurled his staff at the Dragon Slayer in a panic, point first. Laxus laughed maniacally, lightning bursting to life in his hands with a buzzing crackle and flash. Even as the other mage’s staff streaked towards him, shrouded in a green cone of light, Laxus flung his handful of lightning right back at the mage. Mystogan, spotting the throwing motion, threw himself to the side just in time the resulting lightning bolt raising the hairs on his body as it blasted past with a boom, smashing through the stone wall behind him.

Outside, the resultant explosion rocked the area, knocking some of the loose decorations down. Looking up from their position a couple of blocks away. Natsu and Erza spotted the smoke from the attack

“Look, he’s over there!” Natsu called out, pointing.

“Someone must have started fighting him!” Erza realized.

“We need to hustle!” Drew ordered. He looked at his watch. “We got seven minutes. Ash we need to be ready to do plan B!”

Natsu cocked his head in curiosity. “What’s plan B?”

“Ash can take large amounts of electricity. We think he can take what the Thunder Palace can put out.”

The redhead stared at Ash incredulously. “Are you nuts? You’ll be killed!”

“You got a better plan?” He snapped back at her.

Erza narrowed her eyes, biting her lip in thought, before coming upon an idea. “I have an armor that can resist lightning. If I summon enough blades, I can share the burden!”

Everyone stopped. Natsu stepped up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders tenderly. “Are you sure you can do this? I’m not losing you now!”

She smiled and gently broke the hold. “I promise. You're not going to lose me. After all, you just got me!” She kissed him gently, getting a satisfied growl from the Dragon Slayer. Releasing him with a small blush, she continued, “Beat this bastard!”

Natsu grinned. “I’m all fired up!” He turned to Ash. “You protect her! You hear me?”

Ash nodded. “Of course!”

“Enough talk! Move out!” Drew demanded. Without a missed step, both teams separated, Natsu and Drew racing towards the church and Ash and Erza preparing to remove the Thunder Palace.

Same time

Mystogan glared at the slayer, an undertone of surprise visible in his eyes. “You’re….not bluffing, are you? Tell me how you found out one of my biggest secrets!

“Maybe if you beat me, I’ll talk,” taunted Laxus, “Though I hope you have the power to back it up!”

The cloaked mage raised his hand and summoning his staff, the implement whooshing across the room to slap back into his palm. “I’m warning you Laxus, the magic I wield is like nothing you’ve ever seen before!” To emphasis his point, he summoned four other staves and slammed them to the ground, forming a pentagon. **“Five Staves: Skyscraper!”**

Instantly, Laxus was launched into the air by an invisible force with a grunting cry. He watched in shock as a beam of light enveloped and obliterated the church. Then he shot even further skyward as the world was consumed by the light emanating from his departure point. “Impossible! The church is gone!?” he shouted in abject disbelief. Before he could react any further, however, the sky rippled open, revealing holes across the dimensions, and multiple tentacles shot out to wrap around him and drag him towards a split in the sky. As Laxus struggled, a bright red eyed demon in front of him snarling at its next meal.

“W-what the hell is this?” he stammered. His mind was bombarded by rapidly changing color images and his mind began to fracture. His body crackled with electricity, trying to fight back against the invasion of his mind. Then spying something out the corner of his eyes., he swiped his hand, shattering the blackness in front of him and revealing that whatever held him was an elaborate illusion. “You think some stupid illusion is gonna stop me? Get real!” he boasted.

Mystogan watched him scatter his illusion and shook his head. “You sure about that?” he asked. He pointed at the purple magic circle still hovering above the Dragon Slayer. “You were just a moment too late. **Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song!”**

Laxus only grinned. “I wouldn’t be so cocky,” he told him, nudging his head upwards. Mystogan followed his line of sight and saw a yellow magic circle, brimming with energy, floating directly over his own head. Both mages pulsed and the sent the built up power in the magic circles at their opposition. A column of violet light crashed down on Laxus, passing through several more layers of circles on the way down, while a tremendous bolt of lightning split the air open with a boom and the smell of burnt ozone. However, both of them weren’t S ranked mages for nothing; Mystogan turned into smoke to dodge Laxus’ attack, while the arrogant mage turned into lightning and sped around the room.

Within the next two minutes, the Cathedral was rocked by multiple explosions as the two flung spells at each other, doing more damage to the church and its structure than to each other. This was the scene that Drew and Natsu encountered as they entered the building.

Natsu recognized the man fighting Laxus. “Whoa! Mystogan’s fighting Laxus? He’s gonna kick his butt!”

The masked mage heard Natsu’s shout and snapped his head towards him, eyes widening. Unfortunately, this distraction was enough for Laxus to blindside him with a lightning infused fist from his left. He cried out as the punch connected with his jaw, spinning him around and sending him crashing to the floor below, shattering the ground and digging a deep trench through it. In the process, the mask that hid his face burnt off. Recovering from the blow, he raised his head to see Drew and Natsu, both staring back at him as if they had seen a ghost.

“No...way. I thought we defeated you!” Drew exclaimed, reaching for his sword cautiously. “Who the heck are you?”

Mystogan staggered upright on trembling legs, gasping quietly with effort. “B-before you…accuse me of anything, I am _not_ the man you think I am. My apologies for deceiving everyone.” He grimaced in pain and summoned another magic circle, which then opened up further into a portal. “I have to go. It’s up to you now.” Just as he stepped into the swirling vortex, however, Drew pulled out his phone and took a picture of his face, just as he disappeared.

Laxus watched Mystogan disappear with a smirk, before turning to the two other guild members. “So, it’s Salamander and the Sword Punk, is it? Gotta say, I was expecting Erza. What, she too chicken to face me?”

“She’s fixing your mess!” Drew shot back, “She and Ash are bringing down your Thunder Palace right now!”

Laxus snorted derisively. “Good luck with that. They’ve got three minutes!”

“Then we’ll kick your ass in two!” Natsu boasted, igniting his fists with a grin.

The blond man laughed. “You think you can beat me? In your dreams!” But then he frowned. “I’m curious though, hasn't gramps said anything yet?”

“He’s confident that we can beat you before the Thunder Palace goes off!” Drew told him. _No need to reveal what’s going on with Makarov,_ he thought seriously.

“It doesn’t matter anyway! Why waste your energy protecting such a weak guild?” Laxus’ body crackled with electricity. “Once I wipe everyone out, I can remake it the way _I_ want!”

“How ‘bout we remake your face?!” yelled Natsu. **“Fire Dragon’s Roar!”**

He took a deep breath, fists pressed end to end, and blew out his signature attack. The white hot torrent of flame bellowed towards the rogue mage. However, Laxus only grinned and swiped his hand, trailing an arc of lightning magic and catching the flames like a net, closing around them and snuffing them out quietly, much to Natsu’s shock.

Undeterred, the Earth Guardian ignited his hands and flung them forward. **“Fire Dragon’s Brilliant Flame!” **White and red flames erupted from his arms, covering them from hand to shoulder. He sprang forward with a roar, arms wide open, intent on seizing the bastard in a deadly vice grip.

Laxus grinned, before reaching and _catching_ the younger mage’s arms, stopping the momentum of the attack dead in its tracks. Bracing himself, he lifted Natsu up and tossed him over his shoulder. Not even giving them a chance to catch their breaths, he raised his hand and fired off multiple bolts of lightning. Both of the younger mages tried their best to dodge all of them, but the bolts were too fast and the last ones summoned struck them.

“You see? Your attacks are futile-!” he began, only to let out a grunt of pain. Recovering faster than expected, Drew flung his arm back and struck the dragon slayer with a fiery fist to the jaw, knocking him off his feet.

“You honestly think _not_ spending anytime with a guy that absorb lightning wouldn't teach me to take a few bolts?” taunted Drew, slightly singed but no other visible damage.

Before Laxus could recover, he was knocked further back by a kick from the other Dragon slayer. “You won’t get this guild while we’re alive!” Natsu roared.

“Sounds like a win-win to me!” Laxus countered, powering up his fist. He roared and charged at the two Guardians, eager to rip their heads off.

Same time

Erza panted heavily, concentrating on summoning even more swords. These swords were one part of her plan to destroy the palace; the other was the Lightning Empress Armor she had requipped into. She wore a pale blue metallic chest plate, inlaid with gold, with a white skirt. Her arms were covered in similarly colored metal greaves, complemented by knee-length boots. Her hair was braided into a long ponytail and had a white headband tied into two ribbons. In her hands was a long metal spear that split open at the top.

Ash watched her with a frown as she continued to summon more weapons. “Erza, you can’t keep this up!”

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu agreed worriedly.

“I...have to...If I can’t….the town...will be destroyed!” she panted, sweat rolling down her face from effort.

Ash looked up at the ominously glowing obs. In a few moments they would fire and they would all be toast unless…”We spread the power out.” He got on the radio. “Guys, is there any way to contact everyone?”

A tense couple of moments later, Grey came on. _“I have an idea. Hang on!”_

Another moment later, a voice came in, not through the radio, but directly into the Aura user’s mind. To Ash, this felt like Anabel’s telepathy, but he didn’t feel her aura. _“Um...Everyone? This is Warren Rocko. I’m contacting you through my telepathy magic. Grey’s informed me about the Thunder Palace and what’s needed to bring it down. If everyone still conscious can still cast magic, send it all towards the orbs!”_

Ash recognized the idea. _That’s a really smart idea_. _Any attack on of the orbs would shock someone pretty fierce. Going after multiple ones would only make it worse! If the damage were spread out, different people could take the damage, but no one should be defeated as a result._ Ash rubbed his head. _The only problem is…coordinating everyone._ As he thought this, things were beginning to break down. Throughout the city, the conscious members were glaring at each other for the perceived betrayals of each other. Though Laxus’ manipulations set them up, their anger wouldn’t placated with a simple apology.

“ _C…come on. We need to go deal with that-”_

_“Like hell! You think you can just turn around and stab me in the back like that?! We’re settling this now!”_

_“Hey, wha- gyaaaa!”_

_“Guys! KNOCK IT OFF!”_ Ash tried to calm them down, but it proved to be futile. Before anyone could stop them, several mages fired off spells of their own, the brawls becoming full on fights to the death. If the Thunder Palace didn’t finish them off, their fighting would.

Lucy’s body shook in fear and horror as the guild began to rip itself apart. Her head ached from all of the anger and rage broadcasting through the link. She clenched her fists, desperate to do something. “STOOOOOP!” she bellowed suddenly, a mix of her celestial magic and Guardian power subconsciously flowing out of her body. Everyone stopped dead at the celestial mage’s plea, shocked out of their anger for a moment. “This isn’t the Fairy Tail I love! We don’t fight each other! We care and support everyone, regardless of their pasts!” She began to tear up. “I learned so much, being here! I learned to be brave! I learned to be strong!” She glanced at Misty, who smiled proudly back at her. “I learned that love comes in many forms! I learned that it doesn’t matter where you come from! We are all family! So please, _please_ stop fighting, so that we can all save our guild!”

The words transmitted over the bond to everyone listening and the fighting slowly stopped. The mages began to realize that all of this fighting would get them nowhere. Temporarily ending the arguments, they all began to channel their strongest spells.

The Aura girls stepped out onto the steps of the guild. Misty raised her trident and began gathering a large amount of water. Meanwhile, May glowed with sunlight, while Dawn sent power into her sword, causing its tip to glow. Lucy sprinted over and grabbed the bluenette’s shoulder to grab her attention. “I got your backs!” she told the surprised medic.

Dawn nodded determinedly and held up Hanabi. May reached down to grab her free hand, while Misty did the same with May’s free hand, raising Lugia. As one, they all shouted out their attacks, power erupting from their weapons.

** “HYDRO CANNON!” **

** “SOLARBEAM!” **

** “MIST BALL!” **

Misty’s ball exploded in size and surged like a tidal wave. May glowed brighter and from her sword before firing a large bright yellow beam with a single thrust. Dawn’s attack condensed her energy into an ice sphere before joining its brethren racing towards the orbs above them. At the same time, a multitude of beams and magical shots rocketed upwards at the orbs that surrounded the city. The orbs glowed briefly, trying their best to hold up to the onslaught, before shattering into pieces. The Organic Link magic reacted as expected, taking the magic used to destroy it and firing back at the respective caster. The girls knew that, with them destroying three orbs on their own, the incoming backlash would be enormous. They defiantly held their ground, forming a barrier in time to stop the incoming blasts generated by the orbs. The wall of magical energy buckled under an incredible force, their bodies trembling from the impact and magical feedback. Even with Lucy sharing the burden, the amount of force sent through them was much more than they were used to. After a few moments, however, the magic began to taper off. Once they were no longer in danger, the girls collapsed to the ground, panting in exhaustion.

Lucy raised herself on shaky arms. “Is...is everyone alright?”

“That...was a trip,” May moaned, her top beginning to come loose.

“We’re fine…” Misty gasped.

“No...Need to worry,” replied Dawn jokingly, trying her best to sit up.

Before they could speak further, their radios went off. With great effort, Misty answered. “Misty...here, what’s up?”

 _“Did you guys just take down the Thunder Palace?”_ asked Drew.

“Yeah...it’s gone! Whole guild...teamed up to... take it down!”

_“That’s what I thought, Laxus is not happy! I think we can end this now!”_

Misty’s eyes turned sad as her breathing finally slowed, “I’m afraid... it's not all good news.

_“What do you mean?”_

At the Cathedral

_“Makarov’s in the infirmary! The Bayer Aspirin we gave him…slowed the damage, but…the nurse…she wants Laxus ...to come say goodbye.”_

Drew lowered his hand as Misty finished, processing this information.

“What’s going on?” Natsu asked.

“The Thunder Palace is gone. But Makarov’s heart attack…might’ve been too much.”

Natsu gasped in shock as the Fire Guardian turned to the other dragon slayer. “If you want to say good bye, surrender, and maybe I’ll convince the next guild master to be lenient.”

Laxus stepped back in shock, the words striking at his heart with surprising weight. _Grandfather is...dying…?_ For a moment, his face went blank, confusion just barely visible in his eyes. Then, he began to laugh.. “Eheh...ehehehehehHAHAHAHA! This! Is! Perfect! With him gone, there’s no way _anyone_ can stand in my way. Once I’m in control I’m purging of all the weaklings, starting with the two of you!

“Does that mean your team?” Drew asked.

Laxus stopped laughing and frowned. “What are you talking about? If they won, they don’t have to worry about it. ”

Drew shook his head, disappointed in that answer. “I mean, your team already lost. By your definition, they don’t belong in your guild, even resorting to these handicaps!” He lifted up a finger. “Dawn, who based on your definition of power is our weakest member, not only negated Evergreen’s spell, but with Erza’s help, she was able to bring her down.” He raised a second finger. “Lucy and May teamed up to eliminate Bickslow and our lovable Celestial mage dealt the final blow.” He raised a third finger. “And, from what I heard from Anabel, Mira got her magic back, AND absolutely wrecked Freed.. So from where I’m standing…you don’t have any more power to bargain with.”

Whatever control Laxus had on his sanity finally snapped. “No…power!? I’ll show you power!” He roared, reaching into his pocket to whip out a yellow Gaea Memory.

Natsu snarled. “Those stupid memories? You bastard! How could you!?” he yelled, summoning his belt. Drew summoned his as well and pulled up his phone, pressing the M button.

**STANDBY: VIRGO**

**DRIVER ON! PLEASE~!**

Drew noticed that Natsu was pulling out his Fire Ring. “Natsu, don’t use that one!” he told him, getting a confused look from the Dragon Slayer, “Earth can negate lighting. We’re gonna need all the defense we can get!”

Natsu nodded in understanding and quickly swapped the rings out. Meanwhile, Laxus began glowing with power as he pressed the button on his Memory.

**JÖRMUNGANDR**

Hearing the name, Drew groaned. “God damn it. Natsu, we might be in for a big fight!”

“Why?”

“Just trust me! If it's what I think it is, we’re gonna have a problem!

Natsu nodded and flipped the visor on his ring while also flipping the Hand Author

**SHABDOOIE! TOUCH TO HENSHIN**

“HENSHIN!”

**COMPLETE**

**LAND! PLEASE~! DON, DON DO DON DON! DON DON DO DON!**

Laxus paid no mind to transformations as he slammed the Memory into his hand. A wave of electricity crawled up his arm, making him scream in pain and exhilaration as the sheer power exploded from his flesh, sending lightning bolts careening through spacious hall. The two Guardians were in their armor a second before the wave threw them back and knocked them down. Recovering and scrambling to their feet, they watched their guild member glow as a field of electricity blanketed the Dragon Slayer. Moments later, the field fizzled out, revealing the creature inside.

A heat haze formed around the humanoid figure, sparks and arcs of electricity crackling around it. This new monster, cloaked in glowing orange and yellow scales, scarred by jagged, glowing lines, was much leaner than Laxus’ muscular bulk, but was no less dangerous, with long, vicious-looking claws that dripped with sizzling, crackling venom. A harsh, **“Haaaaaaah,”** issued from his wide mouth, flashing with fangs and issuing steam. **“This…is what I’m talking about.”**

“What the heck is that thing?” Draco asked his partner.

“Jormungandr. That’s a name from one of my world’s myths,” said Zodiac at last, “It’s supposed to be the herald of the end of the world! If that thing’s a memory, we’re gonna get hit hard!

 **“End of the world, huh?”** hissed the Dopant, **“Well then, if I kill you, then I can be called the King Basilisk!**

“Then consider this a revolution!” Zodiac declared, **“Revolver Bolt!”** He pulled out Brave and fired off four small balls of fire. The shots connected, but the incredibly tough scales deflected them like it was nothing, letting them plink off him without even flinching.

 **“Pathetic! Poison Spray!”** In response, he took a deep breath and fired off a spray of purple mist at the two Riders. Quickly Zodiac raised his shield, while Draco summoned a pillar to block the incoming attack. The spray splattered onto both barriers, but residual drops still got through, catching their armor and eating small, smoking holes into it. Grunting in pain as sparks flew, the Riders tried to wipe it off, only for their gloves to suffer the same damage.

 **“You like that?”** bragged the Dopant, **“My venom lasts _long_ after my attacks are done. All I have to do is wear you down and win! But where’s the fun in that? Lighting Blitz!”**

Before Zodiac could react, Basilisk charged at him, streaking across the room to collide with the shield with a crash. The Rider grunted, bracing himself against the floor as he struggled to hold back his opponent. However, the force was too much, the ground beneath his feet crumbling away and making him lose his footing. Seizing his opportunity, the Dopant didn’t let up, bulldozing and shoving the boy back without slowing, until finally, he crushed him into the nearby wall. Still connected to the shield, Basilisk drew back and powered up his fists, talons sizzling with venom and crackling with lightning simultaneously. Several rocks, kicked at him by Draco, smacked him across the back and head, bouncing his face off the edge of the shield with a grunt. He turned and glared at the Earth Rider, releasing Zodiac. The Rider slid down the wall and landed with a thud, struggling to catch his breath. Basilisk crouched down, talons almost touching the floor, and surrounded himself in electricity. **“Lighting Dragon’s Lunge!”**

He sprang forward like a rocket, electricity trailing behind him in an angry vortex with one hand outstretched, fingers pressed together like a spear. Draco summoned another wall to block the charge, only for it to collapse like a pile of bricks. The dopant slammed into him and sent the Rider sailing into the wall.

 **“You pathetic gnats! And I thought you Riders were supposed to be strong!”** Basilisk chuckled, tongue curling around his needle-like teeth, **“Here I was, worried about getting beaten by these _powerful heroes!_ **He shook his head, snickering. **“When I defeat you, you and your punk ass friends are out of here!”**

“Like we would serve you anyway!” Zodiac told him defiantly. He was rewarded with another lightning bolt to the chest making him gasp in pain.

 **“You have no idea how this world works,”** hissed the monster, eyes narrowed hatefully, **“You sit there, preaching friendship and respect. Where’re your friends now? I started this stupid war to show how futile such thoughts are when your lives on the line!”**

Draco charged in from behind him, only for Basilisk to reach around without looking and grab him by the throat. He spun around, hurling him into Zodiac and knocking them both off their feet, causing both to collapse to the floor.

**“This world is survival of the fittest. I don’t know what that woman was on about; all I see are two ants to crush underneath my feet!”**

“Just because...you have the upper hand, doesn’t mean you can win against all of us!” Zodiac declared, holding his chest and panting, “You think by beating the two of us, you can force our friends to bow to you? Fat...chance.”

 **“You’re right…”** agreed the Dopant, throwing the two Riders off-guard, **“Defeating you would serve no purpose.”** He curled his long, bony fingers, gathering energy in his clenched fist. **“Killing you will send the message just fine!”**

He drew back his hand, but before Basilisk could fire his spell, a shot, smashing into his shoulder and breaking a patch of scales with a shower of sparks. He gasped in pain at the surprise attack and grabbed his shoulder convulsively, arm falling limp. He glared over the Rider’s shoulders, prompting them to look behind them. All three were surprised to see Gajeel walking up to them, his flintlock smoking from the previous shot.

“If anyone’s gonna beat Salamander, it’s me!” barked the black-haired mage, his face set into a stony glare of his own.

Zodiac stood up on shaky legs. “Gajeel? Where have you been?”

Gajeel glanced dismissively at the Fire Guardian. “None of your business. But at least I’m here to kick ass! There ain’t room for more than one Dragon Slayer.” He smirked at Draco. “Oi, Salamander, is he too tough for ya~?”

“Shaddup, Lug Face!” Draco snapped.

“Both of you shut up!” Zodiac ordered, cutting off the impending argument. “If we’re gonna take Laxus down, then you two need to put aside your pettiness and destroy him!”

Gajeel and Draco glanced at each other, before Draco grumbled and glanced away. “He’s right. Truce?”

The Iron Mage grunted. “For now.”

 **“Who says you're gonna beat me?”** Basilisk hissed.

Gajeel glared at the Dopant. _“I_ say!”

**“Pathetic! Someone who tried to destroy our guild is now trying to defend it! I should have killed you first! Someone our guild defeated should not be a member!”**

There was a moment of silence, before Gajeel shook his head, grimacing with distaste. “You know…you might have a point. With all that I did, I should have never been given a second chance. But the old man saw something in me and was willing to give it.” He closed his eyes. “Now he’s on his deathbed, all because his stupid grandson decided to throw a hissy fit.”

**“H-Hissy fit? How dare you? I’m trying to make this guild better!”**

“If making it better turns it into my old guild, then I’ll be leading the charge out of here.” He pulled back the hammer on the flintlock. “I don’t care if I’m never respected again. No one ever had the guts to laugh at me before. You’re trying to break up this guild because we are weak? No. It’s because we _are_ weak that we’re strong! Teamwork is what makes this guild strong. I may not get the whole family spiel yet...but as long as I stand, this guild won’t fall!”

At his last word, the rings in his pocket glowed brightly, and floated out of his pocket, dazzling everyone present with their radiance. Basilisk hissed in pain at the brightness. **“What the hell is that!?”**

Zodiac, however, knew what it was and grinned behind his helmet. “Gajeel, grab your rings!”

He nodded and grabbed them out of midair, making the glowing stop. Whereas the rings had been grayed out before, now they were back to their black and silver colors, from his time in Phantom Lord.

“Looks like you're back in the club, Gajeel,” said Zodiac, planting his sword for emphasis, “Or should I say...Argo!”

The dragon slayer laughed. “Gihihihi… that’s _Captain_ Argo to you!” He slipped the hand ring onto his right hand and placed it over his waist.

**RAISE ANCHOR!**

The belt materialized out of a shroud of mist, its voice going from a demonic growl to a pleasant British-accented tone. Gajeel placed a silver anchor ring on his left hand before sliding the side down, flipping the hand over. Clenching his fist, he raised it above his head, as if reaching for a rope.

“HENSHIN!”

He dropped his hand to his belt and placed it over the faceplate, causing it to glow.

**ARGO! SETTING SAIL!**

A silver magic circle appeared behind him and blew across him, as if blessing his transformation, covering him in the same armor he’d wore with Phantom Lord. However, it wasn’t as dark as before; instead of an evil pirate, he looked more like a naval officer, with shinier buttons and a more dignified appearance.

He pulled out his cutlass and crossed it over with his flintlock. “Setting sail to destroy my enemies!” he dropped his weapons down and raised them to shoulder level, sword propped on his shoulder and Flintlock pointed at Basilisk. “Kamen Rider Argo!”

The Dopant snarled. **“I don’t care what you call yourself! RAGING BOLT!”**

He fired a whip-like spell at Argo, who merely lifted away his gun and took the blast. Grunting in pain, arcs and sparks coursing throughout his armored body, he raised his sword and pointed it off to the side. A bolt of lightning boomed harmlessly into the air, leaving him unharmed.

Zodiac grinned as he pulled out his phone. “That was cool. Time to crank it up a notch!” he exclaimed, swiping at the screen and pressing the V-shaped icon.

**STANDBY CHANGE: VISCOUNT**

Zodiac glowed as his armor shifted around, bulking up in his arms and legs. He swung the shield around and turned to the dragon slayers. “I’ll play defense! You guys take him down!”

 **“Well now, it’s Dragon Slayer vs. Dragon Slayer!”** hissed Basilisk.

“Wouldn’t count me out yet. **LION’S SLASH!”** roared Zodiac. He ignited his sword and spun around, launching a wave of fire at the snake-like dopant. Basilisk blocked the attack using his arms with some effort causing the flames to dissipate into smoke. The smoke however was a diversion for the other Dragon Slayers Draco and Argo. Draco’s armored, flaming fist slammed into the Dopant’s face, staggering him. The Pirate leaped over him, flipping, and came down with a lightning-infused chop, cutting deeply through the scales into the flesh of his back. The twin attacks made the Snake growl in pain and forced him to jump back.

Argo didn’t let up, rearing back with his arm outstretched. **“Iron Dragon’s Club!”** He thrust his arm forward, his hand lengthening and thickening, morphing into a long, black pillar of metal. The pole sped across the hall and collided with dragon slayer turned snake. Basilisk gasped in pain as the pole struck his chest, smashing the scales to pieces and pulverizing the glowing flesh beneath, sparks erupting in a flood around the blunt end of the pole. However, even with the breath driven from his lungs the Dopant was not down for the count just yet; channeling his Lightning magic, he seized the iron weapon. The metal pole conducted the electricity and traveled to the Rider, making Argo grunt in pain and recoil, muscles going numb. The momentary lapse was enough for the snake to fling him into the air.

Zodiac rushed toward him, his shield raised up front. The shoulder tackle drilled into the monster’s chest with a crash, causing the dopant to slide across the floor, splintering the wood underneath. Before Basilisk could react, Draco kicked the ground, causing rocks to form up and form a cocoon around him.

Argo watched him struggle, already seeing some cracks. “That’s not gonna hold for long! We need a new plan!”

“We need more damage!” pointed out Draco.

Zodiac sighed. “I’ve got a form that _could_ do it. Problem is I got no defense. Someone’s gonna have to absorb the blows.”

“Bring it! I can take anything that bastard can dish out!” Draco told him.

Zodiac stared into the Earth Guardians faceplate, and saw his determination beneath the eyes. “Alright then. Before I do, Draco!” He summoned some flames in his hands and the Earth Rider’s eyes lit up. “Snack time!” He cast the fire towards the Dragon Slayer, who greedily snapped it up like it was a bowl of tasty noodles.

Draco burped and pounded his fists. “Alright! Now I’m all FIRED UP!”

Zodiac nodded and pulled out his phone, pressing the button next to the Leo symbol before replacing the phone.

**STANDBY CHANGE: CANCER**

Zodiac’s armor glowed blue, replacing all of the fiery motifs with a watery blue. The armor shifted to his arms and shoulders, growing organic spikes. His helmet became rounded, his eyes turning a light blue to match his armor. His sword had vanished, and instead a set of four half-drills attached themselves to his wrist.

 **“Zodiac Spirit of the Summer: Cancer!”** He declared clenching his fist causing the drills to spin.

Moments later, Basilisk broke free from his prison. **“You motherfuckers!”** He threw back his head, gathering up lightning in his mouth. **“Lightning Dragon’s ROAR!”** Throwing himself forward, he fired a large electrical beam right at Argo.

Zodiac leaped in front of the pirate, raising his right hand. As he did so, the four half-drills suddenly slammed together, forming up into a larger one, sucking the roaring attack into it harmlessly with a swirl.

Draco sprang up over him, propelling himself upwards with a pillar of rock, his head rearing back for an attack. **“FIRE DRAGON’S ROAR!”** he bellowed, unleashing a torrent of red hot flames at the dopant. Argo leaped into the air, firing his Iron Club arm into the flames, the bar soaring towards the Dopant, now engulfed in flames and glowing. The attack crashed into his hide, causing sparks to fly and causing Basilisk to scream in pain.

As he staggered back, clutching his stomach, Zodiac charged through the flames, lightning-infused drill whirring and whining. **“Drill Run!”** he shouted, blasting into the snake’s chest. Basilisk was knocked off his feet and crashed into the stairs leading up to the organ at the altar.

 **“Hah...Hah!”** panted the snake, clutching his stomach and staggering shakily to his feet. He felt something sticky and looked to blood dripping through his hand. **“How...How did you pierce my scales? How did you…use my lightning against me!?”**

Zodiac grinned and held up one his drills, spinning it a little. “A crab’s pincers can crush a coconut. With their size, their pound per square inch ratio is insane. These drills can pierce some of toughest materials known to man. A snake’s hide like yours may as well be paper. As for the lightning, well, since Natsu can't eat his flames, I figured you couldn't eat your own electricity.”

 **“To think…a crab…could defeat me!”** snarled Basilisk, **“UNACCEPTABLE!”** He roared, unleashing a wave of energy at such an intensity that it caught the three Riders off guard. **“I won’t be denied my ambition! If I have to destroy my guild and everyone in it, then so be it!”**

He slammed his hands together, lightning gathering around his fingers like a violent storm, causing the church to shake to its foundations. In moments, the sphere was a large as him.

“What the heck?” asked Zodiac, “What’s he trying to do?”

“It’s Fairy Law!” Levy’s voice squeaked drawing everyone’s eyes to the smaller girl. “It’s one of our most powerful spells! For Laxus to do this…” Her eyes widened in horror as she realized his plan. “Laxus! STOP THIS!” The Dopant glanced to the smaller mage. “Your grandfather is dying! Please, stop this and go see him!”

Basilisk paused his charging for a moment. **“Is that so?”** He then laughed. **“Then he won’t have to worry about it, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!”** The magical sphere was now five times as big and getting bigger.

Zodiac turned to Levy and asked her with a small of hint of nervousness.. “How much power are we talking here?”

“With Laxus using it, it could wipe out the entire town!” gasped the bluenette.

“That's what I thought!” He concluded and turned his radio on. “GUYS GET YOUR SHIELDS UP RIGHT NOW! MAX POWER! BIG SPELL INCOMING!”

Those who could use shielding spells did so as Basilisk finished charging. **“Once I destroy this town, I can rebuild it from the ashes, into _my_ vision! FAIRY LAW!”**

He threw his arms up, conjuring a large, yellow pentacle into existence in the sky above the cathedral. Light burst forth, slamming down across the town in a blinding, flashing pillar of brilliance. The light hung in the air for a few moments before slowly dissipating. As it withdrew, however, it revealed the town and everyone in it, not even scratched; most hadn’t even noticed the light show. In the church, the Riders watched in shock as the lights faded and saw no damage around them. Feeling their armor, they saw they had no new damage to their armor

Zodiac immediately thought of his friends. “Guys! Is everyone okay?” he asked desperately over the radio.

 _“Yeah, that was some light show!”_ Ash told him.

 _“What was that?”_ Dawn asked in concern.

“Apparently a very powerful spell that _should_ have obliterated the town!” answered Zodiac.

 _“Could the spell have misfired?”_ inquired Misty.

He turned to the shaking dopant. “Maybe.”

 **“W-what? What the hell happened? Why didn’t it work?”** stammered Basilisk, stumbling back. **“I cast it perfectly!”**

“You know why Laxus.” Freed’s voice suddenly called out, surprising everyone.

“Freed? What are you doing here?” asked Draco.

The green haired mage gazed sadly at Zodiac. “Your friends are more merciful than we deserve,” he told the Rider, making the Rider smile behind his mask. “The moment he channeled Fairy Law, you weren’t in any danger. After all,” he looked up, wheezing in pain, “You would never harm anyone in this guild…would you, Laxus?”

Basilisk snarled. **“Like hell I’d care for any these weaklings!”**

Freed shook his head. “You can lie to us, but not to your magic. You didn’t just inherit your grandfather’s magic; you also inherited his heart. Fairy Law only works on those whom the caster considers a foe. Deep down Laxus, you don’t truly hate anyone in the guild. We are not your enemies…and you know it.”

Zodiac realized what that meant and chuckled. “I seem to recall you didn’t want any of us in the guild and wanted the weaklings to burn. Sounds like somewhere deep in that soul of yours, there is some humanity left in you.” He raised his drill. “That small act of compassion means that we _won’t_ put you in the hospital!”

Freed sighed, his voice nearly pleading. “Laxus, please, stop this! Go see your Grandfather, before it's too late!”

Basilisk shook in anger, eyes clouded with doubt and fear. **“No...NO! I’m _NOT_ Makarov’s grandson! I’m my own person!” **he roared.

“SHUT UP, BASTARD!” Draco snapped. “Who cares what your blood is!? Fairy Tail doesn’t see any of that! We’re all family, regardless of our past, and you're not gonna take that from _anyone!”_

Those words struck a nerve in the dopant, making him bare his fangs in anger. **“How could you understand!? You're an orphan!”**

“So what! I don’t need to understand what a family is! That’s what Nakama are for!” He ignited his fists and grabbed Urvan, causing his power to flow through it. “And I’m gonna show you how I deal with traitors.

 **“I’ll shut your mouth if it's the last thing I DOOO!”** he bellowed powering up his lightning magic. The Rider and Dopant flew at each other and collided, sending shockwaves through the room. Both of them flew up and broke through the ceiling, sending debris raining down onto the floor.

Zodiac and Argo ran out of the church and saw the two Dragon slayers fighting in the skies above it.

“We got to get up there Lion boy!” Argo told him.

“No need to tell me twice!” Zodiac snapped back. They ran towards the windows and the Pirate noticed the Guardian rushing up to the walls. Before Argo could stop him, he was already scaling the side of the church. Argo watched as he did so, annoyed that he didn’t have a way to follow.

Looking down at his gun, he spotted what looked like a hook and a smaller button half way up the handle. He pointed the butt at a ledge and pressed the button. The metal hook fired from the butt of the gun towards the rafters. Grunting in satisfaction, Argo pulled it tight and slotted the gun back in its holster, holding onto the wire, before sprinting over the wall. He leaped towards it, rapidly retracting the cord to yank himself ceiling-ward. Letting go, he soared through the air, flipping with surprising acrobatics.

Zodiac watched him swing up and scoffed. “Show off!”

“Gotta keep up, slowpoke!” Argo laughed, only for him to stumble as he landed on a beam and wobbled, yelping as his arms flailed to keep balance.

“And _you’d_ better maintain your gear!” Zodiac called out. He leaped up to the ledge and scrambled on. Only for him to nearly lose his balance as Basilisk and Draco collided overhead. “Holy cow! Is this what a fight between Dragons is supposed to be?”

 _“What’s going on? We can feel the waves from here!”_ Ash asked worriedly.

“It’s Laxus and Draco. They’re fighting in the sky!”

As he said this, Laxus and Draco collided with each other fist-first, creating a shockwave of pressure on impact. Punches and kicks were exchanged at high speed, feints made in an attempt to get the upper hand. The near misses shook everything below, knocking onlookers off-balance. Basilisk eventually broke free, shoving himself back and punching Draco’s weapon hand away, earning him enough breathing room to hurl a lightning-infused haymaker at the Rider’s head, sending the Rider crashing to the roof. **“Why won’t you give up!?”** he demanded.

Draco hauled himself up on shaky legs, armor still fizzling from the powerful punch. “Because I’m not gonna let you destroy our home! This guild isn’t yours and I’m gonna make sure you never get it, even if it kills me!”

Basilisk hissed and sped towards Draco and drilled a punch into the Rider’s stomach, causing him to lose his breath. Not letting up, he continued to punch and kick him, eliciting a gasp of pain from the younger slayer. Zodiac, seeing his comrade’s distress, raced towards the Dopant, drills spinning fast.

However, the Dopant heard him coming and turned, thrust his fist towards him, another circle forming. **“Lightning Dragon’s Breakdown Fist!”** A massive, electrical fist shot out like a cannon, striking Zodiac dead on, drawing out a scream of pain as he fell to the ground. The Fire Guardian struggle to sit up, but the Dopant marched over to him and kicked his chest, the pain increasing tenfold as he grabbed his chest. **“This is where you belong! Beneath my feet!”**

“Screw you!” hissed Zodiac, trying to reach his revolver. Before his opponent could react, however, a large blast caught him in the back.

“C’mon, bastard, I ain’t done yet!” barked Draco suddenly, barely on his feet after the back attack.

Basilisk snarled in frustration. **“You die first, maggot!!”** He shoved Zodiac away and began to build up what was left of his magic above his head..

Freed recognized what he was going to do by the amount of magic built up and panicked. “Laxus! Stop this! That spell will kill someone!”

Basilisk ignored him and raised his hands above his head. **“Lightning Dragon’s HEAVENWARD HALBERD!”**

A ball of pure lightning burst into being, crackling and zipping, over his hands, before stretching and elongating into a giant spear. Bracing himself, he hurled it towards the defiant Rider, splitting the air with a *BOOM!* of thunder. Zodiac struggled to stand up, barely holding up his drill to draw the attack back to him. Collapsing in pain from the earlier attacks, he could only watch as the blast sped closer to the Earth Guardian. “DRACO!”

Draco stared down the attack, defiant to the end. But then, at the last second, the attack veered off to his left. All three combatants followed its path with wide eyes in time to see a large pole pull the attack away. Argo, who had re-entered the fight, transformed his arm to channel the blast straight to his chest and _exploded_ with a tremendous boom, his armor shattering into pieces.

Levy, who was watching the fight from the ground, watched in horror as Argos underbody was exposed and his whole body was fizzling. “GAJEEL!”

Argo coughed as he flew off the roof. “You ain’t dying today…Salamander! Finish this!” Argo shouted. His armor broke off and his human body crashed to the ground below.

“Metal Face!” shouted Draco.

Zodiac’s fist clenched, drill digging into the floor as he watched their newest Knight fall. If what Gajeel had said earlier hadn’t proved that he’d earned his Rings back, he’d more than done so now. He looked up to see Draco growling and they both nodded. Adrenaline and power coursed through their bodies. Draco’s fists ignited in fury, while the drills on Zodiac’s arms locked themselves together with a loud clank.

“You….BASTARD!” roared the Mage Rider, his flames surrounding his body and distorting the air.

 **“Impossible...he’s still alive?”** hissed Basilisk.

Before he could react, Draco rocketed forward and _punched_ him as hard as he could, cracking scales and sending the Dopant reeling with an explosion of flames. **“FIRE DRAGON’S IRON FIST!”** Then an uppercut to the jaw smashed his mouth shut, almost lifting him off his feet. **“RISING FIST!** Then he spun spun in a full circle, elbows igniting as he did so and propelling him into an even faster spin. **“IMPACT ELBOW!”** he roared.

As each blow struck, Basilisk’s skin broke off, revealing vulnerable muscles underneath. Leaning back, Draco whipped his arms forward, flames slicing through the air in their wake. **“WING ATTACK!”** The double blow snapped the dopants head back and knocked him away, sending him soaring through the air on a plume of fire.

As the reptilian Kaijuu tumbled and hurtled to the ground, Zodiac closed in. “Don’t forget about me!” he called out, **“KING CRAB’S BITE!”** The rapidly spinning drills split apart and struck the snake’s chest, piercing him in four spots like a crab’s pincer. He then slowly but surely squeezed the drills closer making the dopant scream in pain. **“BERING SEA RUSH!”** He reared back and thrust the drills forward, jabbing several holes in him throughout out his body, leaving the snake looking like shredded cheese. “And finally, **ICE CRUSHER!”** He raised the drills above his head, whirling and screeching, and slammed them down into the Dopant’s sides. There was a grinding of steel on bone as the drills ripped through what remained of the snake’s skin, revealing soft muscle underneath.

Basilisk fell to his knees gasping in pain. The irony was not lost on him that the people he’d ordered onto their knees were now the ones that brought him to his. **“I...was supposed to be….King!”** he gritted out.

Draco growled and swiped his finale Ring from his ring holder, slipping it on, before flipping his driver’s hand twice and slapping the ring over it.

**VERY NICE! AXE STRIKE! SAIKOU~!**

Draco roared and slammed his fist down on the roof, causing the tiles to shake loose from their foundations and streak towards the Dopant. They gathered around him, piling on and merging, swiftly building themselves up into a multilayered tower, the spire matching the steeple’s height. In an instant, another, thinner layer of tiles slid underneath Basilisk, catapulting the snake into the air with a cry of shock.

Meanwhile, Zodiac momentarily popped his drill open, freeing his hand to pull out his phone and press the Cancer button once more.

**STANDBY CANCER: FINISHER**

His drill snapped back in place, followed by several more strips of metal springing forth from his forearms to coil and spiral around the weapon, adding layer after layer. Zodiac’s drill rapidly tripled in size, his arm not straining from the size.

Meanwhile, Draco propelled himself above the rising Dopant. Basilisk could only watch as the Rider paused above him, his visage illuminated by the sun. **“Fire Dragon’s FINAL CLEAVE!” **he roared, rocketing down towards the traitor, the image of a large dragon flying behind him as he hefted his axe, the head glowing with brilliant, roaring flames.

At the same time, Zodiac leaped up from the ground and thrust his arm forward. **“CRAB!”** he bellowed, **“DRILL! BREAKER!”** He spun with the drill, glowing blue energy trailing behind him, howling as he soared upwards as a spiralling spire.

In an instant, both Riders struck the dopant; Draco’s axe crashed through his head and split it in two, while Zodiac roared through space, ripping a massive hole through him, all the way down

They landed on opposite sides of the roof as Basilisk fell back to earth, the resultant blinding explosion causing the roof to shake like leaves underneath them.

“Rebellion...crushed,” bit out Zodiac, swinging his drill to the side. The charred body of Laxus limply to the roof He turned back around to see Draco panting, propping himself up with Urvan.

“Hah...Hah…” Draco panted. Then he reared back and gave out a bestial roar. “GUOOOO _OOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!!”_

All across Magnolia, the guild heard the roar and let out a cheer knowing that Natsu emerged victorious.

Anabel’s group heard the roar as they reentered town. Hearing it from her position in her brother’s arms, Mira blinked herself away.. “Natsu….” she whispered happily

Anabel heard her and nodded, smiling slightly. “It’s over…they did it.”

Over at the guild hall, Lucy and Erza, the latter recovering from her magic exhaustion, heard the roar and teared up in happiness. “They did it,” Lucy whispered. She turned to her partner and hugged the redhead.

Erza kissed her forehead softly and wrapped her arms around the blonde. “That they did.”

Nearby, on the guild hall steps, Ash stood next to Misty, watching the end of the battle. As they heard Natsu’s roar, they held each other’s hands, their partners doing the same, one thought in their minds. _We won…and we’re not going anywhere._

Inside the cathedral, Freed watched Natsu declare his victory and could only watch with wide mouthed shock. “This much power…is this a Kamen Rider and a dragon slayer?”

“Salamander ain’t a normal mage, and neither is Sword Boy,” Gajeel grunted. Levy gasped as he tried to get on his feet. “Gajeel, I thought you were more seriously hurt.”

“Gihi...I ain’t dying yet, Shimp,” he snorted, getting an adorable pout in response.

“What do you mean?” asked Freed curiously

Gajeel looked up to the roof. “Those two...are Guardians. I never stood...a chance…”

Freed followed his gaze. “A Guardian...is there more to these Riders than just simple Power?

On the roof, Drew walked over to the downed Laxus and picked up the ruined memory. “To think...we nearly died to this. Our training is getting lax.” He watched Natsu lay on the roof. “Come on...let’s get him back to the guild.”

Natsu slowly sat up, his whole body killing him. “Do we have too?

“Like it or not he's still a guild member at the moment.” He looked over the roof. “Yo Levy! Mind helping us-GAH!”

Natsu raced over as Drew grabbed his chest. “What happened? I thought you were okay!

“Damn bastard…got me in the ribs,” hissed the boy, “Need a medic, badly. Call Ash…tell him we need a medivac.”

Natsu did so, relaying the information. A few tense moments later, Ash and Dawn landed on the rooftops thanks to Staraptor. Dawn quickly dashed over and quickly examined him. “Bruised ribs, and a few of your muscles are strained. You’ll be good to be moved in a sec.”

As she worked on treating his injuries, Drew grunted in pain. “Thank god…gah…for armor. Now…gruk…stabilize Laxus and let's go.”

Dawn bit her lip and Drew could tell she was hesitant. But she did her job nonetheless before helping the fallen slayer and Natsu onto the bird. Meanwhile, Drew called out Flygon and floated down to Gajeel. Levy helped the pierced man on and then hugged him to avoid falling. Freed hopped on behind Drew still curious as to why he was being helped.

“I don't understand, why help us?

“Just because you were our enemies doesn't me we aren't guild mates.” He said as they took off. Nudging his head to Laxus he continued. “Though I doubt he’ll be around for much longer. Treason is grounds for prison or execution.”

Freed sighed sadly, but made no protest. _He’s right. Laxus will be lucky to avoid going to jail._ They continued on towards the guild, to survey any further damage to the surround buildings and the hall itself.

Next Day

With the dust settled, the civilians continued to celebrate the festival as if nothing. However, the Fantasia parade, one of the highlights of the festival was postponed. Officially, it was because of Master Makarov’s heart attack and the uncertainty of whether or not he would live. In actuality, it was because many of the participants were or exhausted from yesterday.

Thanks to the quick intervention of Dawn and Porlyusca using their best magic to heal Makarov, the guild master had survived the night. When they heard the news, the guild was ecstatic their master would live for a long time.

Meanwhile, in the guild hall, Natsu growled as he sat on a chair, with Lucy wrapped around his free arm. His upper body, save for his left arm, was wrapped in bandages, his right in a sling. “This sucks! Why am _I_ sitting here when I could be kicking Ice-Freak’s ass!”

“Because all three of us got our asses kicked before we took Laxus down.” Drew coughed loudly as Tori suddenly pulled at his bandages, scowling. “O-ow! Tori, not so hard, seriously!

“Relax,” the healer scolded him, “I’m still healing you, moron!”

Drew sighed. “Fine.” He glanced over and saw Gajeel with most of his body wrapped up as well, including his mouth. “How’re you doing Gajeel?”

His response was muffled by the thick gauze. Natsu, with his dragon hearing was the only one that could understand him. He reported, “He said that we shouldn’t wrapped up like some mummies and we should be kicking Lighting Bug’s ass.”

Before Drew could inquire further, the guild doors opened to reveal the Lightning Dragon Slayer. Instead of his prior cocky attitude, he looked like someone close to him had died; given the circumstances, that was almost true. Most of his body was wrapped up, and his arm was in a sling. All of this combined to kill the former facade of the S-ranked mage as he slowly walked in.

He looked up and saw the guild glaring at him furiously. Even so, he asked, “Is…Gramps around?”

The rest of the guild answered with sneers and shouts of rage.

“Fuck you! Get out of here!

“You want to see him? Forget it!”

All of the shouting and foul language made one thing clear: Laxus didn’t deserve to see Makarov. Taking a step towards the infirmary, the blond man stopped as the other mages instantly moved to block the route. They all, to a man, stood ready to finish what Drew and Natsu had started. As the guild collectively began calling on all their respective magics, the Fire Guardian pulled Brave from under his sling and fired a shot into the ceiling, scaring everyone.

Their attention captured, he cleared his throat and holstered his weapon. “Let him through,” he said, surprising everyone. When no one moved, his eyes narrowed and he growled, “Let. The man. Through. This may be the last time he sees his grandfather.”

The rest of the guild hesitantly moved aside, and the dragon slayer walked slowly toward the infirmary. He turned to Drew in surprise, the Fire Guardian only frowning. “I’m only doing this because of how much Makarov means to everyone. Finish up your business and then get out. I don’t want to see your face anytime soon.”

Laxus nodded. “If Gramps has any say in it, then you’ll get your wish,” he mumbled, limping towards the back.

Drew sighed. “Geez what a mess.”

“Why’d you do that?” Lucy asked from her position next to Natsu.

Drew glanced at the blonde out of the corner of his eye. “His grandfather nearly died. For all we know, his recovery could be temporary. I’d rather have the two talk and _then_ he’d leave. If he doesn’t do this, then Laxus have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life.

“That’s…surprisingly noble of you,” Erza commented, raising her eyebrows in respect, “I would’ve thought you’d want to kill him yourself.”

“If this was my military, he _would_ have been thrown in jail, courtmartialed, and maybe executed,” grunted Drew in reply, sitting back in his chair. He then had a thought. “Oh…almost forgot. Here, Erza. I took a picture of Mystogan without his mask.” He reached for the camera on the table.

“When was this?” she asked, taking it from him.

“When we went to fight Laxus, Mystogan was already fighting him. Our appearance distracted him and his mask got knocked off. I managed to take a picture before he flew off.”

The moment Erza saw the photo, she shook with an anger that she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Where...how is he…?!”

“Still alive? I have no idea. He told us he wasn’t the same person as Jellal. If that’s the case, then something else is going on.”

Jaw clenched, knuckles white, the redhead nonetheless set the camera down gently. “…He was the past. Now I have a future,” she said quietly, visibly working to calm herself as she strode over to Natsu and Lucy. The dragon slayer grinned goofily as Erza kissed him on the cheek and leaned back into her embrace. Lucy giggled, before laying her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes in bliss. The guild slowly returned to their normal energetic self, drinking and chatting with their usual enthusiasm. The energy intensified when Mira announced the parade was back on. Despite some of their injuries, they eagerly dove into last-minute preparations.

Meanwhile, Laxus grunted from inside the infirmary, listening to the hubbub. “Sure are a lively bunch.”

(Begin Fairy Tail Sad theme)

Makarov hummed as he slowly sat up. “Laxus,” he began gravely, “I don’t think you understand the severity of what you’ve done.”

The blond man averted his gaze. “I know already…”

“Look me in the eye, young man!”

Laxus did so reluctantly, gritting his teeth as he finally permitted his grandfather to see the turmoil in his eyes. Makarov shook his head in pity, sighing. “Fairy Tail is more than just a guild,” he said, “It's a place where friends can gather, wizards can find work, those who are without kin can find a family to call their own…and for those _with_ kin to expand their family. It's not something you own.”

Images of his time with the current guild, the members growing up, and even the Riders flashed through the guild master’s aged mind, bringing a faint smile to his face. “It's important that each person not only be loyal, but also trustworthy. Otherwise, no bond will be formed and the guild will collapse.” His smile vanished, making his grandson squirm under his grave gaze. “Your actions yesterday have proven that you no longer have those qualities and what’s worse, you’ve threatened the lives of your comrades. That in itself is unforgivable.”

Laxus clenched his fist, despair evident in his face. “I’m…I’m sorry, sir,” he said tightly, looking away again, “I never meant to harm the guild. I just…wanted it to be stronger. To get people like Phantom Lord and the dark guilds to stop laughing at us. Calling us flies and do-gooders…as if they had the right!”

Makarov slowly turned, pulling himself up into a sitting position. “I swear,” he groaned, “You're about as high-strung as me. If you don’t relax, you’ll end up here.” He looked up sadly at his taller grandson. “Taking harsh words so personally all the time...that’s no way to live. You gotta get out there and hold your head high, no matter who tries to put you down, because you alone know who and what you are.” He closed his eyes in sorrow. “I’ve watched you grow into the man you are today…where did we go wrong? What lessons did you not learn?” He sighed, shaking his head. “But the past is the past and your actions have left me with no choice.”

Laxus knew what was coming and began to tear up, but said nothing.

Makarov swallowed thickly. “Laxus…for your actions against the guild, you are hereby expelled from Fairy Tail.”

Laxus merely nodded without protest and turned away. “I…I understand. See ya round…Grandpa. You take care of yourself. Don’t…don’t let a deadbeat like me or dad put you in that bed again.”

Makarov said nothing, trying to keep his tears from spilling.

A few hours later, the dragon slayer found himself taking one last walk through the festive Magnolia Park. Hearing a shout, he looked up and say his old team rushing up to him

“Laxus!” Freed called out, waving.

“Why are they kicking you out!? We all were part of this! We should have been thrown out with you!” wailed Evergreen, distraught as she clutched at a stitch in her side.

The blond young man only shook his head, turning away again. “The old man didn’t see it that way, I guess.”

“Then let us come with you!” pleaded Evergreen.

“We’re just as guilty as you, so why are you taking all the blame?” asked Bickslow reasonably, “If you're not here, we don’t to be here either!”

Laxus watched the townspeople milling about, gearing up for the festival. “You guys are more attached to this guild than me.”

“Then let us talk to the master! Surely he can see reason!” Evergreen offered.

Laxus shook his head silently and grabbed his bag from the ground next to him.

Freed gritted his teeth. _He’s already accepted it himself…so much for changing his mind_. He sighed in defeat. “You…you’re really leaving.”

“Yeah, guess I am,” he agreed, “You guys take care of each other, alright?” Their former leader turned his back on them and began to walk away.

Evergreen covered her eyes, trying to keep the fountain of tears from ruining her make up. Bickslow snarled in frustration, nearly throwing his helmet to the ground. “This is so stupid! I can’t believe this!’

Freed, however smiled as his old friend departed. _We’ll see each other again, I’m sure of it._

(End song)

Later that night

The crowd was in a frenzy as the highly anticipated Fantasia parade began. Max stepped up to the first stage. “Hello, Magnolia! How are you doing, tonight!?” The crowd roared in response. “Our apologies for the delay, some things, uh…went out of control, but that’s all taken care of! Are you ready to party?” They cheered in assent. “Alright! Let’s get this party started!

The parade began in earnest, the confetti and streamers already falling. Fireworks lit up the sky as everyone began celebrating. The first float up bore most of the Miss Fairy Tail participants atop it, Lucy, Levy and Bisca among them, dancing to the same song that May had danced to in her own performance. All three of them wore pink tube tops, which showed off an abundant amount of cleavage for Lucy in particularly, with matching leggings and gloves. They twirled flags with the guild emblem on them, with May and Dawn leading them through their routine. Anabel kept the music playing, wowing the crowd with her colorful weavings..

Over on the next float, Cana, Macao and Wakaba waved to the crowd, setting off fireworks from multiple launchers on the float. Behind them, Jet and Droy stood with Alzack, Max and Brock. The two had both somehow been convinced to wear a Caterpillar and Pumpkin outfit respectfully, flailing and bouncing about like lunatics. Max and Brock, on the other hand, were content to wave to the crowd with Gallade & Ninetales putting on a show behind them.

On float number 4, Elfman roared in his Beast Soul form, something that thanks to Drew and the others he _finally_ had control over. The float looked like he had broken free from his prison, with a broken cage and a ruined wall behind them. Behind him, his sister emerged from a white rose, dressed in a similar outfit to most of the girls in the parade. Having given her audience what they wanted, she smiled as her body glowed. To the audience’s shock, rather than showing off her Devil form, she instead opted to morph into a giant gecko, which goggled right back at them with its bulbous blue eyes.

The next float surprised everyone; a giant, elaborate and intricately detailed castle carved entirely out of what seemed to be a single massive block of ice. The sculpture shined in all of the lights of the parade, giving off a dazzling rainbow of colors in the mists surrounding the spires. In front of it stood Grey and Juvia, dressed like a prince and princess respectively, in matching blue and silver outfits. The two mages had created this impressive display in less than a day. Juvia giggled as she fantasized, drifting off in her own little world at being alongside Grey, while the Ice Rider waved to the crowd, a small blush hidden from the blue haired girl. At Grey’s nod, Juvia summoned more water and created a bridge above them. The ice quickly froze it, molding the ice and forming the words Fairy Tail.

On the one after that was Erza, who had requipped into a skimpy, white and gold dancer’s top and knee length skirt, similar to Anabel’s normal wear. On her heels were a pair of sandals, with extensive straps that wrapped around her slender legs. Her hair was tied back into four, shoulder-length ponytails. Around her multiple swords appeared as she twirled around, using two of her swords to direct them around.

Walking behind Erza was Natsu and Happy. The cat driving a large float of fire, being driven by several Pokemon like Flygon and Staraptor. Natsu, still wrapped up from the battle, grinned and pulled his head. He spat out multiple fire balls, forming letters spelling out Fairy Tail as well.

(Begin For those Who About to Rock By AC/DC, You know the one)

The last float had Drew and his band set up to play. At a given signal, Ash began to strum his guitar. The music caught the onlookers by surprise, the strange melody drawing them close. Drew slowly walked across the stage, clapping his hands to the beat of the song, getting the crowd to do the same. At the same time, Gabby began to beat her drums slowly while Misty’s Bass played in time with her, almost as if the instruments were singing. A couple of bass strums later, the song picked up as the brunette hit the drums hard.

_YEAH! Yeah, OH!_

_We roll Tonight! To the guitar Bite!_

_Yeah! Yeah! OH!_

He pointed to the audience as the beat dropped.

_Stand up and Be Counted,  
_ _For what you are about to receive!  
We are the dealers,   
We'll give you everything you need!_

He watched Ash strum his guitar, clearly enjoying this song.

_Hail hail to the good times  
'Cause rock has got the right of way!  
We ain't no legend, ain't no 'cause,  
We're just livin' for today!_   
_For those about to rock, we salute you!  
For those about to rock, we salute you!_

Everyone on stage sang the chorus, giving a rich harmony between the female and male vocals.

_We rock at dawn on the front line  
Like a bolt right out of the blue!  
The sky's a-light with the guitar bite,  
Heads will roll and rock tonight!_

Drew watched as the crowd got into the groove and smirked. If they were impressed with the song, they would be blown away with the finale.

_For those about to rock, we salute you  
For those about to rock, we salute you  
For those about to rock, we salute you, Oh heck yes we do  
For those about to rock, we salute you  
Oh, salute_

As Ash went into his solo, several cannons loaded with fireworks moved into position behind them, four coming from his right, four from his left. A flag with the guild symbol dropped down between them. On top of the guns and behind Gabby, to everyone’s shock, was Makarov. Despite Drew’s reservations because of his health, Makarov had insisted on being in on this. He hopped up with agility not expected of someone on death’s door two days ago.

_Oh, oh yeah_

_We're just a battery for hire with a guitar fire_

_Ready and aimed at you_

He marched around the stage as if he was the general. At the last line, he pointed the stand at the crowd.

_Pick up your balls and load up your cannon  
For a twenty-one gun salute  
For those about to rock, fire_

Drew slammed the microphone stand as the left canons fired, sending multiple fireworks out.

_We salute you_   
_For those about to rock,_

This time the right cannons fired, Makarov not even flinching.

_We salute you!  
For those about to rock   
Fire (we salute you)_

The left canons fired again. This time Drew didn’t even say the lyrics again, he just gave the command.

_Fire! We~! Salute~~ you!!!!_

The music picked up considerably and this time the whole crowd was jumping rocking to every note, Drew not even needing to pump them up as he bounced around.

_We salute you  
Come on, whoa  
For those about to rock, we salute you_

As he sang each line, the canons would continue to go off, their fireworks joining the ones already in the air.

_For those about to rock, we salute you!  
For those about to rock, we salute you!  
For those about to rock, we salute you!_

Drew stopped his jumping and raised his hands as if to shoot off to the side.

_Shoot, shoot!_

At each command the guns went off behind him, not even flinching as he spun around. This time he pointed out to the audience.

_Shoot, shoot!  
For those of you, for those who rock (ain't gonna get tired, won't take a break, we salute you, yeah)_

_We salute you!_  
We salute you!  
We salute you~!

At the last word, Ash and Gabby began their final notes, strumming their guitars or beating the symbols really fast as Drew, Misty held up the Fairy Tail hand sign. Behind them, the cannons went off without prompting.

_Fire!_

At the last command, all of the cannons went off, firing a dazzling array of fireworks into the sky. Drew laughed as the crowd cheered loudly. “THANK YOU MAGNOLIA! HAVE A GREAT FESTIVAL!”

As the festival continued onto the night, one person watched from a distance. Laxus observed as the town’s celebrations went into the night. He shed tear as Master Makarov held up the guild hand sign, a backwards L. Seeing this made him remember when he made that gesture when he was younger. _To think Gramps is still using that. Maybe there is hope for me yet,_ he thought. Turning away to hide his tears, he walked into the shadows, his time in Magnolia now over.

With Laxus’s rebellion over, Fairy Tail continues as a guild for everyone. But darkness still exists where the light cannot see. Who gave Laxus his Gaia Memories? And what plans do they still have for Magnolia? Find out Next time on Nakama United.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter
> 
> UO: Not as long this time! Hope you all enjoyed it! Because next chapter, Everything goes off the rails!
> 
> NS: *Rubs hands gleefully* Yesss~ He comes! ...Phrasing. But anyway! Look forward to it. And leave reviews.
> 
> Preview: As they wind down from the Fantasia parade, a curious incident gets the attention of the Riders. But their curiosity ends with multiple Riders in the infirmary as the Dark General they had been fighting reveals themselves. Will a new Ally be their saving grace, or their final curtain?
> 
> Next time: The Dark General Appears! The Man Who Knows Too Much?


	19. The Dark General Appears! The Man Who Knows Too Much?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat approaches and a new ally appears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
> UO: *Moves last Box* And that’s that. I’m all moved in. Thanks guys.  
> Natsu: No sweat.  
> UO: Sorry folks, been busy with setting up for my new home.  
> Lucy: *Pants* Why do you have so much?  
> UO: Call me a curious guy. Everyone else here?  
> *Room shakes*  
> UO: Oh god damn it *Runs outside, sees moving truck blown up*  
> Max: *Eyes in swirls* Help…me…  
> May: *Shirt torn* Why are we working with Friedrich?  
> Friedrich: Because I don’t know where this shit goes.  
> UO: SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I WILL KILL YOU OFF IN THE FIRST CHAPTER  
> Friedrich: No you won’t~  
> Drew: Geez, the stress is getting to ya man  
> UO: Disclaimer! Now!  
> Drew: *Gulps* Neither UnitedOsprey1991 or Northsouthgorem own Fairy Tail, Pokemon or Kamen Rider. We claim no profit from any of these mediums and are writing this only for entertainment.

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH  
UO: *Moves last Box* And that’s that. I’m all moved in. Thanks guys.  
Natsu: No sweat.  
UO: Sorry folks, been busy with setting up for my new home.  
Lucy: *Pants* Why do you have so much?  
UO: Call me a curious guy. Everyone else here?  
*Room shakes*  
UO: Oh god damn it *Runs outside, sees moving truck blown up*  
Max: *Eyes in swirls* Help…me…  
May: *Shirt torn* Why are we working with Friedrich?  
Friedrich: Because I don’t know where this shit goes.  
UO: SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I WILL KILL YOU OFF IN THE FIRST CHAPTER  
Friedrich: No you won’t~  
Drew: Geez, the stress is getting to ya man  
UO: Disclaimer! Now!**

**Drew: *Gulps* Neither UnitedOsprey1991 or Northsouthgorem own Fairy Tail, Pokemon or Kamen Rider. We claim no profit from any of these mediums and are writing this only for entertainment.  
  
** "Speech"  
 _Thoughts_  
Text  
 **Monster/Rider form  
Spell/Technique/Finisher**

Chapter 19: The Dark General Appears! The Man Who Knows Too Much?

Day after Fantasia Parade, 8:00AM

When we last left Fairy Tail, they had participated in the Fantasia parade after a nearly successful hostile takeover. Laxus Dreyar, Makarov’s grandson, had incited a rebellion and began a civil war among the guild members, with the help of several Gaea memories. Thanks to powers of Drew, Natsu, Lucy, Mira and the rest of the Riders, the rebellion was crushed and the S-class mage was expelled from the guild.

At the home of the Rider girls, Dawn stirred awake. Letting out a cute yawn, she laid her face down on her pillow from last night. Ash, after rocking out with Drew and Misty, had decided to stay over and she jumped at the opportunity to sleep with him, although they weren’t alone.

Glancing across Ash’s broad chest, she sleepily smiled at their other other bed mate. Anabel looked adorable as the morning sunlight glistened off her amethyst hair. Even though she enjoyed her beauty sleep, she always found watching her partner's sleeping to be the best way to wake up.

A few moments later, Anabel scrunched her nose, her eyes blinking open. Seeing Dawn watching her, she returned the smile. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Dawn replied, tiredness still evident in her voice, “Sleep well?”

“Yeah, especially with our favorite bunny with us,” drawled the empath. She reached across and pecked the blue haired girl’s lips.

Dawn giggled. Despite being exposed to such affection so often, it always made her body feel tingly. They felt the arms around them tighten as Ash began to wake up.

“Hm…what’re two of my favorite people in the world doing up this early huh?” Ash asked cheekily.

The two girls giggled and both gave him a kiss which quickly turned into a quick make-out session.

Dawn released first. “I should start getting ready, it takes a while to set up my adorable self,” she said regretfully, rolling off the bed and onto the floor.

Anabel smiled. “Totally worth it!” she told Dawn, following her up. She spun the smaller girl around like they were a dancing couple before the empath slowly bent the smaller girl back.

Ash watched them with an appreciative gaze taking great delight at how flexible both were. Their choice of sleepwear, a light-blue nightie for Dawn and a white sports top and blue panties for Anabel, showing off their well-toned bodies, especially their legs. “You really are ballerinas in and out of costume, you two.”

Dawn beamed. “As much as I want to play that, I should get ready.” She grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom.

After everyone showered, Dawn sat at the vanity, putting on her make-up. She was dressed in a black corset with red frills, with matching tights and boots.

“The goth look today?” Anabel teased, already dressed in her purple harem dancer outfit.

“Nah, just feeling a little spunky today. Can’t go bright and cheery all the time.” Dawn told her. Let it not be said being around partners didn’t give her some confidence and attitude.

“Doesn’t matter.” Ash spoke up, dressed in a grey t-shirt and blue shorts. “You're always pretty to me.”

Dawn blushed under her make-up. “Thanks.” She finished her prep and glanced at him, giggling. “Remember when we tried our make up on you, Ash?”

The boy rubbed his head, flushed with embarrassment. “Yeah, well, you girls were _that_ insistent.”

“Well, _duh,”_ the lolita retorted, sticking her tongue out, “We wanted to spend time with you and got you to try it, didn’t we?” She gave her boyfriend a smile. “Admit it, you looked great.”

The boy smiled and approached the sitting girl. “If it made you girls happy, I don’t care,” he whispered wrapping his arms around her slender waist and kissing her cheek.

Dawn beamed as she felt his embrace, joined moments later by Anabel nuzzling her cheek. She felt like a teddy bear at the moment and she couldn’t be happier.

A few moments later, they separated and left the room. Leaving the apartment with Misty and May in tow, they headed to the guild. A few minutes later, they were joined by Natsu and Lucy, the dragon slayer picking up the blonde. While the girls began gossiping, Natsu jogged up to Ash.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked the Aura user.

“Yeah?”

Natsu nudged his head towards the girls; Misty was laughing at a memory that was brought up. “How do you…y’know, date multiple girls and still find the time to keep them happy?”

“Talking about Erza and Lucy?” Ash asked, smirking. When the dragon slayer nodded, the boy laughed. “Well, there’s no _right_ way to do it, I guess. Sometimes, they need a shoulder to lean their head on. Other times, they just need a pack mule for their shopping. But no matter what, as you accept them for theirs and your faults, then living with multiple partners is a cinch, despite their personalities. Look at Misty.” He pointed in the redhead’s direction. “She’s a tomboy, really hated dressing up. But she’s best friends with two people that wouldn’t be out of place in a beauty pageant. Being around each other changes us.” He let out a laugh. “I mean, I let them put makeup on me and it actually felt good.”

“You…actually did that?” asked Happy, his jaw dropping.

“Yeah…” Ash confirmed sheepishly, “I’ve been…forced to dress as a girl, a couple of times during my travels, but it somehow grew on me. I know with my looks I can pass for a girl with some adjustments. The guys might laugh but they never go beyond that.” He jerked his head at Lucy, who was talking animatedly about something. “Just glad they got another dress dummy that isn’t me.”

Before Natsu could ask further, a loud bark was heard from the direction of the guild. Everyone turned to see a large red dog creature rushing up to them. To Natsu and Lucy’s shock, they saw Tori, Brock and Max riding the beast as if it were a horse.

Lucy gasped at the size of it. “Whoa! What is that?”

“Oh that? That’s Buddy, Tori’s Arcanine. It’s a large dog that evolved from another, smaller Pokemon,” May explained, walking up to him and petting his fluffy fur.

Happy gulped. “A-a d-dog?!”

Tori laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. Buddy’s big, but he’s a puppy. He says ‘hi’ by the way.”

The Arcanine lowered its big head and sniffed the nervous blue cat. A moment later, the dog licked him and let out a happy yelp.

“See, he likes you. He’s very calm and friendly, but in a fight he’s ready to protect anything.”

“So, what’s up?” asked Misty, getting the conversation back on track.

“Something came up that Drew wanted us to investigate,” Max replied, “Hopefully we’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, be safe.” May told her brother as the large dog barked and took off out of town. After a brief walk, they entered the guild to see it at its usual rambunctious self. Ash caught sight of Drew talking with Erza and Makarov over something. “What’s going on?”

Drew looked up to see most of the rest of the group come in. “Ah guys, nice to see you here. We’re discussing something really big.”

“Yeah? Well what could you be talking about this early in the morning?” Misty asked.

“About ten days ago, when you were all at Akane resort, we received a mission request from Acalypha Town.” Makarov began, “They were under siege from the guild Naked Mummy, using what they described as monstrous creatures. We believed that they were using Gaea memories to take over the town.”

Lucy gasped at the name of the town. “That’s…the town where my parents met! How’d we miss this?”

“We don’t know, but we’re not needed any more. Take a look at what I just read this in the paper,” said Drew, holding out the newspaper.

The Aura user grabbed it and read the headline. “‘Mysterious Mage Saves Town from Dopant Menace?’” Ash asked in confusion, “How the heck did someone take down one of them?”

“It wasn’t one,” Erza corrected him ominously, “It was three.”

This stunned everyone in earshot. The Riders, while strong, normally faced one or two Dopants at a time. Taking down _three_ of these monsters solo was almost completely unheard of, outside the Guardians. Either this person was a really strong mage, or they’d found a weakness they’d never thought of.

“How is someone that strong, when we can barely hold off two if we’re prepared correctly?” asked Anabel, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

“We have no idea,” admitted Drew with a sigh, “That’s why I asked Tori, Brock and Max to head to the town on Arcanine. They should be back this afternoon.”

“Wait…it takes a full day from here to get to Acalypha Town. How can they get back so quickly?” asked Lucy, flabbergasted.

In response, Ash pulled out his pokédex. “Arcanines can go up to 6000 miles in a day,” he explained, shrugging, “Twenty miles in a day? That’s a walk in the park, even for Buddy.”

“Besides, I only asked them to find out info and perhaps find the guy or girl who did this,” Drew continued, “If they make contact, I would like to talk to them.” He said with a small look of worry. He reached for his glass of juice. The moment he touched it, however, it suddenly cracked and shattered. “Whoa!”

Before someone could clean up, May’s glass abruptly slipped from her normally sturdy hold, while Misty’s glass shattered in her grip. Both girls shrieked at the splashing liquid and everyone turned to the commotion. Ash was quick to cover the brunette with his cloak while Misty began to bend the liquid away.

“Is everyone okay?!” gasped Mira rushing over with a broom and dustpan

“Y-yeah,” mumbled the Fire Guardian, more concerned about why the glass broke. He observed as the girls cleaned up, they caught each other’s eye and all thought the same thing. Having one glass break was bad enough, mainly because of the misfortune associated with glass -especially mirrors- breaking. But for three to crack without any input from the drinkers was not a good sign as they’ve seen movies, where pictures cracked whenever someone got hurt…or worse.

Outskirts of Acalypha Town

Buddy slowed to a stop outside their mission target. Hopping off the large dog, Tori gave him an apple and petted him. “Good boy Buddy, return!”

The Arcanine gave a booming back, before dissolving into red light and being sucked back into his pokeball.

“Alright,” she said, stowing the ball in her pocket, “Let’s start by asking some of the townspeople what they know about all of this. If that guy in the papers is still around, maybe we could try and find him. Otherwise, we should get as much information about him as we can.”

Max bit his lip for a moment. “Well, that makes sense, obviously,” he agreed, “But if he saved the town, they might not wanna tell us anything. Might see him as a hero or something.”

Brock nodded, brow furrowed. “Yeah, especially if they learn we’re from Fairy Tail. Didn’t they send a request our way? I mean, they asked for our help and we weren’t there to give it…they might not want to help us at all, if Naked Mummy was that bad.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” said Tori with finality, “We might make it back before sundown.”

The three entered town to see the town in surprisingly good shape. As a matter of fact, many of the buildings appeared to have been completely repaired. The people were all milling about as if the town had not been attacked last week, an air of good vibes flowing through the roads.

“What’s going on?” asked Max in surprise, “I thought Naked Mummy wrecked this place?”

“They did, young man,” an elderly voice replied getting the mages’ attention. The coat and stethoscope marked him as a doctor on duty. “Caused quite a ruckus, what with turning into monsters and browbeating everyone into paying taxes to ‘em. But this young man came from out of nowhere, only asked I fix him up, and defeated all three, driving the guild out of town.” He regarded the Riders carefully. “I take it you're from Fairy Tail?”

“Yes,” Tori answered sadly, bowing her head “We’re so sorry about not answering your message. But a hundred different things came up and it got lost in the backlog-”

The doctor held his hand up. “I understand. You’ve been under alot of stress from different directions. Your guild got attacked and then you had your little party and the like. All while fighting the Dopants, just like us. I’m sure you would have gotten to us eventually.”

Hearing that just made the three feel even more guilty. The doctor smiled. “The fact that you three look like kicked puppies says that you're genuinely sorry about not being here. Thanks to that man, our town is back on its feet.”

“Do you know where he is right now?” Brock asked.

The doctor hummed. “He should be around town somewhere. Probably looking for something to do, now that he’s helped us get back on our feet. Ask around, I’m sure everyone’s got a story to tell.”

“What about his name?”

“Ah, right, of course. His name is Friedrich Holmgardt. Seems right proud of it, so everyone knows it.”

“Thanks,” Tori replied. “We’ll see what we can find.” The three said their farewells and headed into town.

As they went, they met with more of the townsfolk and asked them about the events that happened. All of them said similar things, that the man named Friedrich had saved the town and helped rebuild it. While interviewing one of the women, she gushed about the man’s looks and how they taught him to use magic rings he designed. Seeing the skepticism on their faces, the woman slipped on a plain silver ring and pointed at a pile of clothes she was washing, easily and quickly folding them, or hanging them on the line. “This little ring has been so helpful with chores. Friedrich made more to help out around town. You see, many of us don’t have magic. But he said that it didn’t matter and designed these things,” she told them, beaming, “Oh, sure, he’s probably raked in quite a bit of money, it’s not like he did it for free.”

The three Riders all looked at each other apprehensively for a moment, but chose not to inquire further.

“Thank you for your time,” said the brunette girl, bowing gratefully. The healer brought out her notebook. “So we have a guy who can not only solo Dopants, but can create stuff for non-magic people…you sure we’re dealing with a human?”

“Who knows?” Brock offered, shrugging, “Maybe the town’s just exaggerating a bit,” 

“The whole town?” asked Max, pushing up his glasses, “I mean, I get it if the kids did that, but the parents and the doctor too?”

“Well, let’s see if we can find someone a little more unbiased,” suggested Tori, “See if all their stories add up.”

So thinking, three Riders continued on to a construction site. Instead of making use of traditional tools to build houses, many of the workers were using similar rings to cut and move large amounts of wood and stone. There were also workers who were doing simpler, but important tasks such as spreading mortar and hammering nails in place. The architect of the building was nearby, overseeing the construction with the building plans in hand as the engineers shouted instructions to the workers. From the speed at which the construction progressed, what would’ve taken months to finish under normal circumstances was likely to be completed within a few weeks.

“Excuse us!” Max exclaimed, getting their attention. “Can we ask you some questions?”

“Sure little buddy.” One of the lead workers told him. “What can we do for you kids?”

“We’re here talk about, er…Friedrich Holmgardt,” Brock told him.

Almost instantly, the foreman’s eyes lit up and he gave a belly laugh. “Hehehehahahaha! Ah man that guy just waltzed into town, and knocked those Naked Mummy guys outta here.”

“Uh, care to be a little more specific?” asked Max.

“He made them look like the monkeys they are. Even got some of them to attack each other, from what I hear!”

“Were you guys close to the action?” questioned Brock.

The foreman rubbed his head. “No, but one of my boys overheard a conversation with another woman. Pretty girl, looked a bit timid. Said she was a mage of some sort.”

Getting directions to the man, the trio thanked him and went on their way. Soon enough, they found the worker as he walked into his house.

“Hello?” Brock called out getting the worker’s attention?

“Hm? Oh yeah you're the mages from Fairy Tail. I _should_ be upset that you didn’t show up, but I heard ya had yer own problems.”

“We are really sorry, again,” Max pleaded, “If we had known, we could have passed this onto the Riders.”

The middle aged man shrugged. “Don’t matter, Friedrich came and whooped those monkey asses!”

“That’s exactly what we want to talk about,” Tori told him. “You saw the fight, or at least the aftermath right? Can you tell us?”

The man scratched his head. “Didn’t see the fight, no,” he grunted, “No one even knew about it ‘till it was over, though there was an awful racket from the merchant guild-hall. Either way, whatever he did, those chumps bolted like a bat outta hell. I _did_ see this pretty young thing talking to him while pinning down the boss, looked like one of you guildies. Whatever he said, she left disappointed.”

“Did he do something for you?”

“Oh yeah. Made my life easier chopping down and moving logs. This ring’s cost me a pretty penny, but damn they life a lot easier. Those anti-magic guys don’t know what they are talking about.”

Brock, Max and Tori all looked at each other. _Anti-magic?_ they all wondered. However, Tori felt that it would distract them from their mission. Making a note of his words, she then refocused the conversation. “Where can we find Mr. Holmgardt?”

“Hm…” The man scratched his head. “Haven’t seen him today, but he’s bunking at the Doc’s place. Just go down the road and make a left. Can’t miss it.”

Thanking the man, they headed in the direction provided.

“Story’s been consistent everywhere,” Brock mentioned., “I doubt the whole town got together and came up with this story.”

“That means this Friedrich Holmgardt can take down Dopants without the need for Tsuki’s power, possibly stronger than the council,” Max pointed out.

Tori hummed. “I don’t think it’s an S-ranked mage. Or at least not one affiliated with a guild.”

“So what do we do now?” Max asked.

“Drew said this was primarily a scout mission. Find that person and talk to him. If we wanted to recruit him, we would go back and bring the others.” She sighed. “Really wished we had a GPS. There are several towns around here, are we sure we have the right one?”

“It’s not like they haven’t tried,” a deep voice called out to them. The three teens quickly turned to see a man walking by the side of the road, a half-carved block of wood in his hand. He was tall, at least a half foot taller than Brock, who only stood at 5’5”. He wore a long, dark blue coat, left open to show a dark shirt underneath, and a pair of comfortable-looking pants. His brown hair was cut short and he was clean shaven, normal enough for a man his age…and yet, there was something off about him. It took Tori a moment, before the realization hit her with a jolt; his eyes were mismatched, half blue and half half in each, split right down the middle.

“Friedrich Holmgardt, I presume?” Tori asked.

He smiled at them, but it was with a wary, forced politeness. “Who wants to know?” he asked mildly.

“My name is Victoria Annabeth Spalina,” she said, bowing, “But you can call me Tori.” Waving her hand towards her two companions, she introduced them in turn. “My friends are Brock Slate and Max Maple. We’re from Fairy Tail, investigating the rumors about someone single-handedly defeating several Dopants on their own.”

“I see,” Friedrich replied, nodding easily, “Not that I doubt you guys. But I’m gonna need proof you are from Fairy Tail. Like your stamps.”

Tori nodded and reached down to her skirt and gently raised it to show the stamp on her left leg, blushing at showing it off. Brock lifted his shirt to expose his chest, where his stamp was, while Max turned around and lowered his collar to reveal the crest emblazoned on the back of his neck.

The mysterious man nodded absently, brow furrowed and odd eyes looking out into space as if lost in thought. Max noticed the man’s far off look and cleared his throat to get his attention. “Uh, Friedrich? You alright?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, you guys are good. So! What can I do for the famous Fairy Tail guild?”

Brock stepped up to speak. “We heard about someone who single-handedly took down the Dopants that weren’t affiliated with the Kamen Riders,” he began, “Either they were really strong or these Dopants were pathetically weak.”

Friedrich grimaced, rubbing at his arm. “Definitely not the former,” he insisted, “Almost broke my arm fighting the first one. He was a Minotaur, moved fast and hit like a truck.” He placed his carving on the ground and reached into his back pocket, and to their surprise pulled out an intact Gaea memory. It was black, with a symbol resembling a turtle shell, cut in half in the shape of an S. “This one I got off of his buddy later on. I got another one as well, but I’d prefer to keep them if you don’t mind.”

The three dropped their jaws in shock at seeing an object that had given them so much trouble intact and in someone else’s possession. Brock reached out to take it and held it tenderly, examining it. “This is amazing! Whenever the Riders destroy a Dopant, these things are always found broken and useless. How did you do this?”

Friedrich shrugged, his smile becoming a little more genuine. “We all have our secrets. I’m sure you all do as well.”

While he meant to say it in humor, judging by his smile, the Riders hid their shock with the wonder on their face.

_Does he know we’re Riders?_

_Are we gonna have problems?_

_Who is this guy?_

Shaking off his thoughts, Max noticed the carving on the ground. “Ooh what’s this?”

The traveller looked at the wooden carving “Oh this? Just something I’ve been working on. Nothing really fancy,” he said nonchalantly, handing it to the younger boy, Brock returned the Memory to him.

Max carefully examined the carving “This is cool. I wish I could make something like this. Dawn, Tori and May are the artists in our group.

“Yeah it takes talent. Anyway you still haven’t told me what you want from me,” Freidrich pointed out absently.

Seeing the man’s distracted face, Tori quickly tried to end it. “We were only sent out to meet you and talk to you. Now we’re gonna head back and bring this information back to the guild. Hopefully, we can send someone to talk to you.”

“Yeah, if we leave now, we can be back before sundown,” Max added. “Especially with your Arcanine.

“Alright then,” Friedrich nodded. “You guys take care, might head to Magnolia soon myself. We’ll meet again soon enough.”

“Sounds good,” Brock replied as Tori called out her large canine companion. With a wave, they sped out of town on their way back home.

Friedrich remained where he was, watching them leave, and shook his head. _Well, that happened_ , he thought as he flipped the carving in his hands. A sudden jolt made him stumble, dropping his carving as he leaned against a building and put a hand to his head with a grunt.

On the Road

Considering that they had a load of time before they were expected back, Tori asked Buddy to go at a more sedate pace.

“So what’d you think of Friedrich?” Brock asked.

“He was a nice guy, but I felt like he was hiding something,” Max answered honestly, pushing up his glasses.

“I’ve seen that look on Drew’s face whenever his mind’s wandering,” concurred Tori, “He might have had other things on his mind. But he definitely has something up his sleeve.”

“So you think we can recruit him?” Brock asked Tori.

“Hopefully…” she replied wistfully, “If we can’t catch him today, he said he’d be in Magnolia soon.”

Before they could continue, Buddy slowed to a stop and sniffed the air. “Buddy what’s wrong?” The dog didn’t answer and continued to sniff. Then he growled fiercely; something was clearly spooking the dog. The three dismounted the pokemon and unholstered their weapons. “Buddy, get back.” The Fire-type reluctantly did so, still poised to attack. The wind stilled, atmosphere tense as they tried waited for their mysterious voyeur. A glint of light was all the warning they got.

*CLANG!*

A black and red blur sprang out of the trees. Brock barely got Mortar up to deflect the blow aimed at his head. The attacker grunted and leaped back before he could counter, allowing the three Riders a good look at them. Standing with their back hunched over was a figure clad in black armor with red flame motifs dotting their body, breathing heavily. The helmet was a deep red with black highlights, resembling a death mask, with two demonic wings jutting out the sides. In their hands were two large tonfa-blades, the left one serrated and the right one curved, both with blood-red blades.

“Hm… _not…bad_ ,” acknowledged the intruder, their voice switching between a rough snarl and a calm soprano, “But you three… _are out of your league!”_

Seeing their opponent dressed in heavy armor, they quickly grabbed their belts and went into their stances.

“Henshin!”

**EVOLVE**

**KAMEN RIDE: Sirius**

The armored rider watched on with a nonchalant look as the shields popped out and collapsed on their respective users. “Hm… _So boring._ Guess this what I get _for facing Knights, Not Guardians!”_

Sirius, gasped realizing what it meant. “You…you’re the one creating these Dopants! A Dark General, like Glenn was!”

The dark Rider laughed, twirling the bladed tonfas in their hands. “Oh, smart~ Yes.” _“I am a General!_ But unlike that pompous ass, _I don’t care what you do to me,_ as long as I get _some tasty blood!”_

The Rider’s eyes shimmered as a bright red light coursed through her body, intensifying with her bloodlust. In a blink of an eyes, she was in Ace’s face, blades flashing dangerously. The younger Rider barely leaped out of the way of the powerful swing, but his armor was still damaged, sparks flying from the edge of a clean, deep cut across his chestplate.

“Damn it, he got me!” he hissed in pain. Pulling his hand away, he swore in his head as he saw that it was stained red. “He can pierce our armor!”

The General laughed and brought the blade up to their mouth. The mouth plate split open, allowing a forked tongue to reach out and flick at the blood that now adorned its edge. _“Mmnnn…the fresh taste of a new prey~”_ The Rider shuddered in ecstasy.

Sirius immediately spun her staff, intent on trying to mitigate the damage. **“Gift of Euphrates!”** she called. Her staff glowed blue, shortly followed by her allies, the sky blue coating covered all three of them. “That should help us with physical damage.”

The Rider giggled. “You really think a _shield_ can stop my attacks?” The rise in pitch made the Riders realize they were dealing with a woman. She twirled her blade in her right hand, causing a large red circle to appear underneath them. “Cute, but my **Blood Rite** _can penetrate any defense!”_ She snapped her fingers, making the circle glow and burst into a cloud of red mist. The Riders screamed as the mist clung to their armor, eating through the metal and bodysuits, exposing the skin underneath and quickly dissolving great patches of flesh. The pain caused them to collapse to the ground, armor bursting with sparks, their bodies wailing in agony.

Breathing heavily as he staggered to his feet, unsteady with blood already soaking the ground around him, Ace reached into his deck, pulled out a card of Drew's Flygon and scanned it.

**SANDSTORM!**

He whipped out his staff, spinning it front of him and kicking up dirt to obstruct their opponent’s view.

 _It’s really cute that they think they can hide, But now that we have a taste of their blood,_ _we know exactly where they are,_ thought the General. She could see the red outlines of her opponents as they surrounded her, watching one of them rush around and race into the sand. Throwing up one of the blades, she caught Onyx’s axe over her head parrying the blade, holding him in place effortlessly. Using her other blade, she caught Ace’s staff as it was swung for her head, once more stopping him dead in its tracks. She smirked at their struggle. _All too easy._ She dropped her blades, forcing them off balance before seizing both of their weapons. Gripping tightly, ignoring the edges, she whirled around, lifting them off their feet and hurling them into the air. Smoothly, she ducked down to pick up her blades and lashed out viciously to slice them as they fell, cleaving into flesh like a butcher knife. With an almost feral scream of bloodlust, she hacked and slashed at their bodies, seeming to relish in their screams as pieces of armor flew into the air, mixing with the blood. She then flung them towards Sirius, who gasped at the damage dealt to their armor. Throwing up a shield, she tried to heal Ace, who was barely holding onto consciousness. However, the spell flickered as she tried to get it to hold, her own wounds making her dizzy and hard to concentrate.

“HehehHAHAHA!” cackled their opponent, sauntering towards her prey. “How in the world _did Glenn of all people lose to the likes of you!?”_ She scowled and sliced the rocks coming at her. She glared at Onyx who was using Mortar as a crutch.

“You think…we did this alone…?” coughed the black-armored Rider.

The General grinned and licked her blades. “Well, no. I just hope the rest of you taste good _WHEN YOU DIE!’_ She blinked out out of existence and appeared behind the three downed Riders, the circle for her Blood Rite reappearing underneath them. Snapping her fingers once more, she listened in glee as their screams echoed through the clearing. Turning back around, she grinned as their armors glowed and shattered, blood splattering everywhere.

She strolled over to Tori and grabbed her by her hair, “You know, _torturing you_ is its own reward,” she commented, _“But that won’t send a message.”_ She raised a blade to the struggling girl’s throat. “A dismembered head _or three on the other hand~~!_

“You…won’t get away this…” Tori choked out.

“Hm… _nope!”_ she chirped sadistically, raising her blade.

Tori saw the weapon and closed her eyes. _Drew…I’m sorry._

A loud, screaming whistle split the air, before a thunderous *BANG!* cracked out as something struck the blade, knocking her. _“What-?!”_ she hissed, letting go of Tori’s hair in shock. Before the General could react further, a second bolt struck her in the shoulder, knocking her for a loop. Realizing she was under attack, she released Tori and barely ducked under the third, only for a fourth to knock her off her feet, launching her into a tree.

“Actually, I think she had the right of it. You will regret this!”

Tori fell to the ground, trying to regain her breath. She looked up and saw to her surprise her savior was Friedrich.

“Friedrich…” She choked out, blood dripping from her mouth.

The man looked down at her in sympathy. “Hang on Tori, I’m gonna get you patched up.”

She hoped that meant he had healing abilities. She struggled to point at Max and Brock. “Heal…heal them…first!”

Friedrich nodded, turning to the other two. Both boys were covered in deep lacerations and bleeding heavily. Judging by the massive gashes on their limbs, Tori’s concern was well founded as he walked over to downed boys.

He knelt down, grimacing as his coat trailed in the blood, and grabbed their forearms. “I can’t recover the blood, boys, but I can stabilize you enough so you might not need a transfusion,” he commented, “Lessee here…” And before the girl’s eyes, their wounds began to shrink, vanishing without so much as a scar. He straightened up, grimacing at the blood from where he’d touched them. “And there we have it. You're gonna be okay.” Brock who’d briefly woken up during the healing, smiled and fell back unconscious. woke up during the healing, smiled and fell back unconscious.

He turned to Tori and placed his hand on her head. She gasped as almost instantly, she felt the pain in her chest fade away, her own cuts stitching themselves together. “You're gonna be fine. Let me fix you up, and I’ll take care of this bitch.”

“Who are you _calling a bitch!?”_

“You know, you’re right,” he said, nodding, “Bitch was _far_ more human than you.”

The Rider faltered. “...Eh?”

Friedrich glanced her way for a moment, seemingly unconcerned. “Hm... So that armor is even tougher than I thought,” he commented, standing up. “Those shots aren’t something even a Dopant can shrug off and there’s not even a scratch on you.”

The Rider laughed maniacally, evidently, she was channeling the Joker at the moment. “You got that right. _A Dopant wouldn’t_. But a Kamen Rider’s armor _can deflect anything you can come up with_!”

Friedrich raised an eyebrow. “Kamen Rider, huh? Aren’t you supposed to be good guys? You know, defending the weak?”

His opponent scoffed. “Please, _you would think I waste my time saving people?_ All they are _is food for my blades!”_

All of a sudden, faster than Tori could track, the older man _shot_ across the way towards the General. The woman raised her blades, but his fist _slammed_ into her gut with a bang and a flash of blue. With a cry, the evil Rider was lifted off her and hurtled backwards, bent double by the force, before landing

“That’s all I need to hear,” grunted the man, taking up a stance with his hands flattened out, “If these guys were fighting someone like you, then I can defend them without worries.”

The Dark Rider grunted. “What can you do? _You’re just a human!”_

“I may be a human, but this human beat _three_ Dopants, something only a Kamen Rider could do,” he revealed. His ring glowed, a blue aura flaring around his fists. “Wanna see what I learned from ‘em?”

“Who the _hell’re you?”_

Friedrich grinned as his fist glowed. “Just call me a man that fights impossible odds.”

She growled. “No matter what you’ve got, nothing of human-make can pierce my armor! Try as you might, _you won’t kill me!”_

He twisted the ring, making it and the aura around his hands flash red, and Tori shivered as his face suddenly went blank. ”Good.”

The Rider leaped at him, blades crossed in front of her and her eyes glowing with bloodlust…only to cry out as a latticework of scarlet light suddenly slashed across her armored body, causing sparks to erupt all over her and slowing her momentum to a halt. As she was suspended in midair, Friedrich lunged forward, his fingertips stabbing deep into her gut. With another flash of red, she screamed and was knocked back, sparks bursting from her stomach. Her body rolled along the ground before crashing in an undignified heap.

“Allow me to properly introduce myself,” the man told her, “My name is Friedrich Holmgardt. Remember it. I’ve no doubt you’ll be cursing it to your heart’s content, _once I’ve sent you packing!”_

With a snarl, she _whirled_ onto the ground, righting herself into a three-point landing. “Send me packing? _You’ll be the one sent packing_ IN PIECES!” So saying, she dashed forward, blades flashing.

Friedrich grinned and easily ducked under her wide swing, dropping low to the floor. “Good grief, what a lousy comeback,” he jeered. There was another bang as his curled fingers struck her chest plate again, knocking her back. “Granted, villains never change their lines. Even when they are losing!

“Losing? _Your friends are gonna die!_ How could you win?”

Friedrich shrugged. “Lots of people used to ask me that. They stopped after a while.”

 _How many one-liners does this guy have?_ thought Tori, sweat dropping. She coughed and red spilled onto the ground.

Friedrich heard the wet coughs and his smirk lessened. He focused on the Blood Knight. “You know, it’s really outside my interests but what’s your deal with them? I mean they haven’t shown any ill will to you right?”

The General snarled. “You _have no idea_ what these Riders _represent!_ They are _our eternal enemies!”_ She flourished her arm, revealing an apparatus on her inner wrist, including a syringe. Clenching her fist, she moaned as blood flowed into the attached vial. “Now come forth, _my minions!”_ She raised the syringe and swung her arm, spraying an arc of blood towards him.

Friedrich jumped back, grimacing, so that the droplets landed harmlessly in the grass in front him. Before he could retort, the liquid bubbled and expanded, rising and twisting to form rudimentary features. Within seconds, distorted monstrosities of considerable size had formed, hissing at their opponent. Glancing back at the kids, his eyes widened as more monstrosities appeared from the spilled blood that had soaked the ground previously.

“Well…looks like someone knows how to plan ahead,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Really, I’d like nothing better than to make a show of it, but I gotta get these kids home. Drawing out a fight with you doesn’t really help with that…” He twisted his ring again, making it flash blue. “So I’m gonna have to finish things early for today.”

Something flashed underneath his coat and a large gun, from which protruded various bulbs and tubes, appeared in his hands. He spun around and fired off several small blasts of vapor into the blood monsters surrounding the other Riders, seemingly to no effect, before turning and nailing the ones in front of him. “Guns? _Against golems of blood?”_ the dark Rider laughed.

He only smirked back at her. “I’ve forgotten how this feels…”

“How what feels?” she jeered, still laughing.

“Fighting someone who doesn’t know to expect more from me,” chided Friedrich, “I mean, do you _really_ think I’d be so stupid as to use a normal gun?”

She stopped laughing. Then she waved her hand brusquely. _“Kill him.”_

The amorphous blood beasts didn’t move.

“What are you idiots doing! _KILL HIM!”_ She then noticed something off. The blood, a liquid that naturally flowed even when she manipulated, had stopped. Not one of her created minions so much as twitched.

Friedrich chuckled, stepping between two of them with a swagger to point his gun at her. “Yeah, see, I haven’t fought someone like you before, but I HAVE fought hemokinetics. Everyone knows that the best way to stop blood is by coagulation.” With a nudge, he tipped one over, making it overbalance, crack and crumble into useless pieces. “Any more bright ideas? Or should I just end this?”

“How…?” uttered the Rider, her blades slack in her hands, “No one in this world _would ever think of such a thing_ so quickly. And that weapon…even for Requipping, no such gun exists…!”

“Heh…” Friedrich snorted. “You _are_ a sharp one, aren’t you? Besides the obvious I mean.” He raised his hand and beckoned at her, hand now glowing blue.

The General snarled and crossed her blades. “DIE!” She launched herself towards Fried intent on chopping his head off.

*Clang!*

He thrust out his hand and _caught_ the tonfas, stopping them dead with a flare of blue light. The red edges screeched and snarled metallically as they failed to even scratch their target. The traveler smirked. “Well, would you look at that...” He looked at his other hand, from which wafted blue vapor. “Let’s see...I got it to act like liquid before. What would happen if I…?” with a crackling, the light crystallized, encasing his hand in a glittering shell. “Haha! Awesome!”

*BANG*

She was launched into a nearby tree and cracked the bark. Sliding to the ground, she staggered forward, hand to her gut.

“Anyway, as I was gonna say,” rambled the man, “I’ve got better things to do than die.” He clenched and unclenched his crystal-encased fist. “Haah…I really wanna test out this new function, but I really gotta go.”

 _“What makes you think I’ll let you leave?!”_ hissed the General.

Friedrich shrugged, scratching his cheek. “Lemme answer your question with another question. What happened to my weapon?”

The dark Rider paused. _His weapon?_ Indeed, both of his hands were now empty. _What?! But he was just holding it! Right up until he hit me!_

“Oh, there it is!” he cried, smacking his forehead, “Ah well, I’ll let you borrow it for a little.”

She opened her mouth to retort, only to pause as something flashed out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she looked under her arm to see a pink, gooey ball stuck to her side, with a flashing red core. “You _son of a-!”_

There came a bizarre *BWORRRRRR~* sound and everything dissolved. The General’s knees buckled, her voice fading out into a nauseous groan as the world around her twisted and distorted violently and her head felt dangerously light. She collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, helplessly weak and rubbery.

“That should keep ya occupied,” said Friedrich, nodding in satisfaction. With a flash of green, a knife slapped into his hand, which he then twirled and sheathed. He turned to the three downed Riders. “Now how to get you home.”

*Bark.*

Friedrich turned to see the large dog he’d saw them ride away on. He raised his hands in peace. “Easy, boy.”

“B-Buddy…” Tori coughed out, “Listen to him…help him get us home.”

Friedrich watched as Buddy looked at his master, then at him. A few tense moments later, the Arcanine laid down and nudged his hand. He sighed in relief “Alright then boy, let’s get you saddled up.” He quickly rushed over and helped Brock and Max up onto the dog’s back and then Tori.

“Tell him...Fairy Tail...take us to Fairy Tail.” Tori gasped, the adrenaline wearing off.

Friedrich nodded. He lowered his head to the dog’s ear. “Alright boy. Take us to Fairy Tail. Fast as you can, let’s go!”

Buddy let out a loud bark and raced away, leaving a fuming, still disoriented Dark General behind.

At the Guild

The guild was in its usual rowdy self. Drinks were served, jobs were discussed and fights were nearly started. Through all the noise, they could hear distant barks. Natsu, with his dragon hearing picked up on first. “Does anyone else hear barking?”

Happy with his hearing also heard it. “It sounds distressed. Maybe it's in pain?”

Drew paused his drinking as they listened to the noise. Ash picked up on it and turned to him. “You think that’s’...

“Buddy?” Drew finished slamming his drink down. His reaction got their friends to follow out of the guild.

Once outside, they saw Buddy slow to a halt and kneel down. The fact that there was a stranger riding him barely even registered to them as they caught sight of the other three.

“Buddy! What’s...TORI!?” Drew screamed as he saw her unconscious body.

“Oh my god! MAX!” May panicked seeing her brother

“No! Brock!” Ash cried out as he and Elfman lifted the younger man off the dog’s back.

“Get them to the infirmary!” Drew ordered carrying Tori in a bridal carry. They all rushed back into the guild as the guild broke out into panicked whispers.

Hours later

Drew and May hadn’t moved since they were told everyone was going to make it. Most of their friends watched them with concern. “How are they doing?” Erza asked Dawn.

“Whoever healed them knew what they were doing, thank goodness for that. Even so, the gashes in the clothes have me worried. The way they were cut…” Dawn wiped away a tear, her breathing becoming ragged. “We should have been preparing for a funeral.”

Off to the side, Lucy was paying attention to what Erza and Dawn were talking about and watching Drew and May with concern. Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked in. Erza wanted to stop her, but decided to watch what the Celestial Mage did.

Approaching Drew and sitting on a seat beside him, offering him silent comfort.

“You might not realize it, but Ash wasn’t the first Rider after me,” Drew began, his voice raspy with grief, “He was the third.” He looked down at Tori’s pale body. “Tori was the first. I remember that day, she was selling cookies door to door. I came up to the door while I was training and she saw me. Fainted almost dead away.” He chuckled morosely. “We’ve been through a lot. It was her that decided she would be a medic. Said something about having someone to return to. We’ve always taken care of each other; well, especially me to her, ‘because she gets sick a lot.” He stood up. “If we’re gonna fight whoever did this, then we need to know what they can do.”

“How?” Lucy asked. “All the wounds are all sealed up.”

“Yeah, but not the clothing. I asked Makarov not to destroy the clothes yet.” He grabbed the bag with the shredded clothes and piled them on a table. “All killers, fighters and weapons have a unique pattern to them.” He spread them out and took notice of the cuts. “Now do you see anything that stands out?”

Lucy stared at the clothes. Noticing where most of the cuts were, she gasped. “All of these cuts are around the stomach. And look at these on their shorts, they’re shredded.”

Drew hummed. “It means, whoever was attacking them, was going for max damage. Also look at the direction of the cuts and where the cuts stop.”

The blonde looked again and noticed that none of the cuts were above the heart, especially on Brock and Tori’s. “If someone wanted to kill them, why couldn’t they attack the neck area?”

Drew tapped his finger on the clothes. “Exactly. From the clothes and the direction of the cuts I can conclude several things. One, whoever this is had a grudge against them. Two they’re a sadist. Three, their choice of weapon has a serrated edge or something like it. Four, we’re dealing with someone short. Tori is one of the taller female Riders before Erza and Mira and she’s only 5’5. Yet most of these cuts are as if they were swinging up. And that also means we’re dealing with a woman. Most girls don’t get taller than say 5’7 or so”

“That’s some in-depth work you’ve done there,” drawled a man’s voice. Everyone looked around to see a brown-haired man seated at a table off to the side, leaning his head on a hand. “But did you ever consider asking the guy who came in with them, who ostensibly saved their asses?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Drew began, a questioning tone to his voice, “As for how I knew, thank CSI and Discovery Channel.”

The man smiled tightly, though it didn’t meet his blue and green eyes. “Of course ya did. Anyway, the name’s Friedrich Holmgardt, local Dopant wrecker apparently.”

“So _you’re_ the one we sent them to find!” Drew realized, “Wish we’d met under better circumstances.”

“Mm. Likewise. I’m guessing you’re the one those three said they were gonna talk to. We were gonna meet eventually, but then they ran into this woman…called herself a General. Mentioned some guy named Glenn? You probably know more than me beyond that.”

Drew rubbed his face, his mouth twisting in a grimace. “Damn it, Dawn Get everyone else in here!” He turned to Friedrich. “Are you sure she said Glenn?”

“Fairly sure, yeah. She said something about how these three shouldn’t have beaten him.”

“Then that means we’re dealing with someone _far_ more powerful than Dopants!” Drew replied as everyone else crowded into the room. “Where was she?””

“Last I saw her, she was trying to figure out up from down and trying not to puke. Not too far from the town I stayed at.”

Drew narrowed his eyes. “Got it.” He took a look at Tori’s pale body. “Get your gear! They hurt three of ours, we’re gonna pay them back tenfold,” he ordered, marching out of the room. Everyone else followed suit without a word of protest.

The guild was still in a state of quiet since the incident hours ago. That changed when those in the infirmary stormed out, looking apocalyptic in rage. Mira noticed this and frowned. “What’s going on?”

Misty paused and turned to her. “We’re going after the bastard who did this. Grab your gear, let’s go!”

“W-what!?” She took a step back in alarm.

“You’re a Rider now. That means there are certain things we have to do,” Misty told her, “Such defending our own. Go get your weapon and meet us outside!”

Mira bit her lip in nervousness. The redhead lost her serious demeanor. “Mira, I know you just got them, but we seriously need all the help we can get. You were an S-Class mage. Surely you can fight whoever we’re facing.”

The barmaid looked away in shame. She noticed underneath bar, her weapon, Gambol Shroud. Hardening her eyes, she grabbed it and held it up to her chest. Pulling out the blade, she asked. “Where are we going?”

Misty smiled and the two rushed to catch up with everyone else. Once outside, they saw Drew arguing with Buddy, with everyone else watching with a deadpan or in Friedrich’s case chuckling.

*WOOF!*

“No Buddy! You’re staying here!” Drew ordered.

*Grrr. BARK!*

“I don’t care, your job is to take care of your master! She needs you!

*Whine…Arf!*

“Buddy, just go see Tori!” Drew snapped.

“Why not let him go?” Friedrich chimed in, “He knows where this bitch is. Let him guide you.”

Drew sighed. “Fine.” He tossed Flygon’s ball over to Max, who released him. Buddy let out a happy bark and knelt down. The Fire Guardian hopped on and helped Gabby up. Glancing around he took note of who was on what. Ash had Misty and May with him on Starraptor. Max was riding with Grey and ill Gajeel on Flygon. Dawn was on Latias with Natsu and Lucy. Anabel was with Latios with Mira and Erza. He looked down at Friedrich. “Come on up and hang on tight”

The man nodded, leaping up to sit behind Gabby. Drew pulled out Leonid and thrust it forward. “LET’S GO!” Buddy let out a loud Bark and raced through town, the flying Pokémon right on his tail.

They shot through the air and across the ground at great speed, the landscape becoming a blur beneath them. Drew turned to shout at Friedrich. “Are we close?”

“Yeah, if we keep going this way, we’ll reach the clearing I left her in,” Friedrich replied. “You sure you’re in the right mindset to fight her?”

“Yeah, I can control it somewhat.” He glanced towards Starraptor. “I’m more worried about May. Tori being my girlfriend is one thing. Having a sibling be hurt like that will make anyone upset.”

“You think she would go off the handle?”

“She’s Ash’s girlfriend. Other than Anabel, all of them are impulsive to a degree.” Gabby pointed out.

“Greaaat…” sighed the man, “That’ll go real well against a Kamen Rider with bloodbending.”

“Bloodbending?”

He nodded. “Aye. She could manipulate blood. Threw some of her own at me and used what she drew from your friends to make these minions. No idea how strong or fast they’re supposed to be, since I took ‘em out right away.” He gritted his teeth. “That vertigo bomb will have worn off by now. If she figures out where the village is, she might attack it next…!”

“Roger!” Drew called out. A few moments later, Buddy skidded to a halt and growled. “She must be nearby, everyone dismount!” He ordered as he leapt of the dog. Everyone else landed and pulled out their weapons and their belts. “Friedrich, please stay back, this is our fight.”

“Hell no,” he responded immediately.

“Look, I appreciate that you helped our friends, but it’s our job to defeat this bitch!”

“Why?”

“When we defeat her, we’ll tell you. But not now,” said Drew, approaching the clearing that doom their comrades Tensely they spread out looking for their target.

As they scanned the woods, the object of their ire giggled. “Such easy prey. _These Riders don’t what they are dealing with!”_ She watch the Riders spread out and spotted Dawn. The girl’s thin body and pale skin made her salivate, the blood in her would be delicious. She raised her blades up and launched herself toward the blue haired girl. She grinned as she got closer to the girl’s neck.

*CLANG*

Her slash stopped abruptly, having struck a purple shield that had appeared in front of the medic. Hearing the loud noise reverberate through the area, Dawn turned and seeing her assailant quickly cartwheeled out of the fray. Undeterred, the General snapped her head towards Anabel who dropped her hand and pulled out her chakram. She grinned and charged at her the dancer ready for another move. She got halfway towards her when Natsu’s scream caught her ears. He slammed Urvan into the ground causing a fissure of rocks to speed towards her. She leaped out of the way and landed in a crouch, only to reflexively bring her blades up to block several shots. Drew was firing with his twin pistols, Osceola and Rengade, while Erza was firing rifle round from Milo and Mira was firing rapidly from Gambols pistol form. She charged the firing mages, only for Ash and Misty to leap in front and parry them. Scoffing the girl leaped back and the Riders set themselves up for a fight.

“So, _the Guardians aren’t all_ talk! Much better than _those weaklings from earlier!”_

May growled, only Ash’s hand on her shoulder keeping her from charging in. “Relax, we’ll get her!” he told her firmly. He glared at the General and pointed Raikou at her. “Who the heck are you?”

The girl giggled madly, something even the less Aura sensitive were picking up very quickly. “So glad _you asked.”_ She did a mock bow. “I am Yuzan, _General of the Shock Troops!_ And overall Blood Connoisseur!”

“Great...We have a mad hatter as an opponent.” Misty muttered.

“Mad? No No! _More like you’re all mad_ and I’m sane!” Yuzan chortled. “Warfare _causes soooo much bloodshed_ that I can dine for years! _But you bitches with your cow udders can go die in a ditch! ”_ She snapped pointed at the bustier figures of the Riders.

“I don’t think we came here for talk,” Drew told her reaching for his phone. “We came to avenge our comrades. Ready Guys!”

The Aura Riders had their buckles already on pulsing madly. Natsu, Grey and Gajeel summoned their rings. Lucy took her keys out and settled on Virgo’s key while her belt materialized. Erza snapped her bracelet on and spun her trinket her hand. Mira pulled out her buckle and held up to her face, her belt shimmering into existence.”

“Ooooh!” Yuzan said with glee. “ _You have your belts?_ What could I possibly do? _Alderaan!”_

At her call, a black and red mechanical bat suddenly darted from the trees. Her opponents ducked out of the way as Yuzan pointed at them, bat swooping down to hover over her shoulder. “It’s time _to show these tramps_ who they are dealing with!”

“Yes, mistress!” The bat hissed. She held out her arm, wrist level with its tiny fangs. **“GABU!”** It bit into her flesh, eyes flashing. A hypnotic whistle sounded as chains appeared around her waist, forming a black and red belt.

She moaned in delight as black veins travelled up her arms and covered her face. _“Nagare~!” (Flow)_

She turned the bat over and hooked its feet onto a small bar over her belt buckle, slamming it down flat. Her body lost its shape, dissolving into red before reforming into a black and red suit of armor. Her helmet had bat like wings, while flames decorated her torso. Across her legs and arms were silver metallic chains that acted like seals. Sealing what, the Riders didn’t know.

“Executioner of the Blood Moon: _Kamen Rider Antares!”_

Not sparing her a glance, the heroic Riders went into their own poses and activated their belts.

“HENSHIN!”

**COMPLETE**

**ORION**

**EVOLVE**

**FLAME, PLEASE! HI! HI! HI HI HI!**

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

**ARGO! SETTING SAIL!**

**AQUILLA! TAKE FLIGHT!**

**SUMMON: MAIDEN! PROTECT YOUR MASTER!**

Antares giggled as she saw her opposition suit up. _“_ So many meals.” She narrowed her eyes at Pleiades. _“You! You’re a Celestial Mage, aren’t you?!”_ Without warning, she suddenly sped towards the Spirit Rider with a mad gleam in her helmet’s eyes. Pleiades panicked and summoned her drills to cover her face.

*BZZZZZ!*

The Drills barely blocked the blades in time, the spinning weapons grinding against the force the attack.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Draco roared, firing several rounds from Urvan’s barrel. Antares took a shot into the shoulder and leaped away.

“Your Guardian can’t _protect you forever!”_ she taunted, her gaze locking.

** “HIGH JUMP KICK!” **

The Blood Knight was caught off guard by a jarring shot to her head, which sent her skidding back. Glancing up, she noticed Kusa staring her down.

“What have I... _OH Yeah..._ You’re the big sister of one of the earlier ones. _That boy’s blood tasted sooo goood!”_

Her patience finally exhausted, Kusa reared. “You’re dead, bitch!” She swung Mori wildly, sending it flailing madly all over the place. **“Frenzy Vine!”** The blade split into several slithering vines and snapped towards her opponent. A gleam appeared in the mad girl’s mask eyeing up the attack like an appetizer. In an instant the vines were cut to pieces, Mori knocked out of the Rider’s hand.

“You can join you brother _in the morgue!”_ screamed Antares, speeding closer. Kusa bent out of the way of the first swipe, landing in handstand to avoid the second swipe, before jumping up. At the same time, Kyokan leaped in the air and flung her two chakrams forward. Antares took one to her shoulder with only a minor flinch and knocked the other one away. “Stop moving around! _The Old Riders would have stood and fought!”_

“Welcome to the 21st century!” Zodiac called out, firing multiple bolts from Brave. Antares snarled as the shots damaged her armor and dropped her to her knees. Before she could retaliate, Aura and Triton were closing in on her, initiating a three way dance of death.

Off to the side, Fried stood behind a tree, observing the fight. _They really know what they’re doing._ He watched Aura and Triton clash blades and leap back. _Ash and Misty seem to work well together._ However, a frown creased forehead. _Why’re they holding back so much…? There’s mile-wide holes in their styles…_

Antares pumped her fists with a mechanical hiss, blood rushing into the syringe-like contraptions mounted on her inner forearms. “You really _are pissing me off!”_ she shouted, spraying her blood in an arc.

Friedrich watched with narrowed eyes. _Those blood soldiers again._ He turned to Drew, who was also watching them form, then turn to Misty to mutter something. _Good, but how else are you going to fight? I don’t know if you have the means to stop them from reforming. Weapons like that aren’t enough._

Zodiac narrowed his eyes at the creations as well. “Triton, they’re liquid right?” he muttered, keeping his gaze on them, “You think you can mimic what she’s trying to do?”

“I’ll try,” she muttered. She pointed Lugia at the forwards abominations and concentrated. The creatures’ flow distorted and started to ripple, Triton’s Aura slowly flowing into their opponents.

The Guardian could feel all of the liquids in their grotesque forms. _These things…how much blood is packed into them?! Where did they come from?!_ A shudder of revulsion raced down her spine and she gritted her teeth.

“So, the Water Guardian isn’t all hype. _But can you control the bloodlust?”_ Antares taunted.

Triton ignored her and pushed her power through her trident. The first group of soldiers groaned and burst into bloody splatters. Confident that it had worked, she focused on the group to her right next. However, as she gathered the power, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea and spasmed, grabbing her stomach, doubling over. Any more focus and it would become unbearable. She struggled for a few more moments before she sent out a pulse anyway, vaporizing half of them. She collapsed to her knees, panting from the sudden exertion.

“I tried...there was...too much...I couldn’t control it...I had to sever it!” she gasped, Kyokan and Hanabi racing to her side.

“First time Bloodbending?” asked the dark Rider, chuckling, _“You did well for a newbie,_ but it was forbidden for a reason. _It made the user go nuts if they couldn’t control their emotions.”_

“You did fine, Triton,” praised Zodiac, ignoring their opponent, “Lupus! Freeze them!”

 _“_ Hope they like brain freeze!” the Wolf Rider roared. He clapped his hands together before slamming the ground. **“Ice Make: Crystal Shards.”** Multiple shards of ices flung themselves throughout the battlefield and struck the charging blood soldiers. Though it appeared to do not do anything, the soldiers limbs stiffened as the chilling effects of the ice kicked in.

Friedrich nodded. _Now these guys know how to use their powers. But, they’re not experienced when it comes to fighting like this. Their teamwork with the others is not there. Forget what Grey and Natsu butting heads, if they can’t sync with the others the gap in their powers will grow more._

Antares growled seeing her creations slowed to a crawl. She snapped her fingers, dissolving them, before the blood flowed underneath the group, forming a red circle.

“Have a taste of _my **Blood Rite!”**_

“SCATTER!” Zodiac ordered. Everyone quickly leaped out of the glowing circle. The attack went off, the lack of damage making the vampiric Rider growl.

Aura noticed this and turned to Zodiac. “Once it’s placed, it can’t move. It has a delay before it goes off.”

“And it only affects people in the circle when it goes off.” Zodiac concluded. “That means we can’t stay clumped together.” He turned to the others. “Split up! She can’t pick us all off!”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” shouted Antares, _“Once I have a taste of your blood,_ I can track you for miles!”

Zodiac looked at his hand and saw a small gash on his finger. _Damn it, must have been during that clash. That weapon must have some sort of barb or is really sharp,_ he thought seriously. The rest of the Riders panicked as they checked their bodies for cuts Antares just laughed as she prepared her next move.

“Oh and just to make sure y _ou can’t just run away…!”_ Her eyes glowed ominously. The clearing was rocked by screams throughout the clearing. Several deep cuts appeared across everyone’s bodies, causing them to gush.

“Every nick _and cut I’ve dealt you_ gave me control of your blood. _By concentrating, I can open up wounds all over your body._ And if you move...It will only get worse. Right now, your energy _is draining._ Soon enough, you will be begging _for mercy._ ” She scooped up some of the squirting blood and licked it. “Now, time for your _final rites!”_

She summoned another blood circle, this one large enough to envelope the group.

“This is _goodbye!”_ Antares laughed, snapping her fingers. The circle exploded, covering the Riders in a bloody mist. The General cackled, “ _Finally those Riders are...history?”_ Her laughter trailed off when she noticed that there was no screaming. Brow furrowing, she swiped her hand and dispersed the mist, and to her astonishment, not only were the Riders still in their armored forms, but they were still standing, albeit flinching from being forced to defend themselves. All of them were surrounded by a glowing, skin-tight blue aura.

“What the-? _HOW?”_ She snarled.

“That would be me,” A familiar voice called out.

Antares snapped towards the voice and growled. “You! _How dare you deny me my prey again!?”_

Zodiac ignored her and turned to the man. “Not that we appreciate the save, but why hop in now Friedrich?”

Friedrich shrugged. “Well, for one thing, you looked like you had it handled, right up until you didn’t. For another, I was waiting to get more of a read on how she fights, while she apparently forgot I was here.” He blinked, noticing the continuing flow of blood. “Ah, hold on, don’t want you guys dying while I’m rambling.” He glanced down at his side and rubbed it, muttering, “So, you wanna…? No, of course not. Fine, I’ll just whip something up.”

A flat, crystalline wall flared up, screeching and chiming as Antares crashed into it. Friedrich only gave her a flat, unimpressed look. “Be patient, you’ll get your turn.”

He closed his eyes, brow furrowed in deep thought. The knife sheathed at his side began to glow, its form becoming indistinct. Finally, he nodded slowly. “Yeah…alright, that might work.” The green energy flowed out into his hand, coalescing as a small metal stake, which he chucked behind him. It bounced and rolled a little, then popped open, panels extending, to release a cloud of green mist.

Instantly, the various wounds closed, the blood slowly vanishing from their bodies. Aura looked at Friedrich, realization dawning on him. “It was you. Not only did you save our friends, but you healed them too?

“It was touch and go for a bit, but I wasn’t gonna let a pint-sized vampire-wannabe get off on their deaths.”

 _“WANNABE!?”_ Antares screeched, stabbing the ground in anger.

Friedrich squinted at her. “What, are you saying you _are_ a vampire? Well, I suppose Kamen Riders come in all sorts.” Blue flared around his hands, before crystallizing into a hard shell. “Well, either way… _round two, Bloody Mary.”_

“You think _you can beat me!?”_

“Last time, I was just trying to get their friends out,” Fried told her, clenching his fists. “Now, I don’t have any such concern.”

“You’ll be _begging for mercy,_ when I’m done with you,” she snapped pulling her blade from the ground.

“Ten years ago, I might have,” he admitted, shrugging, “But if nothing else, I like to think I’ve grown.”

Antares giggled. “Then I’ll have to _cut you back down to size!”_ She flashed forward, blood surging around her as she swung…

** “Command V.” **

The man shot out of her way, only for his armored hand to smash into her from the side with a crash, knocking her away.

“Shall we begin?”

(Begin Megalovania)

Antares stumbled, clutching her side with an irritated snarl. Then, without even looking, a burst of blood exploded from the ground at her feet, rushing at Friedrich’s face. He blurred away, letting it miss him by a mile, before punching her in the jaw heavily with a *thunk!* and sending her staggering.

Behind them, the Riders could only watch with a mixture of shock and awe as Friedrich tore into the General.

“This is absolutely insane!” Pleiades screamed in shock.

“I don’t think him taking down three Dopants is an exaggeration,” Aquilla muttered.

“Kick his ass!” Draco cheered.

Zodiac though was thinking of the consequences of this action. _If a man like this can be equal with this General, then our training is really lax. Hopefully, we can recruit him and help us improve._

The bat-like Rider thrust her hands up, more minions rising from the ground, and charged forward with a snarl, blade held before her. However, when Friedrich stepped aside, she didn’t bother attacking, instead continuing forward, diving towards the Riders with cry of, _“Gotcha!”_

Only for hard grip to close around her ankle, hauling her back with a jerk and a yelp. Without a word, Friedrich slung her around, hurling her through the air to smash into a tree. However, she twisted unnaturally in the air to land feet-first on it, cracking and splintering the bark. At the same time, her minions surged forward, roiling and bubbling and steaming, sharp spikes spearing from their surfaces.

“Good grief, I don’t get what’s the big deal about you blood benders. You take one liquid that’s important to everyone and suddenly you’re the queen of everything.”

The blue crystal forcefield instantly spread all over his body as he stood still, completely calm as the blood beasts swirled around him.

Hanabi and Kyokan watched him being surround in fear. They prepared to summon help as the beasts all piled on to him. Before they could even begin to chant, a blue light flashed and the beasts were sent flying, ghostly fists erupting from all over his body to punch through them.

“Hm...so even if it’s defensive, this magic doesn’t strictly need to form protective barriers before launching,” Friedrich muttered to himself, “Interesting.”

“You sure you’ve got time _to mess around?”_ hissed Antares. Suddenly, she stiffened, then crossed her blades in front of her, just in time for a large, transparent blue fist to smash headlong into her, knocking her back.

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” he told her, shrugging under his crystal shield, “No hostages I gotta save, no goon running to call for backup, no bomb on a timer…yeah.” He smirked. “This is _exactly_ the time to mess around.”

Another hand, this time open-palmed and the size of her whole body, slammed into her guard, shoving her back with great force. She snarled, pushing back, but she couldn’t stop herself from skidding backwards, carving furrows into the ground.

Triton could only facepalm. “Good lord, he’s worse when Aura and Zodiac get an advantage in a game.”

“At least we finish the job if we see it. We had that beaten into our head. We gloat, we get cocky and we lose badly,” Aura replied.

“The fact he feels he can stop and gloat, means his powers dwarf all our current levels.” Zodiac told them.

Not bothering to turn around, Friedrich raised his voice. “Well, you’re probably not wrong. But honestly, using my power is just fun.” He chuckled.

At the same time, Antares’s back slammed into a tree, the giant hand shifting its grip to pin her against the trunk, squeezing hard.

“Honestly, this barrier ring is so versatile I haven’t had the need to come up with anything else in a while,” he continued, holding up his hand, “Guess it just goes to show how good magic can be.”

With a strained growl, the vampiric Rider twisted her arm, bracing the edge against the ghostly hand, and hacked up through it, immediately freeing up her other arm to do the same. Instantly she pumped her arms, drawing forth more blood, which then flowed out over her weapons. Instantly it hardened into an outer coating, adding more spikes and barbs to the edge and coloring it an ugly rusted red.

“I can’t believe _I have to resort to this!”_ she snarled, snatching a bat shaped whistle off her hip. _“Alderaan, let’s end this!_

“Yes, mistress!” answered the bat, opening its mouth. Antares slid the whistle into the offered slot and slammed its mouth shut.

**WAKE! UP!**

An ominous tune began to play as the bat detached from the belt and flapped around her. The sky turned pitch black, with a blood red moon in the sky. The bat descended to her feet and using his wings, cracked the chains loose effortlessly. The chains fell apart, revealing a pair of black wings around her calf.

Even though he didn’t know what it was called, Zodiac recognized the signs of a finisher. “Friedrich!” The fighter glanced behind him. “That’s a Rider Kick or finisher! If you don’t do something she’s gonna do serious damage to you!”

“I figured as much,” muttered the man, watching as she kicked her leg high over her head, “Goddamn that’s impressive.” Then, pushing off with one leg, she leaped high into the air. _“Goddamn that’s even more impressive.”_

Antares hung upside down, her winged leg straight up in the air, silhouetted by the moon. The gem on her leg flashed, and blood exploded from her spread arms, swirling in an inverted vortex around her.

“Welp. That doesn’t look good.” Slowly, Friedrich turned and walked away from the other Riders, keeping an eye on his opponent. Sure enough, her distant figure turned to follow him. “Good…so she’s just focused on me.” He grabbed his ring and twisted it with a click and a flash of red. At the same time, the blood on the ground left behind by the minions suddenly surged up and flowed towards him, splitting into various streams that swirled around his arms. “Good thing she showed that off so much,” he commented, “I’ve already figured it out.” The blood coated his forearms thickly, darkening as it all condensed into those areas, then suddenly hardened, transforming into a crimson armor.

“What the? A Ditto Fighter?” Orion gasped.

“He can copy other attacks? What the heck is he!?” asked Cygnus, worried.

Ignoring them, Friedrich turned partially, bracing his feet as he pulled back his fist. A red aura roared into being behind him, in the shape of a large, demonic gauntlet. “Ah, what to call it…?” he muttered to himself in thought.

With a bat-like screech, Antares dropped, blood wreathing her foot as she shot down diagonally through the air towards him.

“Hm…that’ll do it. Jonathan Joestar, eat your heart out. **RED MOON OVERDRIVE!”**

He threw out a haymaker with a cry and a massive blast of fist-shaped red light exploded forth, streaking across the sky to meet the dive-kick. The two attacks clashed with a dull *BOOM*, creating a shockwave that knocked the other Riders back.

 _“A non-Rider like you can just butt out!”_ howled Antares, slowly pushing the blast back, “SO JUST DIE ALREADY!”

Taking a deep breath, Friedrich slowly, deliberately brought up his other fist, twisting it to pull back for another punch. As he did so, red light seeped from his ring to wrap around the limb. **“Red Moon…Renewal!”** he barked, driving it forward.

The massive blast of light _pulsed_ , expanding and firing forward again, the growth traveling at lightning speed along the attack until it met the dark boot struggling against it. Suddenly, the dark Rider found all the breath rushing from her lungs as the massive fist finally caused her leg to collapse and smashed into her body. Then it drove her back and up, up, up, until it finally dawned on her that she couldn’t see her quarry anymore. She shrieked in humiliation and fury as she was blasted away. “I’LL KILL YOU _NEXT TIME!”_ She shouted as she became a star on the horizon.

Shaking the crumbling chunks of blood from his arms, Friedrich chuckled. “We’ll be waiting for you.” He turned around and saw all the Riders looking at him in awe and respect.

Zodiac slowly approached him. “I don’t know what you did…but on behalf of everyone, thank you.”

His smile widened. “You’re welcome,” he said simply.

Everyone began to power down, revealing their human forms. Drew grinned. “You know, we could always use new members at Fairy Tail. What do you say, Dopant-killer?” He reached his hand out. “You ready to ride with us?”

Friedrich took it without hesitation. “Yes,” he replied seriously, “As long as that doesn’t become my nickname.”

Drew turned to the others. “Come on, let’s go home. All of us.”

As the group began to mount their rides, Friedrich looked to the sky. _If they are going to be the heroes they are meant to be...then I need to whip them into shape._

“Fried! You coming?” Drew called out.

The new guild member shook his head. “Hold your…Large Dog-thing, I’m coming. And its Friedrich!” He shouted, chasing after to Arcanine.

A new threat has appeared in Magnolia along with a new ally. How will this mysterious Friedrich Holmgardt affect the fights to come? Find out next time in Nakama United.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**UO: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. So now we have a brand new OC for this story. NS would you do the honors?**

**NS: With pleasure. For those of you who’ve actually paid attention to the pre-chapter ANs, you might be familiar with Friedrich Holmgardt. He’s more or less an SI of me, but also an OC. He’s also very, very overpowered. I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it. I ain’t gonna nerf him either. And he’s not going away anytime soon.**

**UO: He’s essentially my way of saying thanks for NS helping with my stories. He’s gonna be a crucial part of the story. Any beef you have you take with him not me.**

**NS: Aye. And I’ll eat it with great relish. Except not really, ‘cause relish is gross. Oh yeah, so, Friedrich’s got a story of his own, that won’t always overlap with our Riders (but most of the time it will). For the times it doesn’t, we’ve got a spiffy new (several months old now) spinoff fic! So, if you wanna know what the heck is up with Friedrich and where he came from, check out Journeys: Friedrich Holmgardt Gaiden, on UO’s author page.**

**UO: Anything in that story is canon to this.**

**Kuro: Well, at least it’s done. It’s pretty much been a long chase…suggestions taken and rejected and all.**

**NS: Yes, yes, not all of your suggestions were helpful, now quit whining about it. I had some of my stuff turned down and you don’t hear me complaining!**

**Kuro: No complaints intended. Just stating.**

**UO: I’m gonna do the preview before it gets ugly**

**Preview: As the new guild member settles in, he reveals his surprising origins, before showing the Riders that his powers are no fluke. Can the heroes learn from their experience?**

**Next time: Fight Like You Mean It! Friedrich’s Harsh Lesson.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ND OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. So now we have a brand new OC for this story. NS would you do the honors?
> 
> NS: With pleasure. For those of you who’ve actually paid attention to the pre-chapter ANs, you might be familiar with Friedrich Holmgardt. He’s more or less an SI of me, but also an OC. He’s also very, very overpowered. I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it. I ain’t gonna nerf him either. And he’s not going away anytime soon.
> 
> UO: He’s essentially my way of saying thanks for NS helping with my stories. He’s gonna be a crucial part of the story. Any beef you have you take with him not me.
> 
> NS: Aye. And I’ll eat it with great relish. Except not really, ‘cause relish is gross. Oh yeah, so, Friedrich’s got a story of his own, that won’t always overlap with our Riders (but most of the time it will). For the times it doesn’t, we’ve got a spiffy new (several months old now) spinoff fic! So, if you wanna know what the heck is up with Friedrich and where he came from, check out Journeys: Friedrich Holmgardt Gaiden, on UO’s author page.
> 
> UO: Anything in that story is canon to this.
> 
> Kuro: Well, at least it’s done. It’s pretty much been a long chase…suggestions taken and rejected and all.
> 
> NS: Yes, yes, not all of your suggestions were helpful, now quit whining about it. I had some of my stuff turned down and you don’t hear me complaining!
> 
> Kuro: No complaints intended. Just stating.
> 
> UO: I’m gonna do the preview before it gets ugly
> 
> Preview: As the new guild member settles in, he reveals his surprising origins, before showing the Riders that his powers are no fluke. Can the heroes learn from their experience?
> 
> Next time: Fight Like You Mean It! Friedrich’s Harsh Lesson.


	20. Fight Like You Mean It! Friedrich's Harsh Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friedrich Shows the Riders how much they need to train

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH
> 
> UO: Alright, now we’re into Part 2 of Friedrich’s Intro Arc.
> 
> Friedrich: The part where you guys get a reality check
> 
> Lucy: I thought we already did?
> 
> Friedrich: Nope! I got so, so many ideas for you.
> 
> Gabby: I took a look at future scripts…Um, you might want to get used to more action and used to less clothing than we have now.
> 
> Lucy: *Cries* Why me!?
> 
> Friedrich: The clothes part ain’t my fault.
> 
> UO: Not 100% that was NS either.
> 
> Drew: Yeah, that’s about the reaction I’d expect.
> 
> UO: OI! I know you weren’t complaining! And I also know most of you aren’t either.
> 
> Drew: I know! But I honestly don’t want this to turn into a smut fest!
> 
> UO: It won’t! Disclaimer please!
> 
> Natsu: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem don’t own us or Fairy Tail! Otherwise I’d kick your butts!
> 
> UO: Start the show!

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts_  
 _Inner to Outer_  
 **Belt/Dragonforce/Super mode  
Spell/Technique/Finisher**

Chapter 20: Fight Like You Mean It! Friedrich’s Harsh Lesson

August 15 X784, Early Morning

When we last left Fairy Tail and the Riders, they encountered their deadliest opponent to date: Yuzan. Using her armor Antares, she put Tori, Brock and Max in the infirmary, forcing all the Riders to deploy and face her. As they were overwhelmed, a mysterious fighter by the name Friedrich Holmgardt entered the fight. Using his powers, he drove her away and healed the downed Riders. What can this mysterious man bring?

“And there we go! Welcome to Fairy Tail!” Mira told Friedrich.

The young man gave a small smile, examining the tattoo that had been stamped onto the middle of his left, inner forearm. “Thanks. Never thought I’d be a part of this guild. You wouldn’t believe how many people where I come from imagine being a member.”

“Yeah?” Drew asked. “And where would this be?”

“You should know. After all, we’re from the same place,” Friedrich told him, smirking, “Aren’t we?”

This quieted the group, one question on their minds. _Is he for real?_

“Well, probably not the EXACT same place. I might’ve taken a detour before I came here, but ultimately we share the same origin point,” he rambled, brow furrowing slightly, “You get my point, though.”

“And how did you come to that conclusion?” Gabby asked.

Friedrich merely pointed at Tori. “I overheard you talking about how you wished you had GPS. No one in this world would even have an inkling on what that is, and wouldn’t bemoan its absence.”

Drew looked at Tori with a deadpan, who at least looked sheepish. “Really?”

“What? I didn’t think he heard us!” Tori defended.

Friedrich chuckled and turned back to Drew. “So, you’re all from Earth, or at least an Earth.”

“Not all of us.” Drew admitted. “Actually, as a home world, we’re in the minority.”

“Mn, that explains the pokémon,” grunted the man, completely unsurprised.

“Guess you deserve at least the story of why we are in the first place,” Drew sighed.

“That would be nice sure.”

Drew stood up. “So based on your name, Friedrich is German and Holmgardt is…definitely not Western European, definitely East of Berlin. So…Jewish or Orthodox?”

Friedrich shrugged. “Jewish, but that’s actually unrelated.”

“As a matter of fact, it _is_ , if you’re looking at an origin story. One that is completely wrong,” Gabby revealed.

He blinked. “…What are you going on about?”

Drew began to walk around. “Millions of years ago, long before our official records existed, there existed a Kingdom. One that contained vast wealth, culture and power.” He held up the Fire Ruby. “Lead by a Royal family and defended by the group called the Guardians, the Kingdom thrived. But a war completely tore it apart. In a last desperate attempt to save it, the last Princess split the Kingdom into many worlds and dimensions. The Guardians at the time of the fall scattered as well, taking with it these gems that I, Ash, Misty, Natsu and Lucy all have.”

Friedrich watched the four mentioned reveal the various colored gemstones, frowning thoughtfully and nodding slowly. “I see…So what about the whole Rider stuff?

“Getting there. So about five years ago, this Princess, Tsukihime, found me and told me about being a descendant of one of the Guardians. In the four years of training, I found two of my Knights, Gabby and Tori.”

“When our training was complete, Tsuki gave us our armors, and sent us into a world where we would find other Guardians.” Gabby continued.

“The pokémon world, I’m guessing?” realized Friedrich.

“Yes,” Tori replied, “We met Ash and his companions at the time, Misty, Brock, Max and May. Ash was the second Guardian awake and Misty was the third. Between the two, May found her gear when we defended her hometown. After that, it took until we were lost in the mountains near Cerulean to get Max his gear. Then Brock got his defending his hometown. We found Anabel on the run from her Battle Tower, and she got hers defending it. And Dawn found hers during her first contest. So as far as we can tell, it’s seven per team.”

Friedrich looked around and laid his eyes on Team Natsu. “I take it that you jumped here afterwards?”

“Not immediately,” Drew chimed in, “And we had no idea where Tsuki’s jumps would take us. But as far as we know, Natsu and his team are currently six strong with Mira and Gajeel just joining us. We have no idea where their seventh is, and I doubt Tsuki’s gonna reveal it.”

“So, she’s the one who lets you know who’s a Rider?”

Drew shrugged. “She comes to each individual Rider in a dream when they’re close to awakening them. But we have no idea who they are until they’re revealed. Otherwise we’d have done something with Gajeel.”

“Let it go, lion boy!” Gajeel growled.

“I was trying to see it from her perspective Gajeel, so just chill,” groaned Drew, “Anyway, that’s the cliff notes version, I can tell you more as move further along. But now, I believe it’s your turn.”

The man nodded. “Hm. Well, my story doesn’t go as far back as yours. Only ten years for me. Oh, by the way, could I get some water over here?”

Mira waved to show that she’d heard and started filling a glass.

“Right, so where to begin…I guess I can start with where I came from. I’m from a similar Earth to yours Drew, only…what year is it back home?”

“2005.”

“Right, so about decade ahead of yours.”

“Bullshit!” Natsu screamed, “You can’t have come from the future!”

“Time travel shouldn’t exist, there is too much that could go wrong,” Erza replied.

“First off, I _did_ come from the future, so clearly I could. Second, that sure sounds like quitter talk to me,” snarked Friedrich.

“So if you’re from 2015, who’s the president of the U.S?” Gabby asked.

“Ah…a guy named Barack Obama. Though we were beginning the run up to the next presidential election…” He shuddered. “Heard that Donald Trump was planning on running, but I don’t really follow that crap much.”

“Really? The real estate mogul?” Drew deadpanned. “More to the point, I believe you. Barack, not being racist, is not a white name. Also, I know every president we’ve had. Our current leader is George W. Bush, the son of our 41st president George H.W Bush.”

“What does a name have to do with anything?” Lucy asked confused.

“More than you think. When you come to our world, you’ll understand the…social structure and the stereotypes of our country,” Tori scratching her head, “A name can normally tell you where a person’s national or family origin is. Like the name Friedrich. It’s German for another name Frederick. Matter of fact, there was a couple of German Emperors named Friedrich.”

“See I knew paying attention in History class would help!” Drew said proudly. “Anyway, continue.”

“Oh, may I?” drawled Friedrich sarcastically, leaning his chin on a hand. “So yeah, I came from your world, circa 2015 or so. Thing is, one day, I ended up somewhere else. There was nothin’ building up to it, no one telling me I had a grand destiny beforehand, anything. I just…found myself there, in the body of another person.” He gestured down at himself. “This one, in fact. Friedrich Holmgardt is the name I found on his license and I figured, ‘huh, that’s a cool name,’ so I stuck with it.”

“What was this world?” May asked leaning over the table, clearly interested.

He blinked at her slowly, momentarily distracted by her cleavage, before shaking his head. “What was…oh, right. Sorry, mind wandered. Basically, it was another version of Earth, known locally as Earth Bet.”

“Bet? Like Beta?” Max asked, his ears perking up.

Friedrich grunted. “Eh. I mean, you’re not wrong, but more like the Hebrew letter Bet. Same basic placement, but different language. Earth Aleph is…well, I think it was supposed to be our world, but the two worlds split and changed around 1983.” He paused. “And no, it wasn’t because George Orwell’s book came true.”

“1983, anything interesting that year?” Ash asked Drew.

“Nothing comes to mind. Only things I can think of are more pop culture-based.”

“Either way,” continued the older man, “What changed for Bet was that Scion showed up. Ah, right, before I forget, I should mention that when I arrived there, it was 2011. I learned the rest of this by looking it up online.”

“Who’s Scion?” Dawn asked, “That name sounds like some sort of demon or something.”

His mouth thinned. “For the longest time, no one really knew,” he began, “He just showed up one day, floating over the Atlantic while some cruise ship passed by, all golden, glowing and naked. He’s more like an uber Superman. I mean…” He glanced ceiling-ward in thought. “Vaguely, at least. Anyway, I’ll get to that. So, he showed up for a bit, just emitting an aura of sadness according to the witnesses, then left. And I’m not just being dramatic either, he actually had an aura of emotion. Showed up a while later with a costume, started solving problems all around the world. Stopping natural disasters, getting cats out of trees, all that stuff.” He took a deep breath. “And in the meantime, people started to develop superpowers.”

“So wait…He came to the world like some mysterious superhero and then everyone started getting powers, like they were candy?” Misty frowned. “Even in the manga and comics the guys read, not everyone should be able to develop them. Either it’s innate or an accident.” She glanced at the mages. “We’re the only ones with powers like yours on Earth, magic as an ability is seen more in stage shows than actual abilities.”

“Oh, it wasn’t _entirely_ random,” said Friedrich, sagging in his seat, “Plenty of people had the potential for it; some sorta extra lobe in the brain called the Corona Pollentia. I think it was in a different place for each person. In order to actually gain a power, you had to undergo…” He sighed, deeply, looking tired. “Well, to call it a traumatic event is underselling it. Pushing you till you break and then more. The term for that is a ‘Trigger Event.’ The kind of power you got was sometimes based on the circumstances of your Trigger.”

“That’s a bit more like X-men,” Max replied. “But those were based on DNA, not from a cosmic being…at least one that wasn’t from Earth.”

“Wasn’t genetic,” he grunted, “Sure, the kid of a Cape- ah, that’s what we called the heroes and villains -would be more likely to get a power and would Trigger more easily, but it wasn’t…anyway, as you can probably guess, Scion was the impetus for powers showing up. Turns out he was an extra-dimensional alien being, and the powers? The Corona Pollentia and all that? They were pieces of him. Like, literal chunks of alien biotech _whatever_ hanging out in a separate world, and the Corona Pollentia is where it connected to the person. Scion was originally part of a pair, but his mate had a crash-landing and died, so he was pretty much left depressed with nothing to do…at least until he finally snapped and went into ‘fuck everything’ mode.”

“Something must have set him off. Anything come to mind?” asked Brock.

Friedrich shrugged. “Near as I can tell, eventually he realized that since his whole cycle thing that he was on Earth for was now defunct, he might as well go out with a bang. He blew up the UK.”

The mere fact a single being could wipe out a country Britain’s size in one shot, sent cold shivers down the Earth and Aura Riders’ backs.

“Is it that big?” Grey asked seeing their reaction.

“Compared to some countries it’s small.” Anabel told him. “But politically and militarily Britain, or the UK, has been on or near center stage for over 500 years. For a weapon or being to wipe out those three countries in one shot…that’s something we don’t even want to think about.”

“Aye…60 million…gone in a flash,” Friedrich morbidly replied. “That’s Three and a half times Fiore’s by the way.”

This caused Tori and Dawn to fall over in a near faint and almost every from Fairy Tail to feel ill at the thought. Friedrich sighed. “I wish I could say I didn’t anticipate that reaction, but you guys are taking it better than most. Honestly, that world was pretty terrible to begin with, and the Gold Morning was just something that had been building up for years. He…attacked and undid everything he helped save. By the time Capes were mobilized, 500 Million were killed and he was just getting started.” He held up 4 fingers. “Four Days, multiple countries ruined beyond recognition. The fatality count…was within the 8 digit mark.”

Drew had to sit down and try to reboot his brain. “Ten billion?! That’s more than our own. Please tell me this thing is dead!”

Friedrich looked at the Riders, noticing that they looked like they could keel over any second. “You can rest easy. He’s gone. Never gonna bother anyone again.”

The relief was palpable throughout the room. “Thank god,” sighed Drew doing a cross on his chest. “We already have one omnicidal army after our group, I don’t want to deal with someone who could kill us by blinking!”

“Oh yeah, you never told me about the people your facing, but I can get the details later. But yeah, after the Gold Morning, everyone had to evacuate and leave. Radioactivity, chemical disasters, people Triggering with extremely unstable powers…it was a real shitshow.”

“What about you?” asked Lucy, “You never told us what your role was?”

“Ah, right. Well, for the most part, I was just another Hero, fighting crime on the streets, Tinkering with technology light years ahead of anything modern, all that fun stuff, and I helped develop the weapon we killed Scion with.” Friedrich grimaced. “Thing is, even among other Capes I was a bit of an oddity, given that my powers were not derived from the same source as theirs.”

“What, like a computer or something?” Brock asked.

Friedrich blinked at him cluelessly. “…Huh?”

“There are shows in which computers grant different abilities and the like. What are you drawing yours from?”

He nodded slowly. “Well, each of my powers seems to have some sort of weird entity representing it, somewhere in my mind or body. I met them when I came to Earth Bet, and they told me that the original Friedrich Holmgardt and I made some sorta contract to get them. Definitely not something that other Capes have got.”

“What does this…deal do?” Misty asked.

“It’s pretty simple really,” he said, shrugging, “In exchange for those powers, I was given the responsibility to use them as I see fit. In addition, Friedrich Holmgardt’s memories before I possessed his body were erased, and if I knew anything about Earth Bet before I came there, I would forget that as well.”

“Must have been quite a deal. Trade off all memories for all sorts of crazy powers,” Ash pointed out.

Friedrich shrugged. “It beats whatever the guy was doing beforehand. I’m…about 99% sure that he was an assassin. Either way, I fought crime for ten years, then decided to…move on. Maybe find my way back to my original Earth.”

“You could always come back with us? I mean aside from the time difference, I don’t think much has changed other than maybe tech.” Gabby offered.

“That’d be nice,” he agreed easily, “But we’re not gonna get there if I have to bail you out every fight.”

“Are you calling us weak?” Natsu snapped. This had everyone on edge as they all got out of their seats.

“Natsu shut up!” Drew ordered, “Friedrich, while I don’t share the anger, I _would_ like to know your line of reasoning!”

Friedrich leaned forward. “Now, I’ve been fighting for a long time,” he began, “And I’ve seen a lot of super-powered people duking it out. Not a lot of them get any formal martial arts training, so you do have that over them. However, all of them knew how to exploit their powers to the fullest in order to make up for that lack of knowledge. I can tell that you’ve got some potent power to you, but you’re letting it sit on the side while you engage in close combat. I dunno how well that’s worked out in the past, but frankly?” His blue and green eyes narrowed. “It _pisses me off_ to see powers going to waste.”

“We haven’t exactly had the need to expand it. The fight against Yuzan showed its time to step up,” Drew defended, “But we aren’t exactly sure where to start. Plus,” he pointed towards Natsu, “We’ve had Four new Riders and missions in between their awakenings. We just got done with the Fantasia parade. We haven’t exactly had a chance to sit down and work out a plan.”

“I like that idea. However, not making an effort just because you don’t know where to start is pure bullshit!”

“We aren’t weak! I’m a goddamn Dragon Slayer!” Natsu roared, flames spewing. “You wanna a fight? Let’s go!”

Drew grabbed his muffler angrily. “Natsu, you damn idiot! You just walked right into his trap!”

“You’re right.” Friedrich smirked. “Of course, I wanted to see what you’re capable of if given the chance to fight properly, without having to worry about being harmed. So, me vs all of you. Since I already took the time to heal Max, Brock and Tori, they can stay out of it and relax for now.”

Drew groaned. “Fine.” He raised his voice to address the rest of the guild, all of whom were watching cautiously. “Riders only! The rest of you stay out of this!” He motioned to the mages, knowing they wanted to see this. He marched out the doors, shortly followed by everyone else. At the back of the line he grabbed Gabby’s shoulder and pulled her aside. “I don’t have confidence we can win this time,” he whispered to her, “When the battle starts, get out of sight and observe what he does.”

Gabby nodded and followed behind him, heading towards the training ground.

The Riders stood in a broad half-circle before Friedrich, shoulder to shoulder, while the older man watched them casually, one hand in his pocket. “Well? Bring out your armors,” he said, “Can’t see what’s lacking if you don’t give me your best effort.”

“Well you’re just gonna have to do the assessment without them,” Drew told him, “We don’t use our armors on our allies. Call it a moral rule.

Friedrich sighed in exasperation. “Good grief, that’s the first thing that’s got to go! You’re at your best with those armors, so bring them out or you’re gonna get your asses kicked! Well, more than you would normally.”

“Shut up! We don’t need our gear to kick your ass!” Natsu roared, charging at Friedrich.

The man’s only reaction was to deadpan. Then, faster than anyone could react, there was a faint swirl of blue and Natsu found himself swept off his feet, spinning helplessly through the air, before something smacked into him from the side. He grunted as he hurtled away to bounce and roll across the ground.

“Wanna bet?” asked Friedrich dismissively. He drew his hand from his pocket, ring glowing a rich blue.

“Tch…flamebrain was always such a hot head. Watch and learn,” taunted Grey. He hefted Tundra claw and fired multiple shots.

With a flick of his wrist, a faint shield flared up in front of Friedrich, handily bouncing the bullets without so much as a scratch. He only sighed, striding forward. “Well, can’t fault you on opening with bullets. When fighting an opponent, check right away to see what’ll work on them. In the first place, however, why would you use more than one shot on an ordinary human target? If they can block it, you’d need only one shot to see that. If they can’t, more than one shot is overkill.”

Grey growled and clasped his fists, ice forming around his hands. **“ICE MAKE-** Oof!” He tried to summon his magic, but Friedrich was much quicker, blurring across the distance between them to punch him in the stomach.

“If you must announce your spells, do it either during or after. And your casting leaves you extremely vulnerable!” lectured Friedrich. There bang and a flash of blue, and Grey was blasted away, soaring over everyone’s heads with a cry.

Drew growled. “Damn idiots! Everyone scatter, we need to rethink our plans!” he shouted, firing off several shots of fire.

Friedrich’s shield blocked them, but the distraction was enough for the group to separate. The fighter grinned as he focused one person particular. Dawn’s pink lolita outfit stuck out amongst the foliage even as she tried to leap into the branches. He blasted towards the girl, catching up in an instant. Just as she reached the next branch, he touched down on it in a crouch, directly in her face. “Ah!” She yelped, falling to the ground with a thud. Recovering her wits, she staggered to her feet, pulling out Sylveon to fight. “I’m not much of a fighter but I won’t back down!”

The man chuckled. “Trust me, I know you’re a supporter. But that makes you just as dangerous. “

With a cry, Dawn stabbed out strongly, only to flinch as he deftly caught it between two fingers. Instantly she pulled away, but her weapon refused to move, no matter how much she yanked at it. _H-how strong is this-?!_

“You’re wondering how strong I am, to hold you in place like this?” asked Friedrich mildly, “Well, lemme let you in on a little secret.” He let go of the slim blade, making Dawn’s eyes widen as her rapier still refused to budge. “I’m cheating.”

Before she could react, his hand closed around her hand, and for an instant, she thought she saw something black and red flicker out of the corner of her eye. “Hm…I see,” muttered the man, frowning, “So, it’s Light.”

Then she just _stopped._ Even her hair, swishing from the motions of trying to struggle away from him, froze in place. Friedrich released her, stepping around her motionless form and walking away without so much as a backwards glance. “Your power is really strong, but have you really done anything _besides_ healing…?” he pondered, almost to himself.

“Dawn!?” Ash called out, voice tinged with worry and shock. Without even looking, Friedrich smacked aside a sword strike, letting Ash rush to Dawn’s side. “Dawn, can you hear me?” Getting no response, he whirled around to face Friedrich, blade crackling with lightning. “What the heck did you do?!”

“Put her out of the game,” was his lackadaisical response, “It’ll wear off in a bit, but you’re not getting any help from her.”

The Aura master’s eyes widened. “This is one of your special abilities?”

Friedrich gave him a look of exasperation. “What do _you_ think? Anyway, Clockblocker’s a good classic. One touch and you’re out.”

Ash charged, his hand on gripped tight to Raikou’s hilt. Another forcefield flared up.

*CLANG*

Friedrich glanced interestedly at Raikou’s blade as it skittered off the energy plane and skipped past his face. “Huh. That’s a katana, and you’ve definitely got skills with Iaijutsu. But is that it? C’mon! Put some effort into it!”

Ash growled, trying to break through the barrier, increasing the power coursing through the blade. His sword sparked, lighting dancing across the metal. Fried smiled slightly. “That’s a bit more like it, but just running a current is only gonna work if you can make contact. Unless you can actually enhance the blade itself like that- spoilers: you can -that’s not gonna get through my shield.”

“Then how about we heat things up!?” Drew called out charging in with his sword igniting the blade mid swing.

Friedrich kicked Ash away and whirled around, a similar sword materializing in his hand in a flash of green light, clashing with Drew’s weapon. “Wait your turn!” he barked throwing him away. He looked back at Ash who looked ready to attack again. “You guys really need to plan your strategies better.”

Ash raised an eyebrow, which sent warning flags to the wayward traveler. Fried’s shield immediately expanded, wrapping around behind him as Drew came screaming in from his left, his right leg aiming for his face. The shield protected him, but suddenly the boy whipped out his gun and fired underneath at his legs, forcing him to jump back.

Before he could recover, Drew was on him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Time to go for a ride!” He lifted the larger man up and suplexed him into the dirt cracking the ground. Then he twisted his body and lifted him a second time before repeating the attack. On the third suplex, he lifted him up once more before grabbing his legs and slamming him back into the ground.

Knowing that there was no way Friedrich was dazed from that, he let go and leaped away, keeping his eyes on him while flipping his sword around.

Friedrich chuckled, crystalline forcefields shimmering along his face as he propped himself up. “Okay, so you have _some_ talent at close range. I’m gonna guess Lucy helped you there; that recovery was too quick to be on your own. So someone had to give you a boost.” He cracked his neck as he stood up, dusting off his coat.

“Could be,” Drew answered, “Just because you have the tricks, doesn’t mean you can have all the cards.”

Friedrich smirked. “Oh, but can’t I? Although, with two S class mages, I really _should_ take things a bit more seriously. Speaking of which, where are Erza and Mira?”

The answer to one of those question came as Erza crashed down from above with two swords in hand. Friedrich easily evaded the glowing twin slashes aimed for his chest by flipping backwards, glancing at the redhead as he recovered, only to shake his head in disbelief. She was wearing her Clear Heart armor, complete with sarashi and the red flame pants.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he deadpanned.

“I need to be at my strongest to defeat someone like you!” She shouted at him.

A massive spectral palm smashed into her, shoving her away with a squawk. “I don’t care how strong that makes you, _you don’t sacrifice your defense against a stronger opponent,”_ roared Friedrich, his face contorted in a snarl of frustration, _“ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE NOT FASTER FOR IT!”_

The hand burst with a flash, knocking her off her feet, before reforming into a dozen smaller fists and raining down on her.

Drew sighed to himself. “Even I know not to go all-out at first. Should’ve nipped that in the bud first.”

“Yeah,” Friedrich told him flatly, “You should’ve.” He ducked underneath another slash without even looking, before kicking behind him to catch Erza in the gut with his heel, driving the air from her lungs. “Seriously, you’ve got tons of different armor and weapons on hand, _so fucking_ **use** _them.”_

She hopped back for a moment, gritting her teeth as she tried to regain her breath, but said nothing.

The man twisted his sword, letting the light reflect off the blade as he contemplated his next move; he kept one eye on her, and the other partially on Drew. Suddenly, he sighed, making them both pause as he scratched his head. “Aaah, even in this case, I can’t find it in me to be properly flashy,” he complained, “Anything more impressive than these shields is more lethal than I wanna be. Hm, let’s see here…”

He twirled the broadsword in his hand idly, effortlessly deflecting a series of ice daggers from Grey.

While their opponent drifted off into his own thoughts, Drew looked over at Ash. “You got anything?”

Ash shook his head. “No, and Dawn’s still out.”

The Fire Guardian looked at the frozen girl. “What the heck happened to her?”

“He said something about how one touch means that we’re out. I don’t know how long it’d last.”

“Probably long enough that her influence will be negated,” Drew realized, “Damn it, we’re really not up to our potential.”

“What do we do now?” Lucy asked running up to him with Mira.

“No clue, but if your partners don’t get their heads out of their butts, I’m gonna have words with them! No offense Mira, Natsu and Erza are hotheads.”

Mira sadly sighed. “Sadly, you’re right.”

“On top of that, we’re essentially operating with 3 and half Riders down. Mira, you haven’t been one for long, and your magic just got unlocked.”

“Three?” Lucy asked confused. “Where’s Gabby?”

“Don’t worry about it. Right now, we just need to keep ourselves from slipping further out of line.”

Ash looked over to Friedrich and grimaced. “Um, easier said than done.

“Huh?” Drew asked intelligently. Seeing who was approaching the man, he groaned. “Oh, for god’s sake…” He turned to Ash. “Find Misty, I think Anabel and May are with her. We’re gonna need them. “

“Gah!” Dawn suddenly yelped, jumping back and grabbing her wrist, “Don’t grab me like tha- wait…huh? What happened!?” she looked around, having been facing away from the group.

“So glad you’re okay!”

“What happened? One second Fried was in front of me, the next Erza’s down on the ground!”

“Long story short, you got taken out early by one of his abilities,” Drew told her, “Now we need you back in the game.”

Dawn nodded and followed behind Ash. Meanwhile, Gajeel and Natsu were now charging at Friedrich, shouting out their battle cries.

“Back for Round Two, bastard!” Natsu roared, swinging Urvan down.

*BOOM*

The axe-head bit into the ground, splitting a fissure that raced towards Friedrich.

Friedrich blinked, shaken from his thoughts, and smirked. “Earth? That’s a bit more like it, branching out beyond fire! But this is seriously unrefined.” He easily sidestepped the fissure. “Did you even _try_ to learn anything else with Earth?”

“I’m a damn Dragon Slayer! I don’t need anything else to kick your ass!”

The smile vanished from his face. “That is seriously flawed and your magic is too wild!

“Oi! Salamander! Watch where you're going! You almost hit me!” shouted Gajeel indignantly.

“I’m trying to hit him and you got in the way!”

“You’re not doing a great job! Watch this! **Iron Dragon’s Club!”** Gajeel thrust his arm forward, a long black metal pole rocketing from his hand.

“You’re not taking away my chance!” spat Natsu, leaping ahead and hefting his axe for another blow. The blade burst into flames as he swung. **“FIRE DRAGON’S SMASH!”** He flipped around to build up momentum and descended rapidly.

Friedrich’s hands flashed into his coat and emerged with a set of nails and slipped them between his fingers. Urvan’s burning, crescent blade struck the top-most nail…and stopped dead in its tracks. Natsu grunted in surprise, feeling the tremendous jolt along his arm, and immediately leaped back.

“Your reflexes and instincts are good, at least,” grunted the older man. He let go of the nail he’d blocked with and lowered his hand, leaving the spike suspended in the air, “But there’s a reason that humans are better thinkers than beasts.”

“What the hell? What did you do? And how the heck is that thing frozen?” Natsu growled, “I didn’t even scratch it! The hell’s it made of?”

Their opponent shrugged. “Just iron.”

Gajeel guffawed, sauntering forward. “Well, if you’re gonna leave out a free snack, don’t mind if I do!” He reached out to grab the nail, grunting in annoyance when it refused to budge, shrugged and lunged upward to bite it. “GAAAAAAH!” he recoiled, hand clasped to his mouth. The nail remained fixed in the air, whole and unbitten.

“Fun fact: until the effect wears off, you’ve got a better shot at breaking the universe in half,” Friedrich muttered, shaking his head, “Or your teeth. Whichever comes first.”

The two launched themselves at him with angry roars, swinging with all their might. _“You can’t block forever!”_ bellowed Natsu.

Friedrich’s eye twitched as he placed nail after nail in each attack’s path and completely stopped them in their tracks. “That is stupid,” he told them flatly, “A battle of attrition is only viable if your opponent is similar to you.”

Suddenly, a cloud of black billowed forth, obscuring both Natsu and Gajeel and cutting their cries of surprise short.

Natsu quickly ignited a fireball in his hand, but there was nothing to see. The darkness around him was so deep that even his flames looked dim. He growled, but beyond the vibration of his throat, he couldn’t hear it.

A hand grasped his shoulder and he whirled around, hurling a wicked flaming haymaker into whoever had grabbed him. He grinned, feeling his fist connect solidly with living flesh, only for a counterblow to nail him just as hard in the jaw. He _roared,_ releasing the flames in him, just as a torrent of wind and metal sliced at him in return…

Friedrich stood outside the cloud of darkness, peering in, head cocked, as if he could see what was going on. “Heh, too easy. Thanks for the power boost. Hm…Earth and Lightning? Interesting, didn’t think I’d get that from Gajeel. Hm?” He squinted at Natsu. “No kidding? So a Guardian’s power is much more potent than a Knight. Makes sense, they _are_ supposed to be stronger. These guys are more interesting than I thought.” A pair of thuds caught his attention and he shook his head. “Idiots, both of them. Well, words sure as hell won’t work on ‘em.”

He stepped back, turning away nonchalantly, before looking up and stopping. “Well now, we’ve got people who know what they’re doing.” In front of him was Misty, May and Anabel with their weapons drawn. Behind them, Dawn’s eyes glowed pink with powerful energy. “Alright ladies, show me what ya got!”

Not even hesitated, May swiped her sword in front of her. **“RAZOR LEAF!”** A storm of sharpened leaves appeared in the sword’s wake and fired towards the man, whirling like shuriken. His barrier flared up again, only for Misty to launch forward, spinning like a drill towards him.

“Not bad. But a Gurren Lagann rip-off isn’t gonna beat me!” Suddenly he was beside her, grabbing her elbow. He swung her up over his head, making her arms and legs flail as her stance broke, then _slammed_ her into the ground.

 **“Metal Burst!”** He turned his head to see a silver beam of energy slam into his barrier with an echoing sound, the energy field absorbing most of it, followed by Anabel cartwheeling towards him. He shot towards the empath, sword flashing in the sun, even as her chakrams curved downward to strike from above.

She leaped out of the way and caught her chakrams in midair and slashing downward. The shield repulsed her thrust but she used the kickback to flip back to her friends. She rushed over and helped Misty up who looked like she had been hit by a truck.

“Oh? A dance fighter? Haven’t fought someone like you in a while,” Friedrich commented, smiling. Glancing at May and noticing her footwork, he corrected himself, “Make that two. Well now, if we weren’t fighting I might like to see some more of that.”

“A-aren’t there martial artists where you come from?” Misty asked, standing up woozily.

He squinted at her, brow furrowed as he examined her. “…When you have superpowers that can manifest in any fashion, Capes that exclusively fight with martial arts aren't common,” Friedrich explained finally, “However, there are various agility-based Capes. In fact one of them reminds me of Anabel here.

“Interesting, I’m sure you have stories to tell us,” May replied, slipping into a fluid fighting stance, “But now, it’s our turn take a shot. Dawn, juice us up!”

“Got it! **QUIVER DANCE!”** She pointed her sword at the three and the blade pulsed green, a buzzing sound filling area.

The three fighters glowed briefly before Misty raised her hand. **“Hydro Pump!”**

A torrent of water gushed in a thick pillar towards their opponent.

His eyes narrowed as he twisted his ring, the ornament flashing red. With a grunt, he swung his sword, a red, crescent-shaped wave trailing behind the blade. The water parted like the Red Sea as the glowing attack slashed through it, spraying droplets everywhere, and raced towards the redhead. She didn’t have any time to react, only scream as the flying slash cut into her like a razor blade, tearing through her left shoulder and side, all the way down to her stomach, and out the other side. She was sent flying backwards, her trident flying away she slid on the ground.

“MISTY!” May screamed

“Are you alright!?” Anabel panicked.

Dawn rushed over to the fallen guardian and quickly examined her. The attack had shredded through her top, leaving her green lace bra exposed to the air. In addition, her stomach bore a glowing red mark across her stomach. Seeing how serious the wound could have been, the blue haired girl snapped to Friedrich. “What the heck Fried? You could have killed her!”

“No I wouldn’t,” he said, deadpanning, “Take a closer look, why don’t you? She’s not even injured.”

The medic glanced down to see that in spite of the redness, there was no open wound.

Ash had rushed over as Dawn had screamed. Seeing her topless state, he quickly took his shirt off and gave it to Misty. The redhead blushed in embarrassment as she took it, leaving the young man in his undershirt.

“T-thanks,” she said exhaustedly, “Damn it, that attack really hurt.”

“Would’ve been worse if I hadn’t come up with a new magic beforehand,” revealed Friedrich, “Basically, nothing I do is going to directly harm your bodies, only leave marks like that and sap your stamina until you pass out.” Glancing at May and Anabel, he could see their angry looks. “I’d calm down, you two. Wild anger leads to mistakes.

“We’ll show you angry!” May shouted. “ **OVERHEAT!”** An aura of fire blazed up around her, darkening her skin and making her eyes glow. She took a deep breath, allowing the power to flow into her mouth, then leaned back and unleashed super-hot flames their opponent.

Friedrich sighed exasperatedly. “Oi! I thought you were a Wood mage. What the hell?” His ring flashed blue and his shield came up to block the blast. However, the force of the attack still pushed the barrier back, forcing him to steady it with one hand, digging his heel into the ground, eyes widening. _Is this the power of a Knight when they are motivated? If that’s the case, then these Guardians have way more power than I realized. All the more reason to get them to realize their potential._ The flames eventually dissipated, revealing Anabel charging in with her fist glowing brightly. With a loud cry she landed a punch squarely in the middle of Friedrich’s barrier, causing him to skid back.

“Okay, now you’ve got me intrigued, so what’s going on?” he asked recovering from the blow.

“You pointed it out yourself, we’re pokémon trainers. As Aura trainees, we use pokémon abilities in addition to our own skills. They bleed into our bodies as we use them. Just because we’re the Knights of our respective elements, doesn’t mean we can’t stick to the same typings.”

Friedrich nodded, smiling in approval. “Yeah, _you_ guys get it. You can’t just rely on your close-range skills, you’ve gotta expand. But your usage is still stiff, calling out specific attacks and using them in just one way…” He took a breath. “Listen up, I already said that most Capes weren’t anywhere near as good at martial arts as you guys. Let me guess: you wanted to train your bodies in case your powers failed?”

“That’s our biggest concern,” May confirmed. She glanced at Dawn who was helping Misty up. “The few times we got caught like that, we got seriously hurt. Our armors got disabled and then…we’re lucky Dawn and Tori aren’t in wheelchairs.”

“Even so, that line of reasoning only works to a point,” he pointed out, “If you focus too much on your body, your powers will go untapped. You’re relying on your normal skills more than you should, against opponents that would render such skills moot to begin with. Back to my point with Capes, though: there’s not a single Parahuman on Earth Bet who can’t leverage their power into a fight. Once they Trigger, they practice as much as they can, in order to learn every facet of their abilities that they can, in order to take on any opponent as best as they can, because for the most part? Like you, most Parahumans still have human bodies, even with their powers, meaning that they’re still vulnerable to the powers of others. If you rely solely on ordinary human means, then you will very quickly hit the limits of those methods and be as helpless as ordinary people against your foes.”

“Then what do you suggest? You’re suggesting we can go beyond what should be possible?” Anabel asked.

“Who knows. This Tsuki or this Kingdom apparently didn’t have a lot of creativity. But I know all of you have too much to use. If you want to avoid the same fate as them, then you gotta start doing things differently.” He scratched his cheek for a moment. “Hm…you know, before I ended up in this body, apparently he had two powers of his own.”

“What do you mean?” May asked clenching her sword.

He squinted at her. “I mean exactly what I said. There are two powers that are native to his body, even before I underwent the ‘deal.’” He lifted his sword, just as a wave of darkness passed over it, tinting the gleaming steel. “The first is that I can make objects that I touch heavier or lighter. Inanimate only, but that’s more than enough.” He swung the blade experimentally. “Hm…guess you can’t tell, but I’d say this is about, what, five times heavier?”

“And you can lift it like a Machamp,” Anabel finished.

“You can say that. Now, don’t get me wrong ladies, but you probably aren’t the heaviest people in the world.”

“Yeah? What’s your point?” May asked.

“That’s kind of telling me you're not the tankiest people. Which means if you get hit by this…It’s gonna hurt badly. Now, as people with supernatural abilities, what should your response to this be?” He drew back his sword, keeping it pointed forward and parallel with the ground.

“Our response is to play keep away.” Anabel told them, leaping into the air.

“Good call if that wasn’t the only ability I got from this body,” Friedrich reminded them idly.

Ash perked up, feeling something in the air changing. He saw…something warping and shimmering slightly, in the air. “Look out!” he called, but he was too late.

** “Command V: Saturn Scramble!” **

In a blink of an eye, there was a flash of light on steel as it carved a lightning-fast arc through the air. It was joined by another, and another, and still more as Friedrich hacked and slashed at the girls with relentless ferocity, easily deflecting their weapons, ducking past their counters and cutting clean through them. Of course, the blows left only glowing red marks, but their clothes didn’t fare so well, leaving their tops shredded. In May’s case, because she didn’t like wearing a bra with her current outfit, she was completely topless thanks to the attack. “What the heck was that?” Ash demanded, helping Anabel sit up. Seeing their state of undress, he grabbed his cloak and tossed it to May,

“A railgun,” Drew muttered, walking up to him and tossing his cloak over to Anabel, “An experimental weapon using physical objects launched at near the speed of sound, using the force generated by an electromagnetic field to deal massive damage. Damn, we’ve been played like a fiddle.”

“What’s the plan?” the Lightning Guardian asked.

Drew stared at Friedrich, who caught his eye and waved to him to come at him. “Get everyone out. This battle’s a no-win situation.”

Ash sighed. “You’re right. Doubt Natsu’s gonna take this well.”

“Don’t care what he thinks, right now he’s at the top of my pissed off list!” Drew told him, “Just get everyone out, I want to test my strength.”

Ash nodded and helped Anabel to her feet. Casually, Drew strolled up to Friedrich while summoning Leonid. “Now the big boss is coming into play,” Friedrich said with a smirk, “I wonder what you’re gonna bring…”

Drew chuckled darkly. “Considering we’re in a situation where we can’t win, may as well show off before we figure out what we need to do to get better.”

“Admitting defeat? Guess you saw the writing on the wall.” Friedrich conceded, “I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll oblige. When you’re ready.”

“Just one question. What’s with the clothing damage?”

“When you try to be non-lethal with power on par with the guild master, it tends to have a drawback. That and I just came up with that magic, so there’s gonna be a bug or two.” He shrugged. “It does its job, so I’m not fussed.”

Drew glanced behind him. “Well, considering what some of the girls wear, I guess that’s to be expected. Enough talk.” He swung his sword and pointed at Friedrich. “As a certain King of Games said, it’s time to Duel!” He charged at the man, who merely raised his sword to defend himself. The resulting impact created a shockwave that fractured the ground around them.

“Damn, didn’t realize you had _this_ much power behind you,” commented Friedrich, pressing down on his own blade.

“I’ve got four years on everyone save Gabby and Tori. I learned a few more tricks than they did and have been waiting for way to learn what I know.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Like what? And if you had these tricks, why didn’t you teach them?”

Drew didn’t answer. Instead he reared his right foot back and struck the ground with the toe of his shoes. The impact conjured a wall of flames that forced Friedrich back.

“You think I don’t know that they are lacking? Until now, I didn’t know what else to teach. I honestly don’t know where to go from here. Some of us get it and others don’t. Plus, we just literally got five riders in the space of three weeks!”

“Even so, you must try,” he answered, voiced raised over the roar of the flames, “Talk to each other about what you can do and see if you can come up with anything together.”

“Trust me, when this is done, there will be more than a few talks.” Using the momentary distraction, he pulled out Brave and quickly fired off a full clip of six shots from the revolver…...

The only warning for what came next was a small flash of light. In the blink of an eye, Friedrich’s sword dissolved into green light and reformed instantly into a pistol. He quickly pulled the trigger, matching Drew shot for shot. The first bullet struck the first one, ricocheting off it to hit the second one, then the third and so on, until finally it breezed past the boy’s cheek, stinging it slightly and making him flinch.

Meanwhile, hidden in the tree line, Gabby flinched and squeaked as one of Drew’s deflected bullets drilled into the bark of the tree she crouched behind.

“Jesus Christ! That was way too close!” she hissed to herself, trying to get her heart rate down. She looked at the notepad in her lap. Other than some bark from the impact site, it wasn’t damaged.

Drew didn’t show it, but he was extremely worried where the shots had gone, in particular the one that had grazed his cheek. Friedrich however smirked, seeing right through his mask. “You’re not that good at hiding your emotions. That shot landed near someone I can’t see.”

“Not telling, but it appears I’m out of options. May as well use my last attack I can do without hurting myself more.” Drew planted Leonid in the ground and held his hands out. Two orbs of fiery energy appeared in his palms and he began to pour his energy into them.

Friedrich raised an eyebrow. “Oi, I don’t think ripping off Goku will impress…me?” He trailed off as the two orbs got bigger, then Drew slammed them together to create a much larger orb. “Okay, that is a bit more impressive.” He narrowed his eyes. “But you’re taking too long to charge it up. Leaving you wide open!” He blinked towards the charging Guardian, gun transforming back into a sword. He appeared on his right, poised to strike him in the chest, when to his surprise, Drew split the spell back into two and fired one right at Friedrich’s face

*BOOOM*

A large plume of smoke erupted from the point of impact. The blast shook the ground, causing everyone to brace themselves.

Drew threw himself back instinctively, just as a metal hand lashed out, just barely grazing his chest. However, even that light blow wounded him, sending him sprawling across the ground. “D-damn!” he muttered, “I thought that you’d be vulnerable when you switched away from the blue shield…”

 **“Well, you’re not wrong,”** agreed Friedrich. Now, his voice carried a hard metallic tinge to it, **“Unfortunately for you, I was able to call up a particularly tough Cape’s power.”** The man strolled out of the dust, rolling his shoulders. This time, under his clothes, his flesh had turned to solid metal, which nonetheless continued to move organically.

“Okay, you’re seriously in the BS territory,” groaned the boy, “No way you could have come with that on the fly. And you’re talking to the guy who sees Indiana Jones regularly.”

The older man shrugged. “ **Maybe, maybe not. There’s another rather broad power I got from my ‘contract,’ not from this body.”**

“…...Yeah?” asked Drew in trepidation.

Friedrich grinned, showing that his teeth had turned to sharpened steel. **“I’m _very_ good at fighting.”** A magic circle appeared around his wrist. **“Oh, and here’s a little something I picked up while fighting a Dopant. Metal Make Body: Buzzsaw!”**

Instantly his hand flattened and spread out, a pivot forming at the center, while the rest expanded into a flat, metal disk, lined with wickedly sharp teeth. For good measure it began spinning with a sinister whine.

“Great…...giant buzz saw, what else could happen?”

As if to mock him, an aura of red flashed around that whirling edge. Aura he immediately recognized. “God damn it, you’ve been hijacking our powers.”

Friedrich squinted at him; an expression that Drew was starting to suspect meant, ‘are you stupid?’ **“No, that’s from my ring. But since you reminded me…”** The saw then burst into flames. **“Fire Dragon’s Slow Cut.”**

Natsu, who had finally woken up saw this and snarled. “You bastard! How dare you steal my magic!”

“Natsu! Shut up!” Drew ordered. “Fried what the heck man?”

 **“It’s not stealing, it’s _copying,”_** groaned the man, rolling his metal eyes, **“If I had a dollar for every single time someone mixed the two up, I would be the world’s most annoyed rich man.”**

“Great, I didn’t think it could go that far. Had a feeling you were doing something like that.”

**“Oh? How could you tell?”**

“When I saw you attack Dawn, you were muttering something about her attribute. We never told you which elements we had. So either you’re looking a few seconds ahead, or you’re doing something that is copying their powers,” Drew deduced.

 **“So you noticed that. Yes, I’ve been copying your abilities since this battle began,”** Friedrich confirmed.

“Any particular reason? Or are you just curious about our powers?”

He shrugged. **“I enjoy using my powers. I enjoy being able to do things with them. If I have an opportunity to expand my bag of tricks, I’m going to take it.”**

Drew sighed. “And this is why we hate Ditto Fighters. Don’t get me wrong Max does a good job, but they are extremely annoying.”

**“Well, the copycats have their uses. Also, you really shouldn’t be talking with someone out of our league!”**

Friedrich swung his arm, releasing a ring of red flames from the saw to hover beside him. Over and over he swung the whirling blades, building up a storm of rings.

**“Let’s see how you handle this. Metal Make Exodus: Saturn Assault!”**

The floating rings glowed and zoomed forward, whirling at near supersonic speeds. Drew stood defiant, hands clenched around his sword. As the first ring approached, he took a deep breath and swung mightily, splitting the first ring in half. His arm became a blur as he slashed at two more, trying to keep up with the barrage. While his reflexes were amazing, the speed and number of the rings flung at him was starting to become too much, allowing some to slice into his chest and shoulder, burning the clothing around the cuts.

Off to the side, Lucy stood agape as Drew deflected the various blows. “Whoa…...this is amazing. How strong is he?”

“It’s not that he’s stronger than Friedrich at the moment,” Ash revealed from next to her, “He trains regularly with me, so dealing with speed users is almost second nature at this point. What he’s doing is picking and choosing which ones to dodge, which ones he can deflect and if need be take the hit.”

Lucy turned back to see that indeed, Drew had taken a few hits, but unlike everyone else who’d fought Friedrich, he was still standing. “How strong is he?”

“The mere fact that he can still fight despite the damage he’s at is proof he’s much stronger than he appears,” Mira observed.

“Can’t he just dodge?”

Ash shook his head. “No. He’s strong for attack and defense. But he gives up his speed, almost opposite me in a way. Only Brock and Tori are slower, and Gabby’s about neutral with him. Even if he had the means to dodge these attacks, there’s no way he could avoid them all with the number shots and speed of the attack.

On the battlefield, the barrage had tapered off, leaving the ground around the Guardian scorched and torn up. Friedrich lowered his hands and smirked. **“Okay. Got to give you credit. You're definitely a tough son of a bitch.”**

Across from him Drew stood, panting slightly and parts of his shirt torn up. But he kept his sword raised, ready for more. “Speed can only get you so far. I’ve taken a lot worse.”

 **“Not true. With enough speed, anything is possible. But then again, I’m not going 100%. But I think it’s time for you to show where you’re incredibly lacking.”** The light glinting off his metal body began to intensify. **“This is from your medic! Solar Flare!”**

Everything vanished in a blinding ball of light. Drew hissed in pain as he covered his eyes from the attack. “I know that trick Friedrich, in fact I’ve used it! You think I don’t watch Dragon Ball!?”

 **“Never said you didn’t. You forget, we’re from the same world. DBZ is still regarded as a gateway anime in 2016,”** Friedrich told him, **“Though personally I prefer the Abridged version. Now then, what else should I use…?**

Ignoring that last part, Drew clenched his sword tighter. “If you think you can defeat me using my friend’s powers, you’re gonna have to try way harder than that.”

**“Agreed. Now let’s see…...Ah! How about something from Misty. You know your elemental weakness?”**

Drew growled and charged at him. However, completely blindsiding him, a stream of water came rushing in from the side and slammed into him, knocking him off-balance.

 **“That's just a portion of what Misty can accomplish with her full potential; taking the moisture in the air and ‘multiplying’ it, temporarily creating new matter. She had the right idea, but her power is being stunted badly.”** He noticed Drew getting up, shaking excess water off his arms. **“Hm. You’re _really_ hard to put down.”**

“Like I said, I’ve taken worse. Natsu may be an idiot, but he’s not exactly a guy to give up without a fight!” Drew said panting.

Friedrich cocked his head. **“…...What’s Natsu got to do with that?”** he asked confusedly.

“If he ain’t given up, neither will I. Rule number 2 of us Riders: You don’t give up without a fight.” He pointed his sword at Friedrich. “Despite the situation, I’m still standing!”

 **“Okay,”** said his opponent simply, shrugging. **“Well I like your tenacity, if nothing else. Most people would be begging for mercy at this point.”**

“So what? If I begged for mercy I wouldn’t be fit to lead. If I run, who will protect my friends? If I turn my back, then I shame myself and my friends. I rather die on my feet, then be under the heel of my opponent!”

Friedrich stared at Drew and for a moment, he didn’t see the boy he was fighting. Rather it was a much older man. A rather regal looking figure that stared him down, with a large lion behind him. There was a metallic grinding as his teeth rubbed together, startling him at the involuntary reaction. **“Hm…Cliche, but admirable, I guess.”** His eyes narrowed. **“So why am I annoyed?”** Not waiting for answer, he drew himself upright and lifted his hand skyward. **“Best not to dwell on feelings like that, lest they fester. Let’s just forget about it and end it.”** He gave a surprisingly savage leer. **“I bet you know what’s coming next…!”**

“Using my own abilities and one of yours, right?”

A sphere of flames grew into existence in his hand, swirling and glowing a bright orange.

 **“Got that right!”** Friedrich replied, smirking, “ **Now, this is from a Cape named Sundancer! She could create a miniature sun that she could move around at will. Well, I'm just gonna tone it down this time.”** Even as he spoke, the orb suddenly expanded dramatically, until it was larger than him, making everyone watching flinch at the heat being given off. **“…...Not. I’m gonna end this in the most ridiculously over the top, flashy way possible.”**

Drew watched as the orb grew in size. He looked down at Leonid. “I know this is bad, old friend. Let’s see if we can’t mitigate the damage.”

A ring of runes appeared around the miniature star, spinning rapidly and causing a shift in the ball of burning plasma. Friedrich’s smile vanished. **“Command V: Accel Nova.”**

There was almost a _scream_ as the flames surged, the orb growing even larger and churning even faster. The flames themselves, meanwhile, deepened to a bright blue, with a corona of orange spinning off of it.

Then, without a word, only a grunt of effort, he _hurled_ it at Drew, sending it hurtling across the ground, carving a glowing, burning trench through the earth and setting the nearby grass ablaze.

*BOOOOOM*

The explosion shook the earth and knocked everyone off balance at the force. Gabby observing from the trees, gasped. “No. Please be okay!”

The smoke slowly cleared, allowing the conscious bystanders and Friedrich to get a good look at him. What they saw stunned everyone and made the metal man almost double over in shock. Drew, either through sheer luck or force of will, was still standing, albeit panting heavily. His shirt was completely burned off, his skin red from the heat. His sword, Leonid, though steaming, still held its form in front of him, holding back the blue sun.

Friedrich could only gape as he watched Drew fall to a knee. **“What…the hell….is that sword made of?”**

The fire Guardian chuckled. “Honestly, I’ve never found out. But for a blade that was sealed away for a very long time, it’s still very sharp. The fact that it could block what amounted to a sun, is very telling.” He kept his stance even getting up onto his feet. “Astrology lesson for ya, you know what rules over Leos?”

**“No, although I bet you’re gonna tell me.”**

Drew grinned and held up Leonid like a baseball bat. “They get it FROM THE SUN! HAAAHHHH!” He took a big swing and lifted the sun into the air.

Only to choke as a metal fist, clad in blue light, slammed into his gut. **“Wait your turn. I’m not done with that yet.”** The aura burst, sending him flying back. The blue sun dropped onto the metal man’s body and deformed, losing its shape to become a surging mass of flame.

“Oh come on!” Ash groaned. “Is there anything this guy _can’t_ do?

Misty, who was still wrapped in his shirt, looked extremely worried. “I know he’s tough, but how much more can Drew take?”

“Not much more.” Anabel revealed. “That last gasp where he caught the sun was his attempt to at least mitigate the damage. Friedrich punching him out of that attack was the nail in the coffin.”

Dawn looked at Drew concerned. “I hope he’ll be okay. Even with Friedrich holding back, he might still seriously hurt everyone.”

Meanwhile, as the boy stood up, something blue flashed across his face. Before he could react to it, something big, glowing and metal streaked out of the fireball and punched him, sending him flying back even further, slamming hard into a tree with another flash of blue.

The monster that had emerged from the flames looked like a thing out of a nightmare. It was covered in dark, metal scales, which glowed orange at the edges, and horns curved up from its head, sparks issuing from its fanged maw. **“Metal Make Body:”** declared Friedrich, his voice booming, **“Fire Dragon’s Molting.”**

Drew groaned before grabbing his sword. Ignoring the calls for him to stay down, he somehow found the will to stand again. Not even raising Leonid, he raised his hand and told Friedrich to bring it.

Friedrich watched him in disbelief. **“Even after all of this, you _still_ want to go?” **Drew grinned defiantly, reminding the traveler of a certain pirate captain. The man shook his head. **“You really are something else.”** To everyone’s surprise and relief, his body glowed before returning to normal. He sighed, turning “I can’t even say I want to attack. At this point I’d be putting you in the morgue, and even besides that, it’s far too one-sided for me not to feel like a bad guy.”

Seeing that the threat had passed, everyone cautiously approached the two combatants. Dawn and an extremely worried Tori raced to Drew’s side as he fell back to his knees. Misty was quick with her water and cooled him down.

A metal cylinder landed in front of him and released a cloud of green mist, causing his burns to fade away slowly, while Friedrich walked away. Tori looked up as the wounds disappeared. “Friedrich?”

“Consider that my apology for beating you all up,” the man mumbled, slowing his walk to a halt. He turned back around abruptly, his expression uncomfortable. “There was a lesson in all of this; don’t think I was just beating you all up just to be a jerk. But the fact is, your powers, your full strength, is being wasted! You all have these elements in you and rather than using them to fight, you’re only sticking to ordinary, predictable methods! Take you Pokémon Trainers.” He waved his hand to the barely dressed Riders. “You had the right idea with mixing up your moves. But you can only get so far by using singular moves at a time. I know you trust your Pokémon, but you’re holding yourselves back. Mix it up. Combine moves. Use your ‘normal’ elements-” He paused awkwardly, “Ah, I mean, your innate elements, in conjunction with Pokémon moves.”

The Aura Riders looked down in thought. His words echoed through their minds, as if coming from a seasoned Gym leader. Gazing into each other’s eyes momentarily, they smiled in agreement before grabbing each other’s hands, agreeing to train to protect each other.

Friedrich smiled at their understanding of their lesson. Then he turned to the two Dragon Slayers and could only rub his face in frustration. “As for you two…are you _fucking_ kidding me? You went in charging in like bulls in a china shop and accomplished _absolutely nothing!_ And Erza here, when she wasn’t trying to flash me, should have reigned you all in! Not only did she _not_ do that, but your stunts showed that your teamwork was abysmal. You got in each other’s way, you coordinated _none_ of your attacks and it was easy as hell to get you fighting each other and not me. In short, you’re a disgrace to the Dragons who taught you and the guild you serve!”

“What the hell did you say!?” Natsu snarled.

“Come here, punk, so I can pound your face in!” Gajeel roared.

The man cracked his knuckles. “Bring it. You’re not the only one who’s pissed off.”

“NATSU! GAJEEL! SHUT UP AND SIT YOUR BUTTS DOWN!!!” Drew snapped, “When Friedrich’s done, you’re gonna get it from me! That goes for you too, Grey and Erza!” The four Riders gulped and did as he ordered. Drew turned back to Friedrich, sighing. “Sorry man, go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Friedrich muttered, giving them a baleful look, “You’re nothing but a bunch of beasts! No control, no strategy, no anything!” He pointed at Erza. “You’re supposed to be the leader, but you haven’t done crap to stop your teammates from rampaging all over each other! And Grey? …Actually, you didn’t do anything too terrible. Nothing really noteworthy either, but you sure did give up fast.” He threw his hands up in exasperation, running his hands through his hair agitatedly. He took a few moments to compose himself. “You guys are a _mess._ But that’s why, out of the goodness of my heart, I’m gonna give you guys some training.”

This took everyone by surprise. Lucy raised her hand in concern. “Um…...why are you doing this?”

“Cause I happen to like you guys and I want to. You’re all more or less being forced to fight, and if you don’t get stronger, it’s gonna kill you,” Friedrich answered softly, “I know what you all need to work on and I have the tools to get you started. Of course, after that, it’s up to you to evolve further. A wise man once said, ‘I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen, given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death.’”

Drew smiled. “Sounds like a great man, who was he?”

Friedrich smiled sadly. “Ah, just a guy who’ll come into the spotlight in your future. I think his first work will be in…...2005? 2007? I dunno, somethin’ like that. He was an animator named Monty Oum, and he went on to create one of my favorite series.” He glanced around at Grey, Erza and Dawn. “Now that I think back, you guys had weapons just like the ones in that series.” He shook his head. “Anyway, get yourselves cleaned up and met back here tomorrow. If you thought you were sore now, just wait till I show you what I’ve got planned.”

Giving them a two fingered salute, he walked off, muttering to himself. Drew slowly stood up, his body still recovering. He looked around at his comrades with a critical eye. The Aura team was relatively fine, sans their clothing situation, which was worse than his. Thankfully, Gabby had a spare shirt on her and Drew gratefully accepted the shirt from his girlfriend. As he put it on, he motioned to Ash. “Ash, take the girls and go home. You’ve got enough embarrassment to deal with. I’ll talk to you later.”

The group of five smiled at his dismissal. Ash looked into Drew’s eyes and saw that underneath his smile towards them was an underlying anger that was beginning to rise up. He nodded and led them away from the inevitable blow up.

Drew turned to the Mage Riders. The two Dragon Slayers, Grey and Erza looked like they were sent to the principal’s office while Lucy and Mira looked scared at what he was going to do. “Lucy, Mira, can you come here?”

The two girls nodded and stood in front of them. Drew sighed. “You two did the best you could have done; the fight wasn’t all that good for you to unleash your abilities.” He looked at Lucy, who looked depressed. “Especially you, Lucy. Your spirits are strong but given what they were up against, I think you made the right call not bringing them out. She nodded bashfully. He turned to Mira. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten to train you, especially after you just got your magic back. Not good for confidence is it?”

The barmaid smiled. “It’s fine. I’m just glad everyone’s okay.”

“Physically yes, thanks to his little spell,” Drew agreed, “Mentally, I doubt most of us took it well.” He sighed. “Anyway, Lucy, take Mira home. Maybe fill her in a bit about what a Rider does.”

Lucy nodded and the two ladies left the clearing. Drew rubbed his nose to fend off the pending headache. “I just want to know one thing you four.” He turned around. “ARE YOU FREAKING _MORONS!?_ What the heck happened to this Nakama you kept sprouting!?” He turned to Grey. _“You_ were completely useless. You could have helped during _any_ of our assaults on him, but stayed away and watched like a gaping fish!” He then glared at Gajeel who merely glared back. “Your gung ho attitude would have gotten multiple people killed if Friedrich wasn’t holding back! Your constant rivalry with Natsu is going to get people hurt!”

Gabby and Tori, who were used to Drew’s temper, wisely stood back. Meanwhile, Erza who was idle through the tirade, stood up angrily. “Enough! What gives you the right to yell at us for our mistakes! If we had combined our strongest magics we could have won!

Drew directed his anger at the red head, his rant just beginning. “Then why the heck _didn’t you?!_ You of all people were using your damn Trump card right off the bat! Fried’s right, you have way more gear that this!” He motioned to her current attire. “As an S-ranked mage, you have to set the bar! You have to lead, and you certainly didn’t do that! What you showed was pathetic!”

Then he turned to Natsu, the dragon slayer gulping. Drew groaned. “Natsu, I’m not so much angry as disappointed. You’re a Guardian, which means you’re not only a Prince, but you’re also a leader! Start acting like one” Grey’s laughter at ‘prince’ had Drew shoot him a withering look. Turning back to Natsu, he continued, “Those leaders need to be mature and think about what it means to be a team. They need to be smart, they need to inspire people and they need to be strong! At this point, I can’t trust you to lead anything! I’m surprised your impulsiveness hasn’t gotten anyone seriously hurt!” He took a deep breath and addressed all four of them. “We have so much potential and we never had the motivation to go further, me included! Friedrich just put that stupid logic to bed! Take this training seriously or turn in your belts! Now GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” Being significantly scared now, the boys immediately scrambled to get away. Erza rose to leave as well. Her eyes caught his and they stared each other down. A few moments later, Erza shook and took a step back. She scoffed and marched off to catch up to the others.

Drew let out a deep breath to calm himself down. “…...You think I was too harsh?” he asked his companions, “Or was that the adrenaline talking?”

“It was the truth,” Tori answered gently, “It hurts, but I think hearing from two people that they trust, or will trust, holds some weight.”

“I think you might have done better with your temper,” Gabby opined lightly, “But they apparently haven’t gotten too much discipline. Probably because of…...well you know.”

“Still isn’t an excuse. Natsu especially needs to man up. If a much larger fight breaks out, he’s gotta be one of the people they look to. I’m not putting someone who emulates General Pickett in charge of a group that could potentially die.”

“What about Erza?” Tori asked.

“She’s worse! I should have…taught her more than I had. She’s inline to be a potential guild master, that means she needs to act like a leader not a police officer.” He turned to Gabby. “Changing topics, you got what I asked?”

The huntress grinned and held up a journal. “We’re good, I got enough that I think we can plan out our rematch.”

Drew smiled. “Good job, honey.” He gave her a brief kiss before doing the same to Tori. “Come on, I really want to change into other clothes.”

Gabby smirked. “You could go without the shirt, we don’t mind.”

Drew laughed. “Funny, you little minx.” The trio left the clearing in better spirits.

Friedrich leaned against a tree, having listened to Drew’s strong criticisms and nodded in agreement at his words.

 _His words are strong, but can they punch through is the question,_ he thought, _But those three…are they together? Come to think of it, Ash never said who he was dating either and based on how they acted during the fight, they are really close. I’ll ask later, right now, they’re training needs to be planned out. Already got a lot I can teach them…_ Then he groaned. “Great, I need to find a place to stay. I doubt the guild is a good hotel.” He marched off, hoping to find a decent place in town.

With Lucy and Mira.

The two ladies walked along the canal, heading towards the home she shared with Elfman. Lucy turned to her idol. “So, how are you liking being a Rider so far?”

Mira hummed. “It’s so strange, it’s like having a part of you come back to you. Having my magic come back, and then this, it’s overwhelming.”

“I know how you feel,” Lucy told her, grinning. She looked down at her gem. “To think we’re the heirs to such powerful legacies.”

Mira nodded, but Lucy noticed her hesitation. “What’s wrong?”

The ivory haired girl chewed her lips. “In a way, I’m…...scared to have my magic back. Lucy, you might not know this, but long before you came to the guild, I was a demon, literally and figuratively. It’s because my version of Take Over isn’t like Elfman’s. I…...literally took over demons. It’s what got me, Elfman and my late sister Lisanna kicked out of our hometown.”

“You had a sister?” Lucy asked, surprised.

“Yes. She died on a mission. My stupid arrogance told me we could handle it. Elfman tried to Take Over this King of monsters. But it went wrong and he…got out of control and…killed her. He’s never been the same and until recently I’ve never used my magic.”

Lucy stopped and gave the barmaid a gentle hug, surprising Mira with her tenderness despite what she revealed. Your sister wouldn’t want you to be sad. And I don’t know what you were like before, but all that matters is what you are now. And as one of my Knights, we’re gonna find a way to control those demons in you.”

Mira smiled, tears pooling in her crystal blue eyes as she returned the hug. “Thanks Lucy.” A few moments later, the two unlatched from each other reluctantly. “I’ll try to be the best Knight I can be for you and Natsu.” She then give the blonde a sultry look. “And of course, Erza.” Lucy sputtered, getting a giggle out of the older woman. “Don’t be scared. You three look absolutely adorable together. I’m jealous.”

The blonde nodded blushing. She noticed that Mira had stopped in front of a very nice apartment. Mira turned to her. “This is my stop. See ya tomorrow, Lucy.” She turned to head inside before stopping. Lucy was about to ask what was wrong before Mira came back. kissed her on the cheek, making the celestial mage’s face turn bright red. “You know, Erza and I got into some crazy things when we were younger. Keep that in mind.” She winked before heading inside, leaving blonde a babbling wreck as the images of her with Mira and Erza doing adult things flashed through her mind.

At the Girls Home

Ash and his girls had arrived at their home, grateful that most of the townsfolk didn’t may attention to their state of dress. Once inside, May dropped Drew’s cloak. “Finally, I can get this thing off. As much as I like to show off my body, only you guys get to see all of this!” She waved to her topless body.”

Dawn giggled as she walked up to the brunette. “Glad to see that being knocked around like that didn’t diminish your enthusiasm.”

May smiled and gently hugged Dawn to her chest, while dropping onto the couch

Misty shook her head. “You would never think we just went through a traumatic fight.” She headed upstairs. “I’m gonna grab another shirt so you can have this back Ash.”

“Keep it, it looks good on you,” Ash told her, getting the red head to smile as she darted towards her room. He turned to Anabel who was still wearing his cloak. “You okay like that?”

Anabel nodded. “Yeah, though I need another blue jacket and new bra. I liked that set.” Then she gave him a soft smile as she lowered the cloak to reveal her slightly tanned shoulders. “Just because we aren’t like May, doesn’t mean I don’t like to show off my body. I’m dressed like an Arabian dancer after all, so I show a lot of skin as is.”

Ash blushed at how much bolder the empath in front of him was being. Giving her a tender kiss, they quietly joined the two on the couch. They noticed a pale glow surrounding them, indicating that Dawn was soothing May despite Friedrich’s magic having left them physically unharmed.

“Room for two more?” Anabel asked. Not even opening an eye both girls moved, May sitting up to let Ash get behind her and Dawn moving over to let Anabel snuggle into the brunette. The glow encompassed both of them and let them feel at ease.

Misty came back and had to suppress her squeal at how cute they were all being. Ash looked behind him and saw the redhead’s radiant smile. “Hey there, you find something you like?”

Misty nodded. “Yep. Shame that I couldn’t find anything for underneath.” This got the boy sputtering at the implications and the Water Princess to giggle. She sauntered over and slid behind Ash, placing his head on her stomach. Feeling content now, they all began to doze off…

A knock on the door snapped them out their sleep. Ash looked outside and saw the sun had gone down, meaning they had been asleep for a while. Breaking free reluctantly he walked to the door to answer it. To his surprise he saw it was Drew and Gabby.

“Drew? Gabby? What’s up?”

“I said I'd come by. I needed to clean up and think about what to say. Can we come in?”

“Yeah, just let me tell the girls.” He turned back to the living room. “Girls can you put something on we got guests!”

The girls groggily sat up at that request. When they saw who was visiting, May grabbed the cloak off Anabel and darted towards her room.

“You do realize that you have nothing you haven't shown off before right?” Drew groaned.

“Sorry! Ash is the only guy who sees this!”

“Can I have my cloak back at least?”

“Why do you think I'm changing?”

He sighed turning back to Ash. “Can I have a seat? It won't be long, and you can go back to whatever you were doing.”

Ash nodded. “Go ahead…” His train of thought was interrupted upon noticing someone missing, Uh, where's Tori?”

“She thought she saw something and went to check it out. It wasn't a threat, so she assured me,” Drew replied. He leaned back into the chair. “How are you guys?”

“We're fine,” Misty replied, sitting on the arm, “Our pride took quite a beating though, same with our wardrobe.” As she said this, May appeared back with another of Ash’s shirts, showing off her bust.

“Right,” Drew sighed. “Look, the reason I wanted to talk away from everyone is to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Dawn asked tilting her head confused.

“For a lot of things. For getting you guys hurt during the Yuzan fight and the fact that I haven’t been teaching you all properly.”

Ash looked up at the ceiling. “The Yuzan thing wasn’t your fault. We weren’t in the state of mind to think properly.”

“Yeah, well I was a bit of a hypocrite calling Natsu out today when I did the same thing.”

“You had motivation; Tori was hurt and you were upset. Natsu didn’t have the same excuse,” Gabby assured him.

“Still, it was my job to get you guys out of danger when the tables turned and if it wasn’t for Friedrich saving our butts…...I don’t even want to know.”

Anabel could feel him tense and tried to calm him down. “You did nothing wrong. We went into that fight with Yuzan thinking we were dealing with a kaijuu, and we paid the price for our assumptions. You led us fine. And with Fried, we did the best we could, but as you put it, his BS powers were too much at once.”

Drew smiled. All of the Aura Riders had their ways with words. Anabel’s skill could calm down a Gyarados. “Thanks. This brings me to the other issue. Friedrich offered us to train us. And to be honest, I’ve been trying to figure out how to train us further. In a way, Friedrich showing up now was to our benefit.”

“To go beyond what we know. Is it possible to break our human limits?” Misty asked.

“Friedrich believes we have more power that’s either locked away or we’re not using properly. And I think he’s right. I don’t think we’re even at 5% of our potential,” Drew told them, “What I do know is that, whatever training he’s got can only be to our benefit. When you get a chance, write down or think about what you know and what you can do. Maybe use that as a model to start.”

He saw all five nodded and he smiled. He figured Max and Brock would be on board once they are cleared to practice. He stood up to leave. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to do. You can stay here Ash, Gabby and Tori can crash at our place.” He got up to leave, while Gabby went to get overnight supplies.

“You’re a great leader you know,” Ash told Drew as the Fire Guardian reached the door. “We wouldn’t have followed you if you weren’t. We’re human, we make mistakes. This is one I probably would’ve made, heck I’ve made them. Don’t let this get you down.”

Drew chuckled. “I guess you're right. Thanks.” With Gabby in tow, they left into the brisk Magnolia air and headed towards the guys place.

Up on the rooftops, Friedrich watched the two head back out. He presumed they were heading back to their house. _Well, that was certainly easy. Looks like they’re gonna take it seriously._ He hummed and to himself in satisfaction. He turned to leave…only to jump with a yelp as he saw Tori right behind him. “Gah! When’d you get there?!”

“Good to know that there are some areas that aren’t your strong suit,” she giggled.

“You just caught me at a bad time,” Friedrich grumbled, “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I actually sensed something up on the roof and checked it out. Felt it wasn’t dangerous.”

“You actually picked out that I was up here…so you’re like the sensor of the group?” asked Friedrich.

“Sirius isn’t just a name of my Rider gear. It’s named after Sirius the Dog Star, the brightest non planet in the Night sky. Like the dog, I have much better hearing than most, though Max and Gabby have trained to be as good. With most of our gear names, they are named after constellations and stars. The Aura Riders were the exception, even then most of them could be connected to them.

“What about Drew and Gabby?” he asked

“Gabby is Orion the Hunter. Or rather Huntress. Drew’s gear is named for the Zodiac.”

“Western or Eastern?”

“West. His main form is Leo. Lucy’s gear, Pleiades is also the western Zodiac, but she relies on her Celestial spirits, while Drew uses weapons as a supplement.”

Friedrich hummed and gaze out over the city. Tori approached him hesitantly. “Um Fried? Can I ask you something?”

“Ask away.”

“Why…Did you stick around? I mean, don’t you miss our world?”

“I miss some things, but honestly, no. Anyway, I’d need to build something to even try going back there. Besides, I feel like I can do…something here.” He stared up into the night sky. “Do you ever wonder why we’re here?”

Tori raised an eyebrow. “Sometimes, it’s a great mystery isn’t it. Sometimes I wonder whether this whole thing is real. Magic, powers, other worlds? Sometimes it can get overwhelming. Maybe in another life I wouldn’t be this close to Drew or Gabby. I’ve had some sleepless nights over a lot of little things. I feel like without me, they would fall apart.”

Friedrich smiled, scratching his cheek. “And I wouldn’t have met you or Natsu and the others. I always heard the expression that God or Yahweh has a plan for everyone. Maybe that jump I took would have put me in a world of Giant robots. Yet it landed me here. A world of magic and in a world where people from my world interact with them. Now I’m in adventure to save the world...again.”

“What was your world like? Other than the constant dangers? Surely you had friends?”

“Friends…I suppose so. Some of the heroes I fought alongside I actually got along well with. There was also my…or, the original Friedrich’s niece. I made sure that she could take care of herself before I left.” He cast his eyes down. “That…can’t have been a good decision.”

“How old was she?”

“When I left? 25. But I was the only family she had…well, she probably made more friends than I did. And she…” He swallowed, looking away. “Sorry, it’s...tough to think about. Moving on.”

Tori bit her lip, sensing that she’d touched on a sensitive spot. “Right, um...any ideas on training us?”

Friedrich shrugged. “Beyond the general ‘make you think about using your powers creatively,’ I’ll have to see with each of you. I saw how most of you fight or figured it out. The Mages are gonna need a kick in the ass I feel. You guys probably not as much.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, tell me: how willing are you to learn new abilities?”

Tori looked across the town in the direction of her partners. “Very willing. Drew himself said he was gonna take this training more seriously. You kicking his butt taught him a lesson. And I’d follow with little complaint.”

“Exactly,” he said, nodding, “Now, the Fairy Tail Mages…for them, magic is something that they’ve probably spent a good deal of time training in, honing their understanding of it and such. They’re likely proud of their skill in their magic, and I kinda doubt that they’ll be willing to expand that understanding. Especially if it means learning new types of magic altogether. The Pokémon Riders…”

“Aura Riders. We prefer that term for them.”

“Aura Riders, then,” Friedrich corrected himself without missing a beat, “They’ve worked with Pokémon most of their lives and they compete, right? That means they have to adapt for each competition. So they’re probably more willing to change their training methods if it means getting better. And then there’s you three.” He waved his hand at Tori. “Well, we already went over you. I think you guys will benefit the most. Back home, there are no superpowers, no magic, no Pokémon, so you’ve got no context to really think of your abilities as anything, but something added onto your normal selves. I aim to correct that. I want you to find your powers just as easy to use as your martial arts.”

Tori nodded at the explanation, agreeing with the logic considering they were coming from essentially nothing. Friedrich turned to walk off the roof. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

The two leaped off the roof and quietly made their way towards her partners’ apartment. Approaching the building, Friedrich gazed appreciatively up at the place. “Not a bad place. How much is it?”

“Hm? Oh Drew said it’s about 90,000 jewels. He thinks the exchange rate is like the U.S Dollar to Yen, 100 to 1,” she commented, walking up to the door and opening it. “Guys, I’m here!”

Drew was looking up from his book. “Hey Tori, about time you got home.” He said standing up. He noticed Friedrich in the door. “Friedrich? What’re you doing here?”

“Tori was on her way home and I offered to go with her. Anyway, we talked and stuff. Now that that’s done, I’m gonna head out.” His mouth tightened.

As he turned to leave, Drew stopped him. “You don’t have a place of your own yet do you?”

The traveler’s shoulders drooped. “No, I don’t…”

“Why not stay here?” asked Gabby. “This is normally the guys place and they’ve got an extra bed.”

The man was stunned at the offer. “You’d do that?”

“Here’s something that isn’t taught by training. Even if you kicked our butts, you still were nice to us. Now we’re returning the favor. At least until you find a place.”

“Or we find our own place,” Gabby chimed in, “So what do you say?”

Friedrich deadpanned at him. “What, you think I’m gonna say no? I know better than to look a gift-horse in the mouth.” His expression softened then and he glanced away. “Thanks.”

“We earthlings gotta stick together. Come on, we’ll get ya settled. Friedrich laughed and followed Drew towards his room, closing the door in the process.

Friedrich’s curb stomp laid bare the Riders’ many faults in battle. Now he offers them to train to exceed their limits. How will they take it? Find out next time on Nakama United.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**UO: Well that was a slog. Now then, NS can you explain what we saw in chapter?**

**NS: Yes indeed. Now, as mentioned in the chapter, Friedrich has come into possession of a number of powers. If you have read the Gaiden, then you’d know them in detail, but for now, here are the ones explicitly revealed in this chapter.**

  1. **Friedrich’s skill in combat is better than that of normal humans. This is explicitly a power, not a result of training.**
  2. **By witnessing the usage of an ability for a certain period of time, or by touching the user for a second or so, Friedrich is able to copy the abilities of others. Most of the time, these copied powers have restrictions placed on them, unless they are magical in nature. Command V and Metal Make (Body) are forms of magic that Friedrich copied in the Gaiden.**
  3. **By manipulating electromagnetic fields, Friedrich can accelerate small objects to hypersonic speeds. He is able to form complex trails for those objects to follow, creating curved, homing or piercing shots. These trails can extend for up to several city blocks.**
  4. **Friedrich can increase or decrease the weight of any non-living object he touches.**



**NS: Now, there were also a couple of powers he used that he copied in the Worm-verse:**

**Clockblocker: Anything the user touches becomes frozen in time. This effect lasts for anywhere from 30 seconds to up to 3 or 4 minutes. Anything that has been frozen cannot be moved, harmed or affected in _any_ way until time runs out. Can work on anything, living or non-living, but not the user himself.**

**UO: If you’re a League of Legends Fan, this is pretty much Zhonya’s Hourglass which does a similar effect but only affects the user.’**

**Grue: The user can create clouds of impenetrable darkness. In reality, this is a special, odorless gas that blocks out all light and dampens sound. The gas can also block various forms of radiation**

**Sundancer: Allows the user to create miniature suns, which they are able to move around. The user is given immunity to extreme heat.**

**UO: Think Natsu’s immunity up to a 11. The miniature suns are more original in the sense that there isn’t a lot to compare it to.**

**UO: Geez that took a while. But wait, there’s more here’s a post chapter OMAKE!**

** Omake: How a Guild Brawl starts. **

** #1: Flipping a coin **

“So I flip a coin and if you call it correctly. I’ll pay you 50 jewels. Call it incorrectly…and you have to steal Erza’s cake.”

It was a normal day at the guild and surprisingly, it was calm as Friedrich offered the challenge.

“Si wait, you’re paying us if we get it correctly and we’re dead if we get it incorrectly?” Drew asked.

“Three times. All three have to be correct.”

Drew shrugged. “I’ll take it. Gabby, what are the odds on that?”

“I don’t know,” Gabby shrugged.

“You’re the math whiz here, how the heck do you not know?” Drew groaned.

“I think it’s 50/50 each time. But they’re independent of each other” Lucy replied. “So that’s got to be what 15%?”

“No, Lucy’s stupid, its 50/50 each time,” Happy trolled.

“Watch it cat! I know I’m right!” Lucy snarled.

“No way, Happy’s right here!” Natsu backed his feline companion.

“No he ain’t, lizard breath!”

Soon the guild started to take sides and eventually chairs were thrown and a brawl started. Drew turned to Friedrich. “Is this gonna be a regular occurrence?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” sighed Friedrich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Omake!
> 
> UO: Hope you enjoyed, feel free to suggest ideas. We have some funny ones lined up. Anyway final thoughts or should I put this up?
> 
> NS: We’d damn well better get more than one review for this.
> 
> Preview: Friedrich’s training camp begins. How will the Riders cope and adapt? Find out next time.
> 
> Next time: Exceed your limits! Friedrich’s Boot Camp!
> 
> Next Update I don’t know but there will be something soon
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOOSH


	21. Learning to Break Your Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friedrich teaches the Riders new ways to train

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Fly Eagles Fly!  
> Drew: Someone's in a good mood  
> UO: Damn right! The Eagles got to the Super Bowl, will probably be in a bad mood in the next chapter if they lose.  
> NSG: And I got Monster Hunter!  
> UO: So we are both in a good mood.  
> Friedrich: Well, guess who isn't going to be in a good mood after this chapter. Everyone on the mage team!  
> Lucy: *Waterfall Tears* Why?!  
> Friedrich: Because change hurts!  
> Grey: Yeah flamehead needs all the help he can get.  
> Natsu: What did you say stripper!? (Brawl starts)  
> UO: Why do you encourage them?  
> Erza: Natsu! Grey! Are you (gets cut off as she is Slammed into the wall)  
> Friedrich: Because it’s fun? And Erza needs another reality check.  
> UO: Tori can you do the disclaimer before the studio is destroyed…again?
> 
> Tori: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem do not own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider and Pokémon. They only own the plot, Friedrich and us respectively and make no money off it.
> 
> *Studio blows up*

"Speech"  
Text  
 _Thoughts_ _  
Inner to Outer  
_ **Belt/Dragonforce/Super mode** **  
Spell/Technique/Finisher**

Chapter 21: Learning to break your limits

Friedrich blinked his eyes open as the sun peeked through the curtains. Rolling over with a grumble, he glanced around through sleepy eyes. _Where's this again…? Oh yeah, Drew and Gabby offered to put up with me until we found another place._ He looked around the room, and found various photographs of animals, which he smiled at. Approaching the desk, he picked up a picture frame depicting Drew, Tori and Gabby at an amusement park. It looked like they were having a blast, especially with the plushies in the girls' hands. Something about how they were being held told him that they were a lot closer than what he saw yesterday.

"About time you woke up, it's about 9 in the morning," Drew told him, surprising him.

"Really? That early?" asked Friedrich, "Damn."

"Don't worry about it, we'll set up a proper room for ya eventually," he told the traveler approaching the desk. Seeing the picture, he smiled. "That's from Six Flags. They still around in the future?"

"Yeah, of course, put some really fast coasters up."

Drew chuckled as he gently took the photo. "They wanted to go, I obliged."

Friedrich noticed his eyes change from mirth to fondness. Putting two and two together, he asked a simple question. "You're not just friends with them. You're dating both of them."

Drew didn't even look up. "Officially, we're close friends. Unofficially, yeah; you know the reason why."

"Right…whole Western society against polyamory thing. Gotcha. What about Ash and the others?"

"Similar story, only Misty is the official girlfriend," he answered, putting the frame down. "While my father grew up with the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, he's never judged the LGBT community, something that passed on to me. He understands the relationship and supports it, but still feels a little off about it. As long as we're happy, he doesn't care, neither does Delia."

Friedrich smiled wryly. "The world could use more people like that, especially recently. Well, recently when I left, at least."

"Greaaat," Drew groaned. "I'm sure you have stories, but we want to start training as soon as possible. If you want to shower, its down the hall on the right."

Friedrich nodded, taking a whiff of himself and making a face, before heading towards the bathroom.

A half hour later, the traveler was cleaned up and dressed in what he wore yesterday. Approaching the kitchen, he saw his housemates interact. Gabby was cooking, while Tori helped her with the preparations. Drew was reading the paper, commenting on another incident that Fairy Tail was involved in. "Seriously, it's like they know nothing better than to trash it," he grumbled.

"Well, when you have Natsu and Grey destroying towns, can you blame them?" Gabby asked plating the eggs on his plate.

"Hopefully we can fix that." He replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Friedrich smiled at their actions and chuckled. Drew returned the smile. "Come on and sit. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Right. Thank you."

Eating a home cooked meal for the first time in what seemed like forever, Friedrich continued to plan out the training for all of the Riders, with plans being finalized for several.

"You got that look on your face. The constant ideas flowing through your head," Tori told him softly. "Drew gets that way a lot when he's concentrating. It never stops, does it?"

He smiled tightly. "Nah. Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't. See, that's another of my powers." He sat back, "Back on Earth Bet, the PRT- ah, that's the Parahuman Response Team -had a particular system for categorizing powers. Just kind of a shorthand for letting their guys remember how to approach a situation. One of those classifications was called a Tinker."

"Tinker? Like Tinkering?" Drew asked.

"Yeah. Tinkers, unlike most Capes, tended to have one thing in common. They would get ideas, and create technology from that, lightyears ahead of what was physically possible for human society. What differed between them was their specialization. One person focused on vehicles, another on making technology as small as possible, or medical techniques… my power allows me to gain new specializations, according to a number of 'charges' that I'm granted per day."

Gabby whistled. "Damn, that's impressive. Imagine if you somehow got one of these," she commented to Drew. "Your imagination running wild would probably fill an entire warehouse."

"All you need for Tinkering is time, inspiration and resources," said Friedrich, nodding, "Sadly, due to how I came to this world, all my specializations got reset, so I have to reinvest the charges. Not only that, but since the tech level here is so low…" he shrugged, sighing.

"Essentially you became a start-of-an-RPG Protagonist." Drew concluded. "Your powers reset and now you have to get it back."

"Mm…there's a bit more to it than that, but you're not wrong. Anyway, let's out to the training ground soon." Friedrich told them.

Half an Hour later

Once breakfast was finished, the group of four headed towards the training ground. Upon arrival, they saw everyone else had arrived in the blasted-out clearing, doing their warmup stretches.

Drew cleared his throat getting their attention. "Good morning everyone, hope you guys are warmed up." He glanced at Friedrich. "Any order you want to do this in?"

"Yeah. I figured I start with the people who will have an easier time adapting to this training and work my way up." He glanced at the mages, Natsu apparently ready to start another fight. "Some people need it more than others.

Drew followed his eyes and nodded. "Right. So how about I start then. Ash!" He called to the Aura Adept. "You're in charge til Fried comes back." He waved his arms to the side. "Lead the way sensei."

Friedrich smirked and led him away from the group. Once a significant distance away, he turned to the fire wielder. "Alright, so I can tell you have a pretty good grasp on controlling your fire element. But one thing bothers me." He pointed to Drew's mouth. "Whenever you used fire, it always came from your hands. You should be able to produce it from any part of your body. We'll start with breathing it out through your mouth, the easiest way."

Drew looked down. "I... I wish I could. I know that's where a lot of my fire comes from. But I got a problem. One I'm sure you might be familiar with." He pounded his chest. "I'm asthmatic. My biggest concern when using my breath is, I might scorch my lungs and make my normal breathing harder. Right now, I'm compensating by taking a deep breath before I launch my stronger attacks. You have another way around this, I'm all ears."

Friedrich pursed his lips at his response. "To begin with, you shouldn't have to fear your magic. It's in you, it's a part of _you._ Your body will adapt to it. Until then, you don't _actually_ have to form it in your lungs and breathe it out. Carbon dioxide won't start a fire anyway. No, the act of breathing is just to help you focus on the flow of energy. Your body takes in air, uses it as fuel, and disposes of the waste, just like fire."

"So…what's the spark then?" Drew asked.

He shrugged. "Well, how do you usually ignite a flame?"

Drew held up his right hand and snapped his fingers, causing a flame to appear. "With my hands, I typically snap my fingers. When I need a more consistent barrage, I snap them and then clench my fists. With my feet, I can transfer the heat energy almost instantly, same with my elbows. As for Leonid, he and I are in sync most of the time so when I place my hands on it, it can also ignite at my command."

Friedrich grunted. "Not bad, but that leaves a vulnerability in case your hands are full."

"Even though Leonid is designed to be two handed sword, I'm strong enough at least with my right to wield it with one hand." Drew told him. He demonstrated by pulling the blade out of its sheath and taking a few swings. "So, what's this about not using my lungs?"

He hummed, rubbing his chin. "Right, just trying to figure out how to put it…" He pondered for a moment. "Basically, you're focusing too much on where the fire would be coming from, when your primary concern should be where it's going and what it'll be burning. Just 'breathe' it, but have it only ignited in front of your mouth. Think of it like an actual flamethrower; a spark igniting a stream of gas."

Drew nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright. Think flamethrower…I'm the tank, my mouth the spout, the air the fuel. One…Two…Three!" He let out the breath and increased his energy output. The result was a large fan of flames that Friedrich had to roll out of the way of. Cutting off the energy, Drew watched the flames dissipate. "That…was awesome."

Friedrich grinned. "All it takes is thinking outside the box a little. You've all got so much power in you; a little imagination and so much more is open too. Keep practicing and come up with ways to change the flames in mid-air." He walked back toward the others. "Ash's next. Who do you want in charge?"

"Gabby preferably if Ash is next, then Misty."

"Right." Friedrich nodded and walked away. Drew took another deep breath and spat out some more flames. He grinned at how more natural it felt.

With Friedrich and Ash

This time they stood near a small pond. "Alright Ash, I know your element is Lightning. You got anything else to bring to the table?"

Ash rubbed his chin. "Let's see…Pikachu funny enough is my only electric type. I've got flying types galore, the water starters except Piplup, the fire starters with the exception of Torchic, the grass starters." He thought further back. "Um…Oh! Gible who is a ground and dragon type. And of course, Lucario. Those are most of the ones I use regularly."

Friedrich hummed. "I see. So, do you have a lot of experience in double battling? I remember playing the series up to when that was introduced."

"Is the series still popular?" Ash asked.

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe it. They are up to Generation 6 I think, with 7 on the way, I assume."

The Aura Guardian whistled, and Pikachu let out an amazed *Pika. * "Wow."

"Yeah. Now then, my idea for this is to combine your element with your Pokémon abilities and use them more freely."

"Really?" Ash asked. "I thought electricity needed a conductor?"

"Normally that would be true. But come on, surely during your many "fights" with Team Rocket, you noticed your attacks combining to blow up their balloon?" Friedrich asked knowingly.

Ash rubbed his head. "Now that you mention it…"

"Anyway, from a sheer power perspective you've got way more power than someone like May or Dawn. As Coordinators, they needed to combine their abilities to show off their Pokémon. In combat, that lends themselves to support boosts. That logic easily applies here; instead of making it flashy, we're gonna focus on make it strong. Let's start with your blade, Raikou. Got any moves that power it up?"

Ash took out the blade. "Normally, I use Iron Tail or Leaf Blade as a finisher. Something tells me I should be taking this further."

"Alright, definitely a good starting point. Now then, let's try…Thunderbolt and Flamethrower."

Ash nodded and concentrated on his blade. Instantly the blade sparkled with electricity, then ignited. The two elements danced around each other like two lovers. Ash took a few quick slashes, embers and sparks trailing in its wake.

"Wow. Now that's cool." Ash commented.

Friedrich nodded. "That it is. But that's only part of it. What happens when your disarmed, other than fall back on your other skills? Let's take that same move and remove the blade."

Ash nodded, sheathing Raikou and concentrating on the same moves. His body glowed blue as his electrical power flowed into his hands. Then the blue turned slightly purple similar to when he Overlaid with Drew. Clenching his fists leaned back and thrust the power forward and shouted, " **FLAME BOLT!"** A ball of flame appeared in his left, a bolt of lightning in his right, before merging together. The intensity of the fire, combined with wild nature of the electricity, made for a mesmerizing sight, the colors mixing together to make a bright purple flame, which crackled and flared randomly. The force of the blast knocked Ash to the ground with a yelp, unprepared for the amount of force he used.

"Hehe, ow." Ash moaned sitting up. Pikachu grumbled as the blast knocked him off his favorite spot.

"…Okay! That was something!" Friedrich replied amazed. "Anyway, the lesson here is that you should combine your attacks as best as you possibly can. Some elements, as you know, won't work well, but other combos can surprise you. Start with combing two attacks, then work your way up. Every set you can think of, and even some that might not seem like they work."

Ash nodded standing back up. "Thanks Friedrich."

"No problem. On to my next student." He grinned as Ash began thinking up other combinations for his attacks.

Next to set of stumps.

"Alright, based on your weapon, you're a long-range fighter I'm guessing?" asked Friedrich.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, for a while I was the only real long-range attacker we had. Anabel also fits the role but because she's focusing on defensive spells, I'm normally the only one for long range attacks." She split her bow into her short swords. "Doesn't mean I can't fight up close. So, what do you have for me?"

"Alright then, I got three things for ya, all pretty simple in theory," Friedrich offered. "First thing, your element is Earth right, same as Natsu and Brock?" At her nod, he pointed at the ground. "Try channeling that power from the ground into your arrow, then fire at the ground."

"Okay," she replied, reforming her bow. Taking aim at the ground, she let loose the arrow, letting it sail through the air before it struck the ground, the impact forcing the ground up from the crater.

"Using your magic infused arrows, you can surprise many opponents. Most Earth magics are bulky tanks, favorable for close quarters, but your arrows give you an edge. Speaking of bulky, turn towards the trees a bit and pull out another arrow." She did so and pulled the string back. "Now focus your magic into your arrow and let it go, I want to see how much you can punch through."

The Knight nodded and took a deep breath, aiming at the tree in front of her. Pulling the string tight, she released her breath and loosed the arrow. The arrow flew true, striking the tree trunk in front of her. It pierced clean through the first tree before punching holes through the next five behind it. While she watched, stunned at how far it went, Friedrich gently clapped her shoulder. "You've got more power than you realize. Focus on using your arrows as a way to extend your reach." He turned around to head back to the others. "Oh, and I would suggest looking at ways to improve your eyesight. There's bound to be something to enhance your vision. Also, Archery magic, surely if there's Sword and Gun magic, there's got to be something for bow and arrows.

Gabby nodded and began practicing her shots again. The sound of a tree falling indicating that the forest was at her mercy.

At the pond where Ash was practicing

Considering that Misty and Tori shared the Water element, he decided to tackle both of them together.

"So, even though you two are the same element, you each embody different sides of it." He pointed to the Misty. "Your offensive abilities embody the sheer power of water, able to smash through buildings and cities without even trying and to erode anything over time." Then he pointed at Tori. "While _you_ represent the life-giving, protective and purifying aspect. You guys have the power, but now we're gonna go further."

Misty hummed as she stretched her arms. Friedrich blinked as the grey tank top slip up a lot, revealing her flat belly, and had to bite down his reaction. _Damn, all that swimming did her good._ He grimaced and slapped his cheeks. _Bad thoughts, she's taken!_

Misty noticed his reaction and giggled. "Sorry, we normally do specialized training privately. I like to train in a little less than this." She gestured to the tank top and short shorts that showed off her long legs.

Tori snorted. "You pretty much dress in a bikini or a swimsuit 24/7."

The red head stuck her tongue out as Friedrich recovered from the mental images. "…Right. Anyway, Misty, other than Water types, any other types you regularly deal with?"

Misty hummed. "Mostly Water and Ice types. A couple of Psychic thanks to Starmie and…" She looked away. "Gyarados. A few of his moves are strong…but I feel like a monster when I use a move like Hyper Beam."

Friedrich hummed. "I remember those Gyarados were monsters, creating a massive cyclone that nearly killed you." He looked up into the sky. "But, having fought him…they _pale_ in comparison to Leviathan."

"A giant shark?" Tori asked remembering one of the arcade games Drew liked.

"No," he said, eyes tightening as he stared off into the distance, "Leviathan was an Endbringer."

"That…does not sound good," Misty commented.

He nodded. "Yeah…you know 9/11?"

Tori flinched but nodded.

"Earth Bet didn't have that; we got the Endbringers instead."

Tori sat down and held her head. "What created them?"

"Not sure, but the Entities like Scion brought them with them. No clue what they were gonna use them for."

"I guess whenever he showed up…destruction followed?" Misty asked.

"And then some. You know Japan? Land of the Rising sun? One of the more powerful economies in the world? Created all the cartoons and games we like?" At their nod, Friedrich dropped the bomb. "He showed up in Kyushu, sank it, killed 10 million evacuees and all of its parahumans. Overnight, Japan went from top of the food chain to being worse-off than Haiti!"

Tori gulped. She knew from news reports that Haiti was one of the countries in the Western Hemisphere that was doing very badly. If Japan was brought to its knees by one of these…Endbringers, then they were really bad news.

"Fortunately, after Gold Morning, I was able to capture and banish all of the Endbringers. But…these things are still bad news. They can make ANY area uninhabitable."

He immediately noticed the shiver in Misty's hands. He walked over and gently took them in his own. "You're not gonna be Leviathan, Misty. That's…not why I brought him up. He was a monster that was made only to destroy and ruin lives; you only want to use your powers to protect your fellow Riders and your family. You choose to use them that way, and you are who you choose to be." He smiled. "It's as simple as that."

Misty looked up and nodded, a smile appearing on her face; the shivers having settled down, Friedrich let go and stood up. "Now then, what we need to do is get you to use the water as extension of your whole body. In essence, you become your element."

Tori laughed. "Misty, you practically live in the water, now he wants you to become it. May as well be a mermaid at this rate."

At Friedrich's raised eyebrow, the redhead blushed prettily. "My nickname is the Siren or Mermaid. I'm one of the best swimmers in the state, and the fact that I wouldn't look out of place on a runway made the name stick," she said proudly.

"Never saw the true appeal of them, but to deny their beauty is sacrilege," he agreed, snorting. "No, the idea is that you can form the water around your body, essentially creating armor, and then use it as if it was your own body. Try wrapping it around your arm."

Misty nodded and held out her hand. Like a puppy overjoyed to see its master, the water came to her hands, only to continue up her arm and engulf it, wrapping around it in a thick, rippling bubble. Friedrich walked over and poked it. "Feel that?"

"Y-yeah," said Misty, wide-eyed with astonishment, "This is so cool."

"Yeah. Obviously, you can use it in and out of water. Try to form around different body parts before going for full body. Once you get the hang of it, I'd suggest trying to form different objects or forms in the water." He snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Oh yeah and ask Juvia if she can teach you anything else, she _is_ a Water Mage after all." The redhead nodded as the water swirled around her.

Satisfied with Misty's progress, Friedrich turned his attention to Tori. "Alright, now what to do with you, Miss Healer?"

"Um, I'd like to continue focusing on healing," she answered, "While Dawn has more offensive spells, I want to focus on support magics." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I made a vow to always be the healer, even if I could learn offensive spells. Most of my Rider changes are more for defense and support than offense."

"That's all well and good," said Friedrich, frowning, "But then what happens if you have to fight alone for some reason? Or the enemy targets you specifically, like I did with Dawn the other day? I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase, 'Jack of all trades but master of none?' There's actually more to it. 'Jack of all Trades, master of none, _but still better than a master of one.'_ "

"When you put it like that…When I made this promise, it was just us three. Someone had to be the healer."

"But time moves on Tori," he reminded her gently. "None of you should be fit into a defined role." He closed his eyes in thought. "In the future, there are a set of games that become really popular. They have hundreds of different heroes and most aren't designed to be played in one role. What we need to find is the right role that you can fit into, outside of being a medic and shielder." He hummed in thought. "Water is great at illusions, at least if you use it the right way. Perhaps creating illusory clones or something related, like distorting someone's vision using vapor."

"Oh yeah. The seas can mess with people when someone is weak minded from hunger and dehydration," Tori muttered.

"Exactly. Now because you've been focusing on healing, you might have the control for this." He glanced at Misty. "Mind being the test dummy?"

"Of course not," she replied.

"Alright then. Seeing as the air has some moisture in it, I want you to focus on distorting it, make Misty see something that's not there."

Tori nodded and pulled out her staff. "I know I should be able to do this without Aquarius, but it's a good focus." Seeing Friedrich nod, she twirled the staff so that it lay parallel to the ground and concentrated. Misty watched as she concentrated, wondering what she could be doing. A few moments later she noticed that the healer's body was distorting, like waves dashing across her body. Blinking and rubbing her eyes, Misty watched as Tori's body distorted again, this time even beginning to dissolve away.

"Anything?" asked Friedrich, noticing Tori's body disappear into vapor.

"Y-yeah, her body was dissolving, breaking away. It was almost like my eyes were dilated, like I needed glasses.

Tori gasped as she let go of her magic. "I…I found a big issue. With the amount of power, I had, it was exhausting to maintain for very long. The…the only reason I got Misty…was because I was putting it all into that."

Friedrich hummed. "Makes sense, you're manipulating some very fine molecules in order to bend light. Although, the fact you could still get Misty to see things is a great step. Focus on improving the amount of magic that you can control, then focus on your range, variety and casting speed. Again, Juvia is a great source for this type of magic."

The two Water mages nodded and began to practice while Friedrich headed off to his next student.

On a small hilltop

Friedrich starred as Anabel finished her stretches. Her purple top and shorts left most of her slender body in display. Based on what Drew told him, Anabel was a dancer and a DJ in her spare time, and the amount of work put into her dancing really showed as she bent over backwards to stretch her back out.

"You comfortable stretching out like that?" he asked watching her stretch somewhat provocatively.

"Hm? Oh this? Yeah, it's no problem. Oh." She realized her top had ridden up revealing her sports bra. "Sorry." She stood up and straightened it out. "I hope that didn't affect you."

Friedrich had to turn away, rubbing his forehead. "No, no, it's fine. Are you girls always so…open?"

"Kind of," she said, shrugging, "The guys don't mind, obviously. Actually, the fact we've spent a lot of time together, kind of makes us desensitized to how skimpy we dress. Trust me, if you spent any time around May, you'll see what I mean."

Friedrich raised his eyebrows. "I've already seen Misty. She said she trains in less than what she wore then. May's worse?

Anabel shrugged. "Probably. May has no boundaries."

Friedrich sighed. "Right. Anyway, your training is gonna be all about using your mind. You know about Star Wars, right?"

The empath giggled. "Who doesn't? Max loves the expanded universe books. I personally like Return of the Jedi."

He grinned. "Good, that makes things a lot easier. So, the two most obvious things to take from that are moving stuff and the mind control. I noticed that you have some of the telekinesis stuff down already. You use Psychic types, don't you?

"Correct. I use my abilities primarily to expand the reach of my chakrams," she replied, "With my dancing, I can move them in sync,"

"Right, let's expand that a bit. Telekinetics can move a lot of things if they are powerful enough. Good example is Jean Grey from X-Men."

"I'm not gonna get possessed by a space firebird, am I?" she asked, amused.

Friedrich snorted. "I dunno. I wouldn't discount the possibility. Anyway, she could lift trees and cars with little effort. Here, we're starting small." He pointed at some rocks at their feet. "Project your aura and try to lift these rocks with it."

Anabel nodded and concentrated. As she concentrated, Friedrich noticed her eyes glowing purple. "Question, do all of your eyes glow when you're using Aura?"

"Sometimes, it's especially prevalent when we're using a lot of power. I'm just showing you that I'm doing it." As if to emphasis her statement, eyes dimmed to their normal color, while a transparent aura of the same color seeped out of her body. Extending tiny rudimentary limbs, the energy grasped at the rocks, lifting them up, and brought them to her hands. Twisting her wrist, she watched in curiosity as the pebbles moved around her hand without any external input. Feeling her Aura mix with the minute magic, she casually flung them up and started to juggle them with her right hand, not even paying attention. "Now what?"

"Now try to fling them around using that same power."

Without even thinking about it, Anabel let the rocks fall into her hand, more aura pooling in her palm to cushion them. She adjusted her grip to set one on her finger and flicked it towards the ground. The power behind the flick kicked up the dirt from the impact.

"Well you definitely have some practice with it. Fine-tune the control and slowly work your way up to heavier stuff. Now we get to the fun part. You know how the Mind Trick works, now let's see it in practice. Think of a simple command and project it towards someone. Question is who do you want to do it on?"

Anabel hummed as she scanned the field below; she _could_ do it to Misty or any of her partners, but they were firm believers in pranking back. Gabby was also out, mainly because if she lost concentration now, someone was gonna get hurt. The same could be said for Drew as she spotted a large plume of flame coming from his direction. This left the mage Riders and seeing Grey practicing his magic off to the side, she had a brilliant idea. She held up her hand, focusing on Grey. In her mind's eye, she could see his outline, her destination glowing blue. Focusing on his mind, she easily melded with it, making her feel like she was in a cockpit. Running through her options, she settled on one command. _Attack Natsu with an Ice Make Knuckle._

She watched with a frown as Grey kept practicing off to the side, seemingly unaffected by her intrusion. Then, her frown turned to a smile as he stopped and stood still for a moment, then summoned a magic circle in his hands. Slowly, he turned and fired off a barrage of blue fists at the dragon slayer, knocking him down and causing him to sputter madly, scrambling back up with a glare. Grey's look of confusion quickly turned to anger as Natsu threw a punch at him igniting another brawl.

The empath couldn't help it and busted out laughing. "Oh my god, that worked better than I hoped!"

Friedrich recovered from his own laughing fit. "Got that right. This ability is perfect for when you need stealth. Best way to practice it is meditation and, you know, exercising it. Also, I may have an idea to incorporate your music into all that as well. Just need to plan it out."

"Music as a weapon…" Anabel pondered. She twirled around, lifting some more rocks with a sweep of her arm, having them orbit around her. "I always know music is a great motivator. But to actually influence a fight is something I'd love to explore."

"You have no idea how many abilities can do that. Trust me, when I have the time, you're gonna love what I make," Friedrich told her sincerely, smiling, before turning and walking away.

Near a group of trees

Friedrich stared at the brunette in front of him as she finished her warmups, gulping. When Anabel had said that May dressed less than she did, he'd failed to really comprehend what she'd meant. Now though, he understood. The only thing the girl wore was a strapless, black sports bra and a pair of green short shorts, leaving everything else bare.

 _I knew that Fairy Tail had some busty girls, but_ damn, _what did May do to get this figure!?_ He wondered, his thoughts straying into R rated territory.

May noticed him staring and giggled. "Enjoying the view?"

Friedrich stumbled over himself and quickly glanced. "Um…uhhhhh…"

"Relax, I don't mind if you look," she assured him. She straightened herself out, breasts jiggling in their confines. "If you couldn't tell, I have a bit of an exhibition streak. Unlike Grey though, I can keep my clothes on if you want."

Shaking his head, he slowly, haltingly replied, clearly flustered. "If it…makes you comfortable, I won't stop you. A-anyway, what I'm gonna show you is something that most Wood Mages should know how to do. First, though, I'll need to copy your power, so that I have a better idea of what we should do." He held out his hand.

The brunette furrowed her brow. "Didn't you already copy all of us when we fought? And why do you need that?"

"No," denied Friedrich, "I can only copy a power that I either see being used, or by touching the user. Since I never got close enough and you didn't use your Wood power, I didn't get the chance to replicate it. As for why…copying the power is only part of that particular ability." He rubbed at his left side. "When I copy someone's power, I also become able to understand how it works; the nuances in its functioning, how to apply it in different ways, where the power comes from, all that fun stuff. That's why I'm able to give you these sorts of instructions." Then he glanced at his hand and back at her. "…Well? Don't leave me hangin'."

May looked at the hand and hesitantly reached out to grab it. As she grabbed on, for a moment she thought she saw something dark flicker at the man's side, only for there to be nothing when she looked down. After a second or so, Friedrich let go and rubbed his chin. "Hm…very interesting…While it definitely has the quality of 'wood,' it isn't limited to just plantlife." He narrowed his eyebrows in intrigue. "I see…Interesting…you guys are more dynamic than I thought. Okay, I got it."

"Anything stand out?" May asked curiously.

"Yeah, you definitely have some power and potential with your Aura. What do you do with it specifically?"

May smiled. "We all try to specialize in using our Aura in different fields. My focus is inflicting various status conditions and illusions; in short, I specialize in debuffing."

"Right, but you don't use your Wood power more efficiently. You can expand how far you can use it, even seeing things that aren't there." He pointed at her feet. "You're essentially stepping on your element, and while you should be wearing shoes for this, I won't force you."

"Okay…" May answered confused. "How are we doing that?"

Friedrich grinned. "We're going truffle hunting."

"Like the sprout?"

"No that's Brussels."

"Like the country?"

Friedrich snorted, remembering a similar line. "No, just follow me. I know what we're doing." He motioned her to follow him deeper into the woods.

"Truffles are a mushroom, a delicacy enjoyed in many European dishes. One of the reasons they are considered valuable is because it's really hard to find them," He explained. "The only reliable ways to find them are trained dogs and pigs. Dogs are more likely to be distracted and pigs will eat them because of the pheromones." He reached a group of trees and looked around.

"So, how are we gonna find them?"

"We're not, _you_ are," he revealed, surprising the girl, "Using your Aura, you're gonna find them. Here's a picture of what they look like." He held up a picture of a black and brown mushroom. "Now, relax and let your Aura seep into the ground."

May nodded and closed her eyes. Her Aura slowly trickled towards her feet, then spread out through the ground. She gasped in amazement as her Aura revealed what was underneath her feet. Roots from the grass, trees and flowers stretched out for what felt like miles, showing a vast network of life. She tilted her head upwards to watch the leaves and vines swaying in breeze, traces of magic mixing with her Aura.

"Wow. This is amazing! It's like a whole other world," she exclaimed excitedly.

Friedrich nodded. Then he sensed something of to the side. Glancing to his left, he noticed that the flowers and some of the ivy were slowly turning towards the brunette. "Hm…"

"Hm?" she echoed. Then she giggled. "Friedrich, that's not nice, tickling me."

"I'm not," he deadpanned, "Open your eyes already."

May opened her eyes in confusion. Looking where she felt the tickling, she squeaked as the grass seemed to be moving towards her.

"What…what's going on?" She asked in surprise.

Friedrich hummed. "My guess, the plants like your Aura and they want more of it, like sunlight. Take that as a good thing, since you can command them at will like this."

May smiled and held up her hand. A vine on a nearby tree reached out and gently wrapped around her arm. "They're…affectionate!" she giggled. She released her Aura and the plants slowly retreated from her grasp. She pouted as the vine retreated and fell limp. "That felt really good."

Friedrich scratched his head. "Hmm. Well that's different. Anyway, did you find any?"

"Any…? Oh, mushrooms, right. Um…" She closed her eyes again, her aura pulsing out more quickly this time. As her senses sank deep into the ground, she gasped as she suddenly became aware of a vast network of what seemed like roots, stretching out densely all through the earth but as fine as a spider's web. Concentrating on them, she realized that they belonged to countless numbers of different fungi, and that they were connected to every plant in the area, transferring nutrients all over the forest. "They're all…connected!" she exclaimed in awe.

"Yep," Friedrich told her. "Fungi and plants work together to share nutrients. If you spread your aura through them, you can also use them to transmit your senses. You're unique in that your element is actually alive. Most of the rest only look alive when they're being directly manipulated. He then noticed the flowers turning towards her again. "Being able to control plants like this is great for attack and defense. Grass Pokémon are similar; most of them, from Bulbasaur to Sunkern and even beyond that are part plant in some way. In the wild they live in similar colonies to survive. Grass, in the games is seen as one of the weaker types, but that's because of all the types that can destroy them. But plants haven't survived for millions of years without the tools to overcome obstacles. This is what I wanted to teach you. Your element is everywhere, what you do with it is your prerogative." The brunette nodded as the vine from before twisted around her arm. "You have fun with your new friends, I'm gonna go find someone else to train." He walked away, leaving May to enjoy her new ability.

With Dawn

Dawn waited patiently in her pink training clothes as Friedrich approached her. "So, what we are we gonna do?" She asked.

"Well unlike May, I _did_ happen to copy your powers during our fight. Gotta say, you have a lot of potential as an attacker, but you're a supporter like Tori. If anything, you and May should be swapped."

Dawn looked away bashfully. "I was the last one to join up, and I kind of fell into the role when they found my element was Light. Considering that up until that point, Tori was our only reliable healer, I actually liked being a medic."

"But it leaves you vulnerable when someone gets through the front line; your weapon isn't really made for strong attacks," Friedrich pointed out. Noticing her flinch, his eyes softened. "That attack that nearly crippled you, it still hurts, doesn't it?"

"I get…phantom pains. It was one of Ash's rivals that took the offer of power; he was furious that we got that way," Dawn replied. "I feel like he took Glenn's place, I know for a fact the General was incinerated."

Friedrich hummed. "Well I was gonna do something else for you, but I believe what you need is something can enhance your defensive abilities. We can work on expanding your Light powers later." He rubbed his head. "Now, what should we do…"

The girl furrowed as she remembered something. "By the way, the other day you said that Sylveon looked just like a weapon from a series you watched. What was that about?"

"Ah…. Right, yeah! Myrtenaster, the Multi-Action Dust Rapier," he recited, "Used by one of the show's protagonists, Weiss Schnee. She didn't deal physical damage like her friends, but channeled her power through her blade, which was fitted with…" He trailed off, eyes widening. "There we go! Crystals!"

"Huh?"

"Your power is light, yeah?"

"Yeah…Where are you going with this."

He sighed. "What I'm saying is, you should load your rapier's chamber with various crystals, magic or otherwise, and channel your Light through them to see what comes out." Green light flashed from under his coat and suddenly he was holding an identical weapon, which he held up for emphasis. "Weiss used crystals as well, or rather a powdered version, but since your power is light, I figured we should go with a material that will act as a prism."

"What sort of material?" she asked.

"I dunno," he grunted, shrugging, "I just came up with the idea. I guess I'll come up with something if necessary. Meantime, we're gonna focus on precision. Concentrate on focusing your Light energy into your sword.

Dawn nodded and focused her power into Sylveon. Friedrich watched with a keen eye as pink energy travelled down her arm to the tip of her blade. "Now, thrust."

She reared back and stabbed forward, and a beam of pink light blasted from the tip of her rapier. The blast burst through three trees in front of them, leaving scorched holes in the bark.

"Whoa…:" she uttered, amazed.

"Lasers are cool, huh?" Friedrich chuckled. "Light is at its most powerful when it's focused, like with a magnifying glass. Perhaps using the different Auras from your Pokémon will create different effects. Anyway, I'll come up with some different things for you to use."

"Would jewelry work?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Um…Yeah, if we can find some that can be enhanced," he replied, shrugging.

"Well…" Dawn began shyly. "When we were travelling through Sinnoh, we found these temples that were supposed to be tests. When we passed them, we got a new form and a whole lot of treasure, like gold, jewelry and books. I remember my stash had a lot of gems. Not as much as Misty's though, considering she's a Guardian and had way more than us Knights. Hers and Ash's could fill out the guild hall three times each."

Friedrich blinked, eyebrows raised. "…Okay then. You show me some of them, I can see what I can improve. For now focus on improving your focus and power. Also don't be afraid to mix up your Pokémon moves in them."

"Hold on," Dawn called out to him. "What's the deal with your weapon? How could you copy mine so quickly?"

He glanced down at the rapier that he still held, taken aback. "Hm? Oh, right. That's one of the powers that I copied way back in the day. Basically, it's more of a quantity of energy that can transform into any man-made weapon I want. Got it from a hero named Miss Militia." The rapier dissolved into green light and shrank down into a combat knife, which he then sheathed. "Really handy when it comes to my inventions." He glanced up at her. "Or training my comrades with their own weapons. Anyway, keep it up."

"Good luck!" Dawn called out, waving as he walked away.

Friedrich sighed. "Considering who's still to come…I'm gonna need it.

With Max and Brock

Considering that their issues were similar, and the fact that he'd had time to process their powers, Friedrich decided to bring the two boys together.

"Alright, let's see here…Max is a Wind user, but you don't have a lot of Pokémon. And that's…why, exactly?"

Max nodded. "Yeah, I have Gallade. However, my belt is powered by the Ditto card, which lets me use any Pokémon we have. Drew, Tori and Gabby let me use their Pokémon to attack. So while I have only one Pokémon, I can still fight with my friends."

"Right…Ditto can transform into any Pokémon, that's a good base," Friedrich mumbled to himself. Then he turned to Brock. "You've got more variety, but your main element is Earth, weapon is a Poleaxe, you're more of a tank. However, right now, you take too much damage, with nowhere near enough defensive power to justify that. Max at least has the speed to avoid things, as expected of a Wind-user, but you don't. Fortunately, that's what I'm here for."

He stepped back. "Alright, so, Brock, we're gonna do something as Misty’s training. I taught her to use her element as extension of herself. Unlike her, your ammo is all around you and about…eight times out of ten, is always _going_ to be. Once she has the control, she can pull stuff from the air. You don't have to worry about that."

"So, I summon the rocks and they become part of my body?" Brock guessed.

"Exactly. Let's start with your arm. Focus on it and the earth beneath you," Friedrich commanded, "The earth is your power. It is a part of you, just like your arm. Think on this mindset and let the two parts come together."

"But it won't budge! It's the ground."

"Then you can't budge either. Make it join with you, not the other way around."

Brock looked unsure, but nodded and knelt down. He tapped the ground, feeling the vibrations from his knuckles underneath. The vibrations bounced off the rocks like radar, indicating the stronger ones in comparison to others. He reared back with a shout and _slammed_ into the ground. Instead of hitting the dirt and hurting his hand, the ground swallowed his arm without resistance halfway up his elbow. Slowly pulling it out, he watched as the ground came up with him, the earth and rocks compacted around the arm like body armor in a cracked pattern.

"Wicked!" Max cheered, running up to him. He took one of his sais and poked it, getting metallic pings for his efforts.

"Using your Aura and Earth Power, you can create a defense and an offense. With some training, you can become the tank you're supposed to be," Friedrich told the gym leader. He turned to Max. "Now for you, I got something in mind. Follow me."

Curiously, the young boy followed Friedrich off to the side. "So, I got two things to show you. First is something that might seem obvious: the air, the atmosphere, is all one big, fluid mass. Ever heard of aerodynamics?"

"Yeah, that's the physics behind flight, or at least efficiency of how things move. The more aerodynamic, the less energy it needs," Max replied.

"Correct. That's all part of fluid dynamics. When you move a particular 'part' of a fluid, such as water or air, the surrounding parts are likewise affected." The man slowly thrust out his hand, fingers splayed. "Let's say you created a rush of air, about as wide as your hand. While the fastest part would certainly be at that width, the air around that column would also be dragged along." The air swirled in his palm, growing steadily longer. "Likewise, if you charged it up like this, you'd have to pull the air from the surroundings to fuel it."

"Yeah, that looks like a miniature storm. You're creating low pressure to suck in the air."

"Not just that," he corrected. Turning, he thrust out his hand again, sending a swirling blast of air roaring out across the clearing. Even though he'd fired in the opposite direction, Max and Brock felt the wind tugging at their hair and clothes. "When you're pushing the air in one direction, it often means that you're pulling it from the other way as well. It's just like with water, pushing and pulling." Friedrich drew himself up, hands rising, and wind swept across the ground and surged up around him. "Not only that, but you can pull it from every other direction to focus it at one. Wind has less substance to it than water or earth, so you have to gather it and create higher pressure with every move," he explained, "Do that as smoothly as you can: gather air pressure and release it, quickly, until the process becomes a single move."

Max nodded and closed his eyes. "Push…and pull. Action, opposite reaction," he chanted. Friedrich watched as the younger boy took a deep breath and raised his arms. Snapping his eyes open, the Wind Rider slashed his arms forward. Friedrich's coat whipped back from the burst of wind coming from the boy, the traveler smiling as his lesson took hold. Max quickly went into a complex kata, before the boy spun around and thrust his hands forward. The force of the blast blew the grass backwards, even knocking some leaves loose.

"…Are you sure you're not a Guardian?" Friedrich asked him, "Because that was some serious power, there."

Max shrugged. "Simple physics, once you explained it to me. My math skills are really good, Gabby's about the same level. And no, I'm not a Guardian. I don't have the gem, and by the time I got my gear, Misty and Ash had theirs."

Friedrich snorted. "I know that. But when I fought you guys, I had no idea how much you were holding back. If some of the so-called weaker Riders put in some effort, you could easily take down some of the mid tier Capes back on Bet."

"Really?" Max asked surprised.

"Remember, they don't have the all-around training you guys are trying for. Not only that, their powers couldn't exactly grow, just their ability to use it. Anyway, the other thing I want to show you is enhancing your weapons." He pulled out his knife for demonstration. "While Drew can ignite his sword, he needs to keep it constantly ignited, you don't. All you need is a conduit, like your Sais," he explained, summoning a gust of wind to surround the weapon. The light reflecting off the blade began to change, gleaming with a shade of green. "Fire burns, Earth crushes, Lightning pierces, Water saturates and Wind cuts. By infusing an edge with wind extending its reach, you can chip even the sturdiest of weapons." He pointed to Max's weapon. "Your weapon…"

"Cyclonic Wind or Emerald Avenger."

"Right, Avenger is designed to break weapons by going against the grain of the blade. All you're doing is adding ways to weaken them and even cause chip damage," he explained, "You have the smallest area of effect outside Dawn, so you need as many advantages as you can get. Experiment in expanding your reach and damage. And keep practicing in changing the wind."

With that, he walked away, the breeze picking up as Max kept training.

Where the Mages were

Friedrich had debated how to train the mages and in which order to train them, because he could spot their flaws a mile away. For a practicality sake however, he chose to start with Grey. He was the only one that had a Knight element that matched his magic and his flaws were somewhat simple to solve.

"Grey! You're up!" he called out, "Grab your weapon and follow me, you're gonna get a crash course on handling it."

The shirtless mage grunted and followed the man. Natsu snorted. "Yeah, you need all the help you can get, stripper!"

Friedrich gave the dragon slayer a sidelong look. "I wouldn't be talking, pinky. You need just as much!" He retorted.

He led Grey to another set of trees. "Alright, can I see your weapon? I saw you use it during our fight."

Grey raised an eyebrow before taking it off his waist and tossing it. Friedrich immediately caught it and scowled. "Easy! This is a loaded weapon!" He cast his eyes over the barrel. "This can easily hurt someone. And-!" he flinched and quickly clicked the safety on, "For fuck's sake, ALWAYS put the safety on when you're not using it!" He pulled the slide back to make sure there wasn't a bullet in it. "Geez, I thought Drew would've taught you this!"

"I did!" he heard Drew shout from nearby, "Especially when Erza got her gear!"

"Right…anyway. Now this weapon is like Erza's, but a bit more modernized. This one is a modified version for civilian use, the normal version used with some of the better equipped militaries.

"Civilian use?" Grey asked.

"Cops, people who wanna defend themselves and more private militias. Anyway, part of the lesson here is that you can use the gun to extend how far your magic can affect the battle. None of you have reliable sniping potential." He lifted Tundra to his shoulders and pulled the trigger. A pulse of energy fired from the barrel, striking the set of rocks.

"I'm not a gun enthusiast like Drew or Max, but from a generalization, most of these have a select fire mechanism." He looked at the stock and found the lever to flip it to the three-shot burst "Let's see here, looks like it has a single shot, three shot burst and full auto. Each option is useful in certain situations." He raised the gun and pulled the trigger, three shots coming quickly out. "Now you try."

Grey took the gun carefully and lifted it up. He aimed at the tree and pulled the trigger. He grunted at the kickback grasping his shoulder. The shot went wide and struck the bushes.

"Yeah, a lot of the bigger guns have kickback, helps with the reload. It takes practice, and a little bit of armor there also helps. Try it again and relax. Infuse your magic into each shot."

The Ice mage let out a sigh and reset his stance. Calling on his magic, he channeled it into the metal barrel before firing again. This time, instead of an electrical burst, a shard of ice left the muzzle at an extreme speed before spearing through the tree.

Friedrich nodded in appreciation. "Good. Very good. Now put more power behind it. You're taking your magic and combining it with technology that is centuries ahead of anything that this world can create. It'll take some getting used to. Now, this weapon has two more forms." He flipped another switch, extending the barrel and forming a metallic curved blue blade from the muzzle. The butt of the weapon dropped to the ground forming a long handle with a small spike ball for counterbalance. "This is called a Guandao, a long pole weapon similar to Brock's poleaxe; only difference is that this is less for smashing and more sweeping." He demonstrated twirling the weapon around. "That means you should infuse it with magic and create an Area of Effect around you. When something gets cold, it slows down," "To tell the truth, cold isn't a tangible thing. It's an absence of heat, which causes molecules to slow down, forming solids. However, if can learn to control that slow-down, you'll be able debuff your opponent is really important."

He flipped the switch again and the spear extended while the blade split into three. “While a Guandao is a defensive weapon, tridents are more like three miniature spears. If the gun isn't working out, use this form as way to channel your magi. Or even use it as a throwing weapon."

"Right…can't believe this thing can do so much damage." Grey muttered looking it over.

"In the wrong hands, a weapon like this can get many people killed. But trained correctly, you have the capacity to do great good," Friedrich explained, "In the meantime, you'll need to be more creative with your ice. Spears and walls can only get you so far; if used strategically, ice can beat someone without even touching them, even shape the battlefield to your advantage. I'd speak with Freed about using Runes in your magic." Then he deadpanned. "And for god's sake, put some clothes on!"

The ice mage blinked, before glancing down and yelping as he was down to his underwear…again. The traveler sighed. "I think one project to work on is a thing that _keeps_ clothes from disappearing…" He grumbled, heading towards the remaining mages.

With Natsu

Friedrich could already feel a headache coming. This was one of the people he had a lot of concerns about, Erza and Gajeel being the other two. During the previous two fights, he noticed Natsu had been striking the Earth with Urvan. While a good starting point, it was clear that control was at the top of the list for Natsu's lessons.

"Now Natsu, I get that your Fire Dragon Slayer magic is strong, but you're neglecting your Guardian abilities."

"Why? I've been fine before!" Natsu boasted. "Nothing can beat a dragon!"

 _This is gonna be much harder than I thought,_ Friedrich groaned internally, "First off, not true. Dragons are strong, but there's plenty of stories about knights slaying them. In the Pokémon world, Dragons are one of the toughest types there is. But as of the current Generation from when I left Earth, three types beat it: Other Dragons, Fairy-types and more importantly, Ice-types."

"WHAT!?" Natsu panicked, realizing the implication, "Stripper can beat me!?"

Friedrich cringed, cleaning his ears out. "Yeah, probably. Trained correctly, Ice-types can destroy dragons. Even besides that, there may be things that are immune to your fire and dragon magic. I know Drew can easily negate them without a second thought."

Natsu fell to his knees as a cloud of woe appeared overhead. Happy flew above his head and patted his partners spiky hair. "Don't feel bad, you can be like Luc- AHHHHHHH!" The cat was sent flying by a kick, Friedrich cursing the cat as he lowered his leg. The traveler looked at the Dragon Slayer. "That's why I'm here. To break your dependency on your magic and brute force."

"But…if it gets the job done, why stop?" Natsu grumbled.

"It may get the job done, but at the end of the day, you're paying for all the collateral damage _you_ cause. And that goes for everyone else on your team! You can't keep doing that; if you pulled half the stunts, I heard about on our home world, you'd be in jail for life _and_ eternally broke! If you _really_ want to get paid, you're gonna need precision to make better use of your brute force."

Natsu sighed in resignation. "Fine…I'll try to calm down."

"Good! Now then, being the Earth Guardian means your ammo is all around us. Using your Earth Power, kick the ground and bring a rock to your hand."

Natsu, looking confused, did so. Instantly, the ground responded to his commands startling him.

"Unlike Brock, you have the durability to take a hit. What you are learning is a whole new set of magic compared to the one you were taught." Friedrich explained, looking up into the sky, "Fire is an all-consuming element, it feasts on oxygen, debris, wood anything it can get its hands on. Wildfires can ruin lives, but Earth by contrast is very stubborn. Rather than freely moving like the wind, it stays still until someone moves it. You have to force your will on it."

"You mean like what I do with my axe?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, but what you do is too wild with too little results. You're wasting _way_ too much energy," Friedrich explained. At Natsu's look of continued incomprehension, he sighed. "Look, you can make flames with barely any effort, right?" The boy nodded. In response, the man bit his lip and scratched his hair. "Alright, how do I put this? Dragon slayers…your element is basically another body-part, that you can move and summon and transform into at will. Being a Guardian is similar, but not quite. You must take the element that's already there and move it independently of yourself. Your own movements don't matter as much."

"What do you mean? Wouldn't Natsu moving mean he can move the rocks?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, but he's thinking too hard about it." Friedrich paused. "What I mean is, you don't need to even do stuff like using your axe to split the ground. If you want the ground to split, it'll split. Sure, some movement will help, but you don't need to be so direct about it." He pointed to ground. "Humor me and tear a chunk out, without actually touching the ground. You've seen Brock do it, right?"

Natsu frowned and held his hand out. "Tear out a chunk…without touching…the ground…" Friedrich curiously observed the dragon slayer's fist glowing brown. Happy stared wide-eyed as a two-foot circle of earth lifted out of the ground and up to Natsu's eyes.

"Am…I doing this?" he asked in awe.

"'Course you are," confirmed Friedrich, smirking, "You can feel it, can't you? Your magic coursing through the rock. The power that's comes from your Guardian heritage. With enough training, this power can crush anything in its path. Combined with your Dragon Slayer powers, you can beat anyone and protect your family."

Natsu glanced over to see his Lucy practicing with Erza some distance away. Clenching his fists, he nodded. "Teach me more!"

Friedrich saw his glance over at the gorgeous ladies and smirked. "I always knew Dragons were protective of their treasure. Who's the lucky lady?"

"Lucy…and Erza."

The answer threw the traveler off balance. "What…Your saying your dating both Lucy _AND_ Erza?"

"They're so gross when they act all lovey dovey!" Happy chimed in.

Friedrich rubbed his head, grumbling. "Good grief… are there any hot girls that _aren't_ claimed? Like Mira?" He stopped when he realized something and grimaced. "No, wait, she's gonna end up with you, if the other girls are any indication."

Natsu sputtered. "W…What?"

"Nothing," he grunted shortly, "Now then, work on your control and come up with creative ways to use your surroundings to turn the tide of battle. It a gradual process, do not rush it, otherwise you will hurt yourself or someone you care about."

Realizing the implications, Natsu nodded and raised his hand again, summoning more rocks to his hand. Friedrich walked away with a smirk. _He'll be fun to watch._

With Gajeel

Unlike Natsu, Gajeel was going to be a lot harder to train properly. Part of the issue was that Lightning, his Knight element, clashed with his Iron magic, resulting in the inevitable self-electrocution. The other part was that the Iron Dragon mage was more inclined to do things on his own

"Alright metal head, do you know what your element is?" Friedrich asked.

Gajeel grunted. "It’s Lightning, same as that prick Laxus. And I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting zapped every time I fire from this!" He waved his gun for emphasis.

"OI! Stop waving that thing around!" Friedrich growled swiping the gun away. When the dragon slayer tried to get it back, he pulled it away. "Do you promise to wield this responsibly?"

"Why? It's just a gun, I've seen those two cowboys use it, it shouldn't be a problem."

"And they only use it because they've trained to use them safely and correctly!" Friedrich snapped. "These things have a safety for a reason! An accidental discharge can and _will_ kill an innocent bystander! You do _not_ wave it around like you're Jack _fucking_ Sparrow!" He took a glance at the gun. "And this is a one-shot gun. You fire it once, then you reload. Definitely gonna upgrade that. What do you call this?"

"Hm?" Gajeel asked confused.

"Your weapons. Everyone who is a Rider has a name to their weapon." Friedrich explained. "Giving your weapons a name means you share a personal connection to it."

The dragon slayer stared at his sword and then his gun. After a few moments, two names came to mind. "Redemption and Condemnation."

"Hm?"

He pointed to the gun. "Condemnation, a weapon that brings ruin to those who wrong us." He raised his sword. "Redemption. I've been trying redeem myself in the eyes of not only the Guardians, but also the guild."

"'Kay," deadpanned Friedrich, "That'll work for now, but come on, there's a better name for those two. Anyway, we have a few things to learn. Top of the list is using lightning with your metal."

"Yeah, well, Iron ain't exactly protective against bolts. Makarov's boy nearly killed me!"

Friedrich squinted at him. "Were you expecting it to? Never mind… Do you know how conductivity works?" At the slayer's raised eyebrow, he sighed. "Alright, physics lesson. Conduction is the process of transferring energy through a surface. Some materials, like metal serve as great energy conductors, especially electrical. Thermal conduction is how cooking on a stove works, transferring energy from the flames through the water to cook the food. Electrical conduction works pretty much the same way, but more focused. What we need to do is create an alternating current."

"Alter-what?" Gajeel asked dumbly.

"Alternating Current." Friedrich repeated. "It's a way of transferring power across wires. There are two different types of currents used in power. Direct current only works when connected to a circuit. Remove the circuit, the power gets cut. We have these things called batteries that contain chemicals that produce a charge. Alternating currents can take multiple paths to get the power to its destination

"You mean like when that prick zapped me when I used my arm?"

Friedrich nodded. "Yes. We need to create a way to not only insulate you from the shock, but also a way to send currents out. Now, you can turn yourself to metal, right?"

"Yeah! One of the first things my Dragon, Metallicana, taught me!"

"Alright. When you generate lightning, where does it start?"

Gajeel pounded his chest. "Right where it's supposed to be, the heart of the dragon!"

"Heh," chuckled Friedrich. "That makes things a little easier. So why don't you try lining the inside of your veins with metal?"

"What are you talking about? You asking to turn my blood into iron?"

He shook his head. "There's already iron _in_ your blood. Electricity always follows the path of least resistance, and there's no nerves in your veins. If the positive charge starts in your heart, if you turn that to iron, along with your circulatory system, the charge and current will stay along that path." He paused. "Well, at least as long as you give it a 'destination' with a low charge. But even then, you're controlling it, so it shouldn't be too much of a bother."

Gajeel glanced down at his fists and clenched, veins pulsating under his skin. Slowly, the visible blood vessels greyed, as iron markings etched themselves on his skin up and down his arms.

"Alright, now built a charge and fire off a spell at this rock, like you would your Iron Club spell."

The dragon slayer reared his arm back thrust it forward with a shout. " **Iron Dragon's Iron Club!"**

"What a redundant name…" sighed Friedrich. Nevertheless, he watched as the pole burst from his arm electrical energy surrounding it. The attack split the rock vertically, before the combined magic shattered it and the two behind it.

"Nice. Now keep that idea and find a way to direct that power into other things, such as your piercings and even your gun." Twirling Redemption, he held it so that the barrel was facing him. "You gonna take care of this gun?"

Gajeel grumbled and grabbed it, clicking the safety on. "Yeah, I will."

Friedrich hummed. "Right. This time let the electricity flow into the weapon. Infuse it onto the bullet until it's good and charged. Remember at the moment this gun has one shot and needs to reload so you need to time these shots correctly."

The dragon slayer nodded and held Redemption to eye level, once more turning the safety off. Cocking the hammer, he charged up his magic, letting the electrical power flow as instructed. As he did so, a blue ball formed at the barrel's opening, crackling with energy. Once he felt enough was built up, he pulled the trigger. The hammer snapped down, launching the bolt forward. The recoil nearly knocked him off his feet as the blast went up into the sky.

"And that's why gun safety is a must. If someone was on the other end of that, well they wouldn't have a face. Keep your gun level and practice your shots. Also keep working on directing your lightning in any direction. Ash has been training with Lightning for a long time, so ask him for some tips."

Gajeel grunted as Friedrich walked off with a sigh. _This will take a lot of work._

With Mira

Friedrich had three more people to help and they all had their own issues. He had a bone to pick with Erza, and Lucy was way too reliant on her summons. But because Mira was, according to Drew, the newest Rider in their group and she'd just got her magic back, he decided to focus on the popular barmaid.

Walking up to her, he remembered why the white-haired girl was one of the most popular Fairy Tail girls, here in Earthland and back home. Her warm smile, currently tinged with slight nervousness, beautiful eyes and a figure to die for, just drew everyone to her. Shaking his head, he smiled. "Hello Mira. Ready to learn some more skills?"

The maid nodded. "Yep. It's been a while since I used my magic, gonna take a while to get back to full strength."

Friedrich hummed in agreement. "That's a given. Of course, in that case, this makes it the perfect time to add stuff to your repertoire. May I see your weapon?"

Mira nodded and summoned it to her hand. She gently held it out to Friedrich, who took it with satisfaction. "Yeah, _that's_ how you handle a gun. You're handling it as if it's loaded and your holding it in a way I can't be hurt." He held the sheathed weapon with reverence. "Blake…I hope you're watching this."

"Who?" Mira asked cutely.

Friedrich shook his head. "Blake Belladonna. Remember when I talked about several of your weapons being from a TV show? This was one of them. The Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe, Gambol Shroud." He held up the sheathe. "Did you know the sheathe was also a weapon?"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. That's your first lesson, learning the multiple forms of your weapon and then using your magic to increase their power." At her flinch, Friedrich sighed. "Strike that: first, we'll need to get you to stop being afraid of yourself."

"I…lost my sister thanks to this, you can't expect me to do suddenly do well after recovering from the trauma, right?"

There was a long silence as he gazed at her, head tilted and frowning, an unreadable look in his eye. "…At any rate, you're not wrong," he acknowledged finally, "That sort of trauma doesn't go away. Believe me, I know. All the heroes and villains around me _got_ their powers from such things. However, one of their greatest flaws is that they couldn't move past those traumas in order to improve their ordinary lives. I know, I tried. With you, however…" He had a look of realization. "Your sister's death wasn't the only trauma you suffered."

Mira looked away. "I…We weren't well liked where we grew up. I saved the town by Taking Over a monster and then they saw me as the monster. We were forced to leave…when we got to Fairy Tail, I was prepared to leave my siblings here."

"So…abandonment and family loss…Fairy Tail really has some messed up stories, don't they?"

"I'm sorry?" She asked.

"Most of you guys had a rough past and you found the guild and everything about it," Friedrich replied. "Anyway…if you'd left them there, that only would've been even harder on them." At her astonished look, he sighed. "Think about it. Not only did they lose their home, but then their own sister abandoned them. It would have devastated them." He looked up to the sky. "I've _seen_ monsters, Mira. All you do is take on their appearance. This is the same advice I gave Misty, but I think it applies to you a lot more. You are who you choose to be. If you see yourself as a monster, then you're a monster and this is pointless. But regardless of how you see yourself, it's not what you are that determines whether you're a hero or a monster. It's what you do. So. What will you do?"

Mira looked at her delicate hands. Underneath her skin laid powerful magic, a power that had seen her family thrown out of their home. It was a power that had been unable to save her sister. But at the same time, she'd used it to defend her brother from Freed… At that time, she'd felt something guiding her, something that wasn't her magic that disappeared after the fight. _He's right. I Tsuki made me a Rider, regardless of my past. For Elfman and…and for Lisanna, I must move on. I have to let go of my fear…I have to…control my magic!_

Friedrich saw her eyes narrow and her fists clench. He nodded in satisfaction. "Good." He held up Gambol Shroud in its sword form. "Now then, I'm sure you may have used it before, but this weapon has multiple features. First let's do the normal sword form." He held it up for the girl to take, which she did so hesitatingly. "First thing we're gonna do, is empower your blade with your Rider element. In this case, Darkness."

Mira bit her lip and held her sword up. Friedrich strolled around her, his mind fully in teaching mode. "Darkness is the absence of light. Everything casts a shadow, However, seeing darkness, feeling it, is hard. That's why it always waits for the right moment, then…" He snapped his fingers. "Death. Your power comes from the very shadows that people cast. What I'm going to teach you is how to utilize it, in your magic and in your weapons. First, channel the power into your blade and swing."

Mira nodded and focused on the blade. She watched as a blackish purple aura surround the weapon before swinging down. The resulting slash left a bizarrely transparent dark trail in the air. From the way she was panting, it was obvious that she was a complete novice at wielding a sword.

"You never really used a sword before, huh?" Friedrich asked.

Mira nodded, shrugging. "I've never needed to before. My magic and my Take Over forms were normally enough. Erza was more the swordmistress."

Friedrich hummed. "Despite that limitation, you still became one of the strongest mages in Fiore before your sister was killed. Going forward, that's not going to fly."

"I figured as much," she replied, "I saw you teaching everyone else new things; some of them looks so interesting."

He smiled, running a hand through his hair in satisfaction. "Well, I certainly thought so. Most them have been exposed to things that would make anyone in Fiore lose their minds. All I did was point them in the right direction, and get their imaginations take it from there. Some like Drew and Max were easy, others like Gajeel and Grey are hard. I tackled this in order of who can adapt the best and worked my way down.

"So…" Mira began, "Who's left? Erza and Lucy?"

"Yeah, and they both have something in common."

"They do?"

"Well, yeah, at least tangentially. Erza and Lucy are summoning their weapons to their hands. Unlike them, you and your brother's Take Over magic is an extension of yourselves. Have you ever tried to partially transform like him? Say…Grow wings or turn your hands into claws or something?"

Mira shook her head. "No…I've seen Elfman do it with his arms and head, but I've never thought to. He always does it because he can't control it, so we thought it was a weaker thing…"

"Well, if the thing you're transforming into requires body-parts that you're not transforming to support the ones you use, then yeah, it would be," agreed Friedrich, nodding.

"…I…think I understood that?" mumbled the white-haired young woman, tilting her head cutely.

He snorted. "Right. Well, basically you're changing your body's makeup into something completely different. That can mean anything from its skin composition to its muscular structure, magic-wielding mechanisms or even nervous system. If you only change part of it when it requires connections in the rest of the body that you don't have, then of course it's gonna be weaker. The trick is to follow those internal changes and figure out what you HAVE to change at minimum to get the most out of it."

"Um…what?" Mira asked tilting her head.

He slumped over disappointedly. "That was the simplest way to put it…Look, the idea is to focus the majority of your magic on transforming the body part you want, then enforcing its power by changing the muscles near or around that area. When you get better at this, you can expand it to other areas at once. When you do a full transformation after this training, you would waste less and therefore keep it up longer. Not only that, you should come to truly explore what each form does, so that you properly understand it and use its capabilities to their fullest. Of course, you'll wanna keep expanding the amount of forms you have at the same time…"

"Expanding what my forms can do. I only have three, Satan Soul is my most stable form. My other two can get lose control without my input."

"Then let's focus on Satan Soul at the moment. Where I come from, Satan is the master of darkness. I mean, that's one of his titles. There's plenty of interpretations. He doesn't…actually exist. And this was a stupid analogy." Mira giggled at his stumble. "Look, mastering the power of your Take Over's will take a lot of work. Mastering your weapons will be harder. Especially Gambol's gun form."

He pulled the sword back out and triggered a mechanism that caused the katana-like edge to fold back, revealing a relatively hefty pistol. "This particular gun is used by cops, law enforcement if you will. It's a semi auto pistol, which means you pull the trigger and the gun reloads itself." He took aim at a tree and pulled the trigger. A small burst left the gun and impacted the tree. "This is a smaller gun compared to Natsu, Erza's and Grey's. It's not gonna stop a lion, but a guy coming at you with a knife? Plenty of stopping power. Drew's got three similar weapons, have him teach you how to use them. Also, like the blade and sheath, empowering your shots with Darkness will open up opportunities to deal damage." He patted her gently on the shoulder. "You're stronger than you think you are; not just magically, but also emotionally. Don't let your past haunt you. As Monty once said, 'Keep Moving Forward.'"

He walked away, leaving the barmaid to her thoughts. She saw Natsu raising his fists and the Earth underneath him obeying his every command.

 _I can see why Lisanna liked him,_ Mira thought blissfully. She blinked. _Wait, where did that come from? I thought Natsu was with Erza and Lucy. But…the others are sharing Drew and Ash. This is so confusing._ She regained her focus and began practicing with Gambol shroud, taking peaks at Natsu every so often.

With Erza

The headache that was building from dealing with Gajeel was now full blown as Friedrich set himself to deal with the most stubborn of the Riders. "Okay…show me what you got. All of it. Go."

The red head nodded, and her body glowed brightly. Friedrich's smile turned into an angry frown as instead of her more recognizable Heaven's Wheel or even the Black Wing Armor, she went straight to her Clear Heart gear.

"No, _stop that,"_ he sighed aggravatedly, "I said all of it, not none of it."

Erza scowled. "You wanted me to show you my best…this is it."

"No, that's just a straight powerup that lends you no defensive or speed advantages," he countered, "You HAVE armor. Hell, your default clothing _is_ armor!"

"But this is where I'm at my strongest!"

 _I've been wanting to do this talk for a_ LOOOONG _time._ Friedrich took a deep breath. "No, your strongest trait is _variety._ You have god knows how many sets of armor and weapons, all with different abilities, that you can instantly swap at will and mix and match. Why. The fuck. Are you throwing all that away?"

"I did not get to be an S ranked mage with people questioning my methods!" She snapped summoning her sword.

"Well, you'd probably be even higher if they did," he deadpanned, "Because your methods suck, and if you don't take criticism, you won't improve. I heard the story of how Drew and Ash kicked your ass. That was the first time anyone called you out, and your lack of adaptability cost you and Laxus. Their teamwork probably didn't help either. So. Why are you, for lack of a better word, being so bone-dead stupid? Even Natsu has learned to adapt some of his new tricks!"

Erza winced at the jab. Natsu wasn't the brightest person in the guild, to be seen as worse than that stung. "I…I."

"If you can't adapt, you can't survive, that's the way evolution works. Sooner or later, someone will figure you out and make sure your power can't be brought to bear. Then what? Where's your fall back option? Drew has his blade and martial arts. Gabby can split her bow! The Aura Team have different Pokémon. You _have_ all these armors already! Fucking _use_ them!"

The redhead gritted her teeth. "…What do you…suggest?" she asked with difficulty.

"Well…what armors and weapons do you have? List them. All of 'em."

Erza rubbed her chin. "I have Heaven's Wheel, Black Wing, Giant Armor with a large Lance. I have an Adamantine Armor which is primarily a defensive gear. Um…my Purgatory Armor is gone. I have my Lightning Empress Armor, Sea Empress Armor, and some swords and spears to go with them."

Friedrich nodded, rolling his hand. "And? What do they do?" he asked pointedly, already knowing what they did. _Thank you, Fairy Tail Wiki._

The redhead flinched, remembering what Drew had said during their fight.

Flashback

" _That's the difference between us. You have hundreds of weapons at your disposal, but you don't have one that you truly call your own. Leonid and I have been together for years. I trained with this for hours to the point my body can instinctively know how to strike or defend. Leonid may be a weapon, but it's my weapon and it will be my weapon until it can't serve me anymore!"_

End Flashback

Friedrich noticed her downcast, shameful expression and sighed. "Your silence is telling. You have so many weapons and armors, you can't use them to their full potential because you only train them up to the point of efficiency. Not even enough to tell them apart and use their abilities. Start with that. Go over each of your weapons and figure out what make them different from each other." He then pointed to her newest weapons. "Get to know them first. Do you at least know their name?"

She looked at the spear and shield. "The spear is…Milo and the shield Akouo."

Friedrich grunted. "Good. At least you have that down. So, let's start with the shield. Did you know you could toss it?" She shook her head, causing Friedrich to groan in frustration. "Okay. Now you know. Your element is wind, right?" At her nod, he smiled. "Alright then we can still do this. The original wielder had an innate ability to control how objects attract and repel each other. We can replicate that with Wind, though it'll be tough. Call it out and see how it's used on your weapons."

Following his orders, she concentrated on summoning her new magic. To her frustration, only a small gust of wind appeared in her palm.

"Not so easy is it?" Friedrich asked, "Unlike Natsu and Grey, you're learning brand new magic. Baby steps is the key. Form a small ball first."

"How do you throw a shield like this anyway? Wouldn't it fall after hitting something?"

"That's where your Wind comes in," Friedrich explained, "See Pyrrha, the girl who used that weapon, used her ability to control her weapons in mid-flight." He took the shield and began to spin around building up momentum and magic, then turned and flung it away like a discus. Erza watched the shield bounce of several rocks with a loud clang before it returned to his hands. "Anabel can teach you some moves with this shield; her chakrams function the same way. But for now, I want you to call out your new magic and spin the shield in your hand, or on your finger.

She took the shield from him and looked at it inquisitively. "How do you throw something like this? It doesn't feel like something that fly normally."

"It doesn't normally, but it doesn't mean it's not possible," Friedrich corrected. "Back on Earth we have these books that are collected and portrayed as a story. Matter of fact, your story comes from one on these that came from another country in our world. In our country, we focus on heroes with large universes and all of that jazz. One of them is about a man named Captain America. He was a super soldier that was created during a version of our greatest conflict ever." Friedrich shuddered at the memory. "He eventually got frozen and woken up in modern America, before teaming up with several other heroes."

"What's this Captain have to do with me?" Erza asked

"Getting there," Friedrich grumbled. "Now Captain America stood out because of what he had. He didn't have technology, money, magic or even training as an assassin. He only had his strength, his tactics, and a near-indestructible shield. Just like this," tapping the shield for emphasis. "This shield was strong enough to deflect bullets and break metal doors. A shield can be more than a defense. Now, take the shield, apply your magic and watch it fly."

Erza gently took the shield and turned towards the rocks Friedrich threw at. She took a deep breath and reared back. With a roar she flung the shield as hard as she could. The shield sailed straight for a few feet before trailing off to the right and rolling onto the ground.

Friedrich hummed. "Definitely need to teach you how physics and math work. Cause that was pathetic."

"Sorry, I promise to do better." Erza blushed.

"Yeah, I would think so. Now then, let's take a look at Milo. Are you familiar with how this works.”?

Erza nodded. "I know Drew said its gun form is an…M1? Whatever it was, it was from something called World War II. I also know it has a spear form, of which I've used to great effect."

"Right. It actually has three forms. The third form is called a Xiphos, an ancient weapon used by the Greeks. It was a close-range alternative to their spear." He took Milo and sent a gust of wind into causing it to glow green. “This I can see you using a lot. I taught Max how to use his Wind magic to create an extra edge to the blade and invisibly increase its range. But what I want to show you is better seen in the spear form." He turned it into spear before summoning a copy of it. "This is called a Javelin. It's designed to be thrown. Now a shield might be hard to use your magic on. But a javelin is all about the force of the throw." He stepped back and hefted it over his shoulder. "All you need is a bit of strength, some dexterity and a little bit of speed." So, saying, he turned and hurled it at the tree. The bronze weapon pierced tree in front of them. "A properly trained wielder can pierce a person's skull. You're gonna go a step further."

As Erza watched, there was a grinding as the spear dragged itself out of the bark and zoomed back into his hand, before he turned and offered it to her.

"When you throw it, move the air around it. Make it fly farther, faster, or change its direction, doesn't matter. You are the controller. Make the Wind listen to you!"

Erza gazed down at Akouo. She had thrown much larger weapons than this before, of course, such as when she'd pierced the veil of Moon Drip at Galuna island. Sure, her magic allowed her to levitate her swords, but she'd never tried anything like what Friedrich suggested. She took a deep breath, pulling back, then, with a loud cry, flung it, wind kicking up all around her. The spear raced through the air, whistling as it did so, grass bending from the shockwaves. The weapon pierced through a large oak, landing on the other side. Seconds later, the tree burst from the point of impact showering them with splinters. Raising her hand, she tried to call it back. The javelin shook, before becoming still, causing Erza to pout and Friedrich to chuckle.

"Your magic is powerful, but you seriously need to work on your precision. Focus on properly _learning_ everything you've got first, then work your weapons into a more personalized fighting style. You need to break your one-dimensional offense if you hope to lead others to victory," Friedrich lectured, "Also, mix and match your armors. Don't be afraid to figure out what gives them their abilities, then stack them. Next time you meet a Dopant, you'd better _crush_ them like the S-class mage you are."

Erza looked watched the man depart, biting her lip and furrowing her brow. _He's right. If I can't adapt, I have no right to be an S-Class mage._ She took a deep breath, her body glowing.

Friedrich smirked at the light show. _Good. They all have a long way to go, but everyone here are gonna be monsters by the time I'm done with them._

With Lucy

Friedrich let out a sigh of relief. "Finally got around to you, Lucy. So much to teach, so much understand, so, _so_ little time. Sorry about that. Been a long day."

"It's fine," the blonde assured him, waving him off. "I got to watch everyone else. They all looked so cool."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, once you get the hang of using your power, it's all a matter of knowing how to work on it. I doubt I need to say it, but you need the most work done."

"Is it that obvious?" Lucy asked.

"You rely on your spirits WAY too much, considering that you can only summon them infrequently," he explained, "You have to arrange what days or time slots are okay to summon them on, right?" At her nod, Friedrich continued, "The Aura Team has a similar issue. They could only carry up to six Pokémon at a time, but they could swap out at any time. What your contracts do is limit your effectiveness. Obviously, we probably can't do it right now, but one thing you should work on is, when you have some free time to summon a Spirit, get to know how they fight, so that you can strategize on how to direct them. In the meantime, we're gonna focus on your weapon."

Lucy pulled out her whip and held it up to Friedrich. "This is Mutsuraboshi. According to Drew, it's another name for my armor, Pleiades

"The Seven sisters," Friedrich muttered. "Multiple cultures back home have a story related to those stars. Most revolve around being chased and transformed to protect them." He took a few practice whiffs with the whip getting a satisfying snap each time. "Anyway, what's your element? Metal?" At her nod, he continued. "Metal has a ton of applications, but they all have to be created. Unlike Gajeel, you don't have the means to create metal yet. However, that doesn't mean we can't use other forces to increase your power."

"Such as?" she asked curiously.

Saying nothing, he lifted up the metallic whip. Suddenly the sections separated and began to float around him. "Most metals are susceptible to electromagnetism, the ability to pull and push each other apart. With your power over metal, you can control this process. In one of the comics back home, there was a villain with such power over metals that they could pull the iron straight out of a person's bloodstream."

Lucy subconsciously grasped her neck. "That…that sounds horrible!"

"Yep. He was…he did a lot of horrible things, but the circumstances around him weren't that much better. Anyway, I doubt you'd want to do that, but the concept is the same. You're taking the metals and bending them to your will. Normally people would do stuff like manipulate magnetic fields, but you don't even need that."

"So how would I do that here?" Lucy asked, "Are the links or fibers in my whip independently powered? Or are they connected to something in the handle.

Friedrich grinned. "You know, you're the first to actually ask an intelligent question like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Drew and his team were more curious about _what_ they could do, not so much how they'd go about doing it. Ash and his team were talkative and more comfortable being students, so they didn't really ask too much. Your friends, with the exception of Mira, were combative and a bit more rigid in their stances on their magic." Friedrich pointed at her. "You're the first one to _really_ ask about your abilities."

Lucy rubbed her head. "I've always been the curious type. With people like Natsu and Grey thinking brute force is always the answer, _someone_ has to use their head. "

"…Well, you're not wrong," Friedrich conceded tossing her the whip. "Now then, let's see if we can't use that electromagnetism to good effect. Send your power into the whip and levitate the cables."

Lucy held her whip in front of her and concentrated. Friedrich watched as she glowed silver before focusing on the weapon. _Note to self, train them in knocking down the glow._ A small *click* caught his attention. He watched as the whip separated, connected by her own magic running through the small fibers. "Open your eyes Lucy."

The celestial mage blinked them open and gasped. Floating in front of her was her whip, her magic bringing the fibers to life. The tip turned to her and poked her cheek, making her giggle. "It's like a little dog. So cute…"

"Right…" Friedrich deadpanned, "Anyway, by breaking it up and reforming it, you can increase your range while creating new combos, allowing you to surprise your enemies. Try wrapping it around your arm."

Concentrating, the whip quickly slithered up her arm, around her neck and down her other arm. She shivered at the coldness. "The metal is pretty cold, but it feels like an extension of me wrapping around my body.

"Most of it is," Friedrich shrugged. "Some metals like copper are better at retaining than others. Now, the next thing I would like to work on but can't is your spirits. Your contracts, especially the ones with the Zodiac, limit your effectiveness. Imagine if the spirit you need is on an off day? You'll be defeated in less than a minute. You need to renegotiate them if you want to fight more effectively."

"But…" Lucy started. "I promised them! I can't back out like that!"

"And that's fine." Friedrich explained. "I know that Celestial Mages are big on promises. This isn't breaking them, per se; it's more like making a compromise. My suggestion is, with any spirits you have and will get in the future, you'll learn to use their magic with your own. You've got a lot of variety that you can exploit if your spirits are willing to train with you a bit more. At the very least, they should be willing to come to the table."

Lucy nodded as the whip curled off her and returned to its normal shape. Taking another look at her weapon, she had a though. "You think I could create more chains out of this?"

"Thinking outside the box again; if I were a schoolteacher, I'd give you an A," he complimented her, grinning, "To answer your question, yeah, you probably could and should at least try it. With your weapon and your power over metal, you could be the most dangerous Guardian on our world."

"Really?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah! The other elements are too obvious, both in and out of the cities. But metal is all over the place. Train hard enough and you could overwhelm pretty much anyone, anywhere. But all of that's not gonna matter if you can't take a hit or get out of the way."

Lucy pouted. "Are you calling me soft?"

"No. Well, not in _that_ way," said Friedrich, shrugging, "Like with Ash and most of his friends, you can't take much punishment before you're on your knees. They make up for that with speed and a lot of defensive abilities. Your Metal power, once perfected, can make up the defense you need, but speed, I doubt your gonna keep up with the speed demons. So, we're gonna go a different route." He held out a hand and the air swirled, compressing into a series of small, but visible orbs of wind. "Dodge these."

"What?"

Instead of answering, he chucked the orbs at her. They slammed into the blonde's stomach and chest and burst, knocking her on her butt. "Ow!" she whined "What the hell…?!"

He looked at her, smirking playfully while the wind-balls orbited his hand. "These things simulate the speed some spells can reach. If you can't dodge them, then you're gonna take a lot of unnecessary damage, and we don't want that."

Lucy winced. "If it's as fast as I think it is, then you're right."

"Of course. Even so, we're gonna start slow, otherwise you'll never be able to work your way up to that speed. Over time, these balls will get faster and hit harder until they become deadly. Maybe find some gear that can take a hit." Friedrich approached her and helped her up. "I don't want any of you to die, you know."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

Friedrich turned around. "Remember what I said about your spirits," He told her, "Your greatest strength is your connection with them. Work with them, expand your repertoire and never stop training."

"I will," she promised.

Sunset

Friedrich smiled as the Riders put their lessons to good use. Watching from where he leaned against a tree, he saw Ash and Drew talking briefly, before the swordsman launched what appeared to be a ground type attack, mixed with a water move, into the air. He overheard Drew commenting on something, to which Ash nodded. Over at the pond, Misty had enclosed herself in an orb of water. She looked right at home in it, as she didn't even struggle with breathing. Off to the side, Tori was practicing her water bending, and trying to create objects in the water. Next to her was Dawn and Max, both of whom were using the water as target practice with their lasers and airbending.

Looking at the woods, he could hear trees and branches creaking and rustling as they danced in rhythm, May's power nourishing them with energy, getting him to smile. Down the hill, he spotted Natsu and Brock working on their earth bending while Erza watched over them, Requipping into her Lightning Empress Armor herself and carrying her Heaven's Wheel swords. She was using the rocks the boys created as target practice for not only her own weapons but also Akuho and Milo."

"BANG*

Hearing the distinctive sound of gunfire, he glanced to the left and saw Gajeel lowering his gun as Drew walked over, making sure to have all the shooters have earphones and safety glasses on. He saw where the shot went and helped adjust his aim. He then walked over to Mira and started to show her his weapon, before firing off a few shots of his own, Mira tried to copy him, but all but one missed the target down range and even then, it wasn't a kill shot. A few words of encouragement later, she put more shots on target.

Drew smiled and walked down to Grey, several pulses firing from his gun. Friedrich could see most of the shots had landed short, mainly because the ice hadn't melted yet. He could see the Fire Guardian shook his head and asked for the gun. Setting himself correctly, he unleashed three bursts, with most of the shots finding their target. He told him something before patting his own shoulder where the gun should be, before heading down range. He stopped next to Gabby, who was launching arrows and piercing several targets. The brunette looked at him and turned away, something obviously bothering her, relating to her weapons. He muttered something before kissing her forehead.

Friedrich watched as Drew climbed the hill to meet him. "Hey." He acknowledged.

"Hey." Drew replied. "So, what do you think?"

"About?"

He waved his arms around. "What we're doing. Are we going in the right direction?"

The man shrugged. "Sure. You're already producing results, and this is the first day. Of course, that just means that you'll have to work even harder, in order to get _everything,_ you can out of yourself."

Drew sighed. "Try telling the mages that. For people who grew up learning this sorta stuff, they don't have much imagination."

Friedrich grimaced. "Ugh. Hate that. Well, that's just one more thing to work on in the future."

Drew hummed as he watched his friends train. "There's a war coming. They need to be ready." He turned back to Friedrich. "This war won't be limited to here. What we did in the Pokémon world were border skirmishes. There is a massive army somewhere in the multiverse waiting to send their full might. There are people here that are willing to side with them. We need all the help we can get. Friedrich, I'm not asking you to fight for us, but I am asking you to help train us. Turn us into the warriors Tsuki expects us to be. She may have been around thousands of years ago, but the way war is fought is different from what she fight. You know what our world can bring. Imagine that hellfire brought here!"

Friedrich said nothing. In a way, Drew was right. One of things he'd mentioned was that they found technology that could be found in World War II, several centuries ahead of Fiore's tech level. They had airships of course, but they could easily take down by jets of their age. But he also knew what that war brought. It was in constant danger of falling into the wrong hands; if something like those weapons were unleashed here…"

"Yeah, it would wipe out countless people. But you must be out of your mind if you think I'm leaving now. You need me more than you know. If a war is coming, then we need technology; and I can provide it. The entire guild needs to be trained, not just you guys." He stared out to the rest of the field. "But I have a feeling we're gonna need more."

Drew closed his eyes. "That's for another day. When the war we're going to fight finally breaks out. But it doesn't mean other battles are coming. Yuzan is a madwoman and she's got people in position to advance tech here to a level that's unsustainable. I rather that happen naturally.

"War has a funny way of advancing the tech trees. But I know we can beat it. Something brought me here. Something had me in Acalypha Town to save your friends. And now you got me for the long haul. Just don't be surprised if I shut myself up for long periods to make some sort of mad science bullshit."

Drew chuckled. "We're all a little mad on the inside. It's the way we show it that determines whether we're living in Looney Tunes or a horror film."

"'s not even madness," replied Friedrich, shrugging, "That's just people being people. I'm me and you are you. Insanity doesn't even come into it."

"Right," Drew sighed. "Can you whistle?"

Friedrich nodded and let out a shrill noise. Drew cleared his throat. "Alright! Pack it in! I can practically hear your stomachs from here! Take the lessons you learned today and keep practicing as much as you can when you’re not on missions!" He ordered.

He watched as everyone started up the hill. Some, like Max and Dawn were excitedly talking about their new training. Others, like Natsu, were boasting of how much stronger they were getting already. Lucy and Mira were both giggling at his boasts while talking to Misty and Ash about something they came up with.

Gabby and Tori walked up to Drew and Friedrich. "How do you think we did?" Gabby asked.

"For a first time, not bad. But you can't be lax. This is all the beginning to reach your abilities full potential. Who knows, you could all evolve further than this."

"I hope so." Tori said smiling. "Thank you for helping us."

"My pleasure, Tori." Friedrich said bowing with a flourish. "Come on, I'm starving."

With Erza leading the way, the Riders made their way back to the guild, their goals for future training on their minds. How will this new training affect their battles to come? Find out next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter
> 
> UO: BLAME NS! End of story! Monster Hunter apparently is too popular for this. T-T
> 
> NS: I believe the word you're looking for is 'good.'
> 
> UO: Who was it that got team killed by being sent into a dragon?
> 
> NS: Not me. I only lost a little HP. :) And I got to hit that motherfucking dragon with the Dragonator.
> 
> UO: Whatever. Point is, he's hunting, not writing. I need to set up traps to keep him here. No omakes this time, it's long enough as is, and I want this out.
> 
> Preview: As Friedrich settles into the guild, a supplier gets flagged as a potential contributor to Yuzan's war effort. But it takes a turn when one Guardian goes down and the supplies found dredge up bad memories for both Friedrich and the Earth team. How will they take them down? Find out!
> 
> Next Time: A Global Menace! The Dark Side of War


	22. A Global Menace! The Dark Side of War!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friedrich's First Mission reveals a much darker aspect to the war the Riders are fightinh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Fly Eagles Fly!  
> Drew: Someone's in a good mood  
> UO: Damn right! The Eagles got to the Super Bowl, will probably be in a bad mood in the next chapter if they lose.  
> NSG: And I got Monster Hunter!  
> UO: So we are both in a good mood.  
> Friedrich: Well, guess who isn't going to be in a good mood after this chapter. Everyone on the mage team!  
> Lucy: *Waterfall Tears* Why?!  
> Friedrich: Because change hurts!  
> Grey: Yeah flamehead needs all the help he can get.  
> Natsu: What did you say stripper!? (Brawl starts)  
> UO: Why do you encourage them?  
> Erza: Natsu! Grey! Are you (gets cut off as she is Slammed into the wall)  
> Friedrich: Because it’s fun? And Erza needs another reality check.  
> UO: Tori can you do the disclaimer before the studio is destroyed…again?
> 
> Tori: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem do not own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider and Pokémon. They only own the plot, Friedrich and us respectively and make no money off it.
> 
> *Studio blows up*

"Speech"  
Text  
 _Thoughts  
 **Inner to Outer  
**_ **Belt/Dragonforce/Super mode  
Spell/Technique/Finisher**

Chapter 22: A Global Menace. The Dark Side of War

Two Days later, August 18th X784, Late Morning

The sounds of clashing metal echoed through the clearing that the Riders had staked out as their training ground, days prior.

Drew countered Natsu’s overhead axe swing and dropped it to the ground. Using the over extension, he punched the Dragon slayer in the face forcing him back. Spitting, Natsu leaped and set himself for another attack. Drew flipped his sword and held it front of him, waiting another opportunity to strike.

** “Gale Shield!” **

Max’s voice was the only warning Drew had before a gust of wind appeared next to his left shoulder. by some of Grey’s shots. The young boy found himself about to be hit by an ice spell that bypassed his guard. He rolled on the ground upon landing, before leaping back onto his feet, watching Grey ready his next spell. Using his newfound training with Wind manipulation, the young boy summoned a small tornado that disrupted the salvo of ice from Grey’s weapon. Drew faced the Ice Mage, opening his hand to unleash a flaming torrent at the shirtless mage. Grey quickly summoned an ice wall to deflect it away.

“Don’t forget me! **Terra Burst!”** Natsu slammed his fist into the ground, summoning a large wall. Then he rapidly punched it, shattering it and thrusting them towards the Fire Guardian.

Before they could connect, Ash appeared in front of the blast and parried the debris with Raikou Drew chuckled. “Who said I did? I’m always watching my six, and I got my wingman with me.” As he said this, Ash and Max lined up next to him. Opposite them, Grey and Gajeel flanked the Dragon Slayer.

Gajeel tched and pulled out Redemption. Tracing metal down his veins into the gun and pulling the hammer back, he grunted out an attack as his current flowed. **“Lighting Screw!”** He pulled the trigger, sending a spinning bolt of electricity streaking towards the Fire Guardian. Ash swung his sword a blur of motion and deflected it up in the air. The Guardian crouched down, building up energy in his form before pouncing on the Iron Dragon Slayer.

*CLANG!*

The two blades clashed again, the Aura master’s momentum forcing Gajeel to bend back. “Kekekeke…well what do you know, Mouse Boy! We share the same element! Only difference is, you can absorb mine and I can deflect yours!”

“True, we might have the same element,” Ash raised one hand off Raikou’s hilt and caused it to glow blue, “But unlike you, I’m more used to falling back on other stuff! **Splash Cannon!”**

Gajeel couldn’t react fast enough and cried out as the large geyser crashed towards the down slayer. Ash jogged up to him, his sword clenched in his right-handed. “Lesson for ya. Just because a Pokemon gets a boost from use same type moves, they often can use other moves to cover for some weakness. Often types it’s to cover a niche on their team.” He raised Raikou to Gajeel’s face. “I think is the part where you tap out.”

“Forget that! We’re just getting started!” Gajeel told him charging at the Guardian. Ash obliged and charged at the slayer.

Off to the side, Grey was struggling against Max. Part of it was that Max was currently the smallest of the Riders and was using his agility to sweep underneath the Ice wizard. The other part was that his weapon, Emerald Avenger, were Sais, which were designed to catch and break weapons. He caught Tundra’s Guandao form between one of their blades and used the other launch a green blade of energy at the Ice mage.

“Got to learn how to cast your spells one handed or learn to channel them into your weapon.” Max told him.

“Tch…we do it one handed, and Ice Magic gets out control.”

“That’s an excuse and you know it,” Max shot back. “And it’s that reason why your gonna lose tHIS-!” All activity suddenly stopped at the sudden rise in pitch of his voice.

Grey snorted. “What the heck was that?”

Instead of answering, Max turned to Drew desperately. “G-GuYs, my voice is cracking!”

Drew swore in his head as he pushed Natsu back. “Alright Everyone, time-out!” he called out. He walked over to Max. “When did this start happening buddy?”

“Literally jUst, now!’ Max’s voice screeched.

Drew groaned. “Alright, let’s head back to the guild. We’ve been out here for three hours.”

Indeed, the clearing showed signs of a long fight between the six, with uprooted dirt and burnt trees. They grabbed their weapons and their bags, before heading back. Natsu walked up to Drew. “What’s wrong with Max?”

“Something I knew was coming soon, but I didn’t think it would happen there. He’s entered puberty, finally.”

“Puber-what?”

“Puberty. Did _any_ of the adults give you guys a talk about grownup things?” Drew groaned. At his blank stare, he shook his head. “That’s a no. Alright, when kids get Max’s age, their bodies started growing up. For guys, their voices get deeper, they start growing taller and broader and their bodies start creating strange odors. For girls…well, I think it’s a little more obvious.”

“What?” Natsu asked confused.

“What that means, Salamander, is that the girls start becoming women and smell weird once a month,” said Gajeel, laughing derisively, “Gods, even _I_ knew that.”

“What did you say, Lugnut?”

“He’s calling you an idiot, lizard-breath!” Grey taunted.

Before Natsu could react, Drew angrily shot out a plume of flames. “Enough, both of you!” He turned to Natsu. “This is precisely _why_ I don’t want you in charge of anything at the moment. You rise to every little taunt and take it personally.” He turned to Grey, scowling. “And _you_ keep baiting him when he could kick your ass if he wanted to.” Then Gajeel. “And you _really_ need to butt out of everything. Sooner or later, someone’s gonna fight back and actually hurt you. Say what you did to the wrong person back home and they would pop your head.”

“Whaddya mean, Lion boy?” asked Gajeel.

“I mean, in some of the poorer towns near me, they are run by gangs. Upset them and keeping your head would be the least of your worries!” Drew snapped. Then he calmed down. “My world isn’t perfect. It’s got a lot of problems, domestically and internationally. People try to do their best to get a better life, but it’s never enough. Suffice it to say, we’re gonna figure out how we can do our part. Anyway, can we switch topics, please? Any other questions?”

“Yeah, I got one. How do you guys find the time to do things outside of school and work? “asked Grey.

Drew laughed. “Oh, trust me, there are people whose job is to entertain people through sports like baseball, football and Ice Hockey.”

“Ice Hockey?” asked Grey intrigued.

“It’s a game played on skates where you can hit people on the ice. You chase a small rubber puck and try to get it into a net. I think you’d would like it. Natsu sounds more like a football man, because he wouldn’t have patience for baseball. Nothing on you Natsu, it’s too slow for someone wanting to fight 24/7.”

Gajeel glanced behind them. “Do you guys play any of these sports?”

Drew nodded. “Most of us have a sport or specialization outside our training. Ash is a runner, one of the fastest in the state. Max is a Lacrosse player, a sport that involves something like hockey but a bit more complicated. I personally play baseball and another sport called bowling.”

“You think we could play these games some time?” asked Natsu.

“Some of them, yeah. Others need specific conditions or safety equipment. Anyway, I’m hungry, let’s see what Mira’s got cooking for us!”

This got everyone to speed up to reach the guild. A few minutes later, Natsu busted through the door, catching everyone’s attention. Friedrich was the first to acknowledge them, etching at something with a set of tools. “Yo! How was training?”

“Productive, still need a lot of work though,” said Ash, sitting down.

May walked over to greet her boyfriend, but then noticed that her brother was covering his mouth. “What’s wrong, Max?”

“Voice started cracking. He’s a little shy over it,” Ash replied, smirking.

“Puberty?”

“Yep.”

Then to everyone’s confusion, there was a mixture of cheers and groans. Lucy seeing this raised an eyebrow at that. “What’s up with Max’s puberty to get that reaction?”

“It's not him starting to grow up. It's the fact that _these_ knuckleheads put a bet on when he would start,” sighed May, rubbing her eyes tiredly, “Brock, where’s the betting book?”

Brock reached into his bag and pulled out a black book before flipping through the pages. “Tori, Misty, and Anabel won this bet. Thirty bucks total to each one.” The three girls cheered, while Lucy took the book and skimmed through getting some curious onlookers.

“Anyone got the jewel equivalent, or should we wait till we get home?” Drew said rubbing his head. Remembering something, he looked for Makarov. “Master Makarov?”

“What’s up?” asked the short man “Have you ever given these guys the Birds and the Bees talk?” As he asked this, Mira came by with their food.

Almost instantly the guild went dead silent. Makarov cleared his throat. “Er, well…not many times, since there aren’t many female members to give the girls their Talk. As for the guys…”

Drew groaned. “Alright then…” He awkwardly started to eat.

Friedrich sat next to him, taking a bite out of his meal, one that he’d ordered separately. “So, you have these crazy bets going?”

“Oh yeah, Lucy, when you’re done with that book can I have it?” Drew asked her.

The blonde was enthralled with the types and number of bets. Some of them were checked off indicating they were completed; others had a laundry list of numbers. “This is insane. Why do you do this?”

Brock shrugged. “Boredom, mostly. And, well, we just love messing with each other.”

She looked down and spotted one betting pool that was two pages long. “What’s the basis for this? How long it’ll take for Drew to ask…new-poor, out?”

Hearing that, Drew marched over and snatched it, glowering with a blush. “Really?” He looked at his friends, who looked unfazed by his tantrum. “Really guys? You’re betting on our relationship?”

“Oh, come on, it would be cute to see you two!” Dawn gushed.

“She always wants to know about us, and she _loves_ spending time with you.” Anabel pointed out. “Her heart beats a little faster around you. Kind of like when Ash met us.”

“So, what if she is into me. I don’t…feel like going after her,” sighed Drew, slightly depressed. Then he perked up. “Besides, Ash isn’t the best metric. It took until May and Misty crawled into his bed to figure out.” He waited for Ash’s response. When he got nothing, Drew turned, frowning. “Ash, you gonna…chime...,in?” He trailed off, paling, as Ash’s heavy breathing caught him and everyone off guard, noticing redness spreading on his friend’s face. “Ash, buddy, are you alright?”

“No…*gasp* can't breathe. My cheeks feel a…little heavy,” He gasped, which raised a red flag with everyone. He nearly fell to the floor if it weren’t for Misty catching him.

“Ash! Oh my god!” Misty cried. She turned to Drew. “What’s going on!?” she asked frantically.

Instead of answering, he turned to Mira who watched with shock. “Mira, what was in that dish?”

“Um…” she began, “Some cream, some sauce and some clams I got at the market.”

Drew suddenly realized what it was from the ingredients. “Shellfish allergy…Its Anaphylaxis! Dawn, get the EpiPen!”

The bluenette squeaked and scrambled to her medical kit, trying to find the medicine. Friedrich remained calm, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he watched. With a flash of green light, a cylinder leaped into his hand. “Here!” he barked, tossing it to Drew.

The fire Guardian caught the device without hesitation and pulled the safety off. “Misty, try to sit him up!

The red head with the help of a very worried May helped up. By now his face was beginning to swell, his eyes closing from the pressure.

“Injecting the EpiPen now!” yelled Drew, stabbing the long cylinder into his friend’s thigh. A distinctive click was heard from the injector, meaning the medicine was going in. The guild went quiet as he held the device firmly into his friend’s thigh. After a few tense moments, he pulled it out and carefully laid it on the table, watching for any improvement from his friend. Moments later, the swelling went down, making him sigh in relief. “Alright, let’s get him to the infirmary. Makarov get that old nurse that saved you. We’re gonna need her.” He helped Ash stand, the Riders all quickly shuffling behind him.

Friedrich watched them go, brow still furrowed with worry, as the EpiPen flashed back into his hand as a knife.

Two hours later

“I must say, I never expected something like this. Clams almost killing you, that’s a new one for us,” Polyrusica grumbled.

“I honestly didn’t expect it either, ma’am,” replied Ash, voice a little raspy.

“Well then, other than soreness you should be fine. But I recommend staying home for a couple of days,” the nurse told him, grumbling as she left the room. Misty and his other girls approached him with worry. “How do you feel?” May asked softly sitting down at the foot of his bed.

“As well as I could. Go figure, food nearly killed me,” Ash laughed, before coughing.

“You’re lucky we knew what to do and that Friedrich made that EpiPen!” Misty snapped tearing up, “I don’t want to lose you something stupid. None of us do!” Ash’s smile softened and he reached to rub her cheek. “I ain’t dying that easily. Besides, now we know to avoid shellfish around me.”

The red head sniffled. “You always could laugh away pain. Nothing ever seems to faze you.”

“Trust me there are things that would, and I don’t plan on seeing them anytime soon,” he replied. He turned to see Dawn looking away. “What’s wrong Buneary?”

“I…couldn’t do anything. I was trying to find the Epipens, and Friedrich just swooped in and saved you…” she started babbling, her tears spilling down her cheek.

Anabel quickly grabbed the blue-haired Lolita’s right hand. “Dawn, please, calm down,” pleaded the empath sending her own energy into her in an effort to calm her partner down, “You couldn’t have seen this coming. No one could have. And Ash is fine now.”

Ash took other hand. “Buneary, it’s okay. You’ve saved us too many times to count. Besides, you can take care of me now. Let me see that smile of yours.”

Slowly, Dawn smiled through her tears and squeezed his hand. “Well, there was a nurse outfit I wanted to try.” This got giggles out of all five present.

Outside the infirmary Makarov watched the interactions with a small frown. He turned to Drew who was watching with a smile. “What happened?”

The Guardian looked at the master critically. “You know those sneezing fits I have?” Indeed, Drew’s allergies were bad enough that he’d destroyed a couple of tables thanks to his sneezing combined with his Fire manipulation.

“Yes, you caused some crazy property damage. So glad our madness rubbed off on you.”

Drew stuck out his tongue childishly. “Anyway, those are caused by allergens. My body thinks that certain things, in my case pollen and dander are dangerous. It overreacts causing me to sneeze. In the spring when pollen is abundant, I have to take medicine to keep me functioning.”

Makarov regarded Ash who was laughing at something the girls said. “Are you saying what Ash had was an allergy? Then why wasn’t he sneezing?”

Drew closed his eyes and sighed. “No. What happened to him is what happens when some people are exposed to certain allergic triggers. Chief ones are nuts, bee stings, certain medicines and in Ash’s case shellfish. It's called anaphylaxis. This happens because the body is very sensitive to these triggers and will react like an overzealous police officer. It causes swelling, labored breathing and puffing up the cheeks and eyes. Not treated correctly, it can and has killed.”

A feminine gasp caused them to turn and see Mira holding her head in shock before falling to her knees. “No…NO! I didn’t want to kill Ash! I was just trying a new recipe!” She wailed. Tears fell down her cheeks as seemed to be ready to snap again.

Drew rubbed his head and knelt down to comfort the white-haired girl. “Mira…this was in no way your fault. We never knew Ash had this allergy, and if we did, we would have warned you. You’ve actually done us a favor by revealing it now. If we didn’t and something happened, we may not have saved him in time. I’m just glad we had the medicine ready.” He told her, her blue shining with unshed tears.

“What was that you stabbed him with? It wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before,” Makarov observed.

“It's called an Epinephrine injector,” Friedrich responded, walking up to them, “Or an Epipen. It's designed to inject adrenaline into the body through the thigh muscle. Drew also gave him a strong allergy medicine to stop further reactions but he's gonna be sleepy.”

“It's a relatively new thing by our standards but it's a lifesaver,” Drew added, “Problem is it's expensive to get because of the drug companies’ monopoly over it, and the fact the injector is useless after a year in storage.”

“Something I can at least fix for us in the future. Anyway, how’s the patient?” asked Friedrich.

“He's benched for at least two to three days. Other than that, good to go.”

Friedrich grunted, but before he could respond further, they heard someone clear their throat. “Is…this a bad time?” They turned to see Jude, with his daughter escorting him.

Makarov shook his head, smiling wanly. “No, not at all. How can we help you, Mr. Heartfilia?”

Lucy stepped forward. “Father thinks he may have found a benefactor for Yuzan. Some of his business rivals have been acting strange.”

“Please come to our home. I have all the information there,” Jude asked.

Drew looked at Makarov before heading into the infirmary. “Gabby, Tori, we might have a mission.”

“Alright,” sighed Gabby.

Tori waved at Ash. “Feel better, Ash!”

Ash glanced at his girls and grinned. “Oh, trust me, I will!”

Gathering the other Riders and Friedrich, they left the guild and followed the man to the wealthier part of Magnolia. Instead of wood, most of these buildings were made of brick and stone. Jude had gone for a three-floor condo that, while smaller, was much homier and closer to his daughter. Sure, he’d had to let go of some of the staff, but they were well compensated for their loyal service. He even invested in a small company that focused on catering and other services.

“Nice place you have here, Mr. Heartfilia!” praised Natsu, amazed at the condo.

Jude grunted. “It’s smaller than what we were used to.” He glanced at his daughter. “But I’ve found there are more important things than a big house.”

Lucy beamed as they walked into the manor. As they strode down the front hall, Drew got right to the point. “So, Mr. Heartfilia, what did you find?”

“If we’re gonna be associates, at least call me Jude. Everyone except Natsu!” He snapped at the Dragon Slayer, who nearly knocked over a vase he’d been examining. “Anyway, as I was saying, I had a meeting with some of the more…powerful businessmen in Fiore. This was right before the Fantasia Parade, for the record. Many of them expressed sympathy for our situation, even offered to help get our business back on our feet. Three of them, however, were less reserved. One you might recognize Lucy: Junelle Swarre.

“That pig!?” Lucy screamed indignantly.

“I assume you have history?” asked Gabby dryly.

“It was…her refusal to be engaged to his son that led her to run away,” Jude revealed, making a pained grimace, “In hindsight that was probably the best move.”

Natsu approached Lucy and wrapped his around her shoulders. “He’s not getting my girl! I’ll fight him all!” This got Lucy to blush and her father to smile.

“Yes…well,” Jude cleared his throat, “He was in position to buy out the Kozern. Me surviving with most of our fortune, ill-gotten or otherwise, put a damper on that.”

“Which would give him motive to try something else,” Friedrich concluded, nodding, “What’s his field?”

“Trains, specifically small hauls and locals. I originally wanted to marry Lucy off to get the train routes he had access to and create a further monopoly.”

“Sounds like the pre-Amtrak days,” Tori pointed out thoughtfully, “Before the government nationalized our rails, each company ran their own trains and tracks. This would force others to pay for the right to use them.”

They reached a conference room with a long wooden table. Gesturing for them to sit, Jude reached into his desk and pulled out several files. “Another person of interest was Castiel Honda. His company, Fallen Wings enterprises, makes weapons for the magic knights, and has a hand in the distribution of magical weapons.” He held up a picture of a dark-haired, oriental-looking man in a black suit. “Based on his reaction, he seemed very surprised to see me.

“Right. The attacker’s name is Yuzan,” Erza supplied, “She’s supplied the Memories and the troops to attack various places.

At the mention of the Gaea Memories, Friedrich sat up a little straighter.

“Good to know,” Jude noted. “Now, I may not know what those two are doing, but I found out this last person has some big secrets.” He pulled out a file and handed it to Drew. “His name is Captain Skyler Lodestar. He used to sail with the Fiore military, but was discharged due to some harassment complaints. After he was removed, he founded Lodestar industries, a major maritime shipping company. He’s what the Kozern was to the rails.”

“So, what made you suspicious of him?” Grey asked, his shirt somehow having vanished in the last minute.

“At the meeting, he claimed that he acquired ships that were impervious to magic. He said they were made of metal or something like that,” Jude replied. “Almost everyone in the room laughed at his claims They were all thinking that metal ships couldn’t float. I had my doubts, so I sent in a small team to learn about these ships and overheard someone discussing them at length. Because of their composition, the dockworkers called them ironclads.”

The Earth born Riders dropped their jaws in shock. “Ironclads?” asked Gabby.

“Judging by your reactions,” Friedrich pointed out thoughtfully, “We’re probably looking at ships from our world, right?”

“Ships from the Civil War to be exact,” Drew answered. “Though given that this world has magic, I don’t know what other tricks they might have. I wouldn’t put it past them to have modern tech here.”

“Are you saying you have more advance ships than this?” Grey yelled rising out of his seat.

“Remember we’ve been to the Moon and back. Our current warships are larger and harder to take down,” Drew told him. He glanced at Jude. “Where is his headquarters?”

Jude pulled out a map of Fiore and laid it out, pointing to a section on Fiore’s northern coast. “The Gulf of Chronos, the water boundary between Fiore and Seven. He’s in a position to protect his fleet and ship to other countries.”

“Not very efficient, but it keeps the people from being suspicious. We’ll go check it out,” Friedrich told Jude.

“Thank you. It makes me glad that there are some people willing to go beyond their duty as a mage.” Jude said dismissing them. The Riders left the apartment while digesting what they were told.

“Ironclads…that’s serious business, if it’s true,” commented Friedrich.

“What’s so significant about these ships?” asked Mira, confused, “For that matter, _can_ they even float?”

“They not only can, but if they are here, Fiore’s not the only one in danger. Ironclads started a construction revolution during our country’s Civil War,” Drew started, “One side captured a ship, called the _Merrimack,_ and rebuilt it with sloping metal sides, renaming it the _Virginia._ The other side had a purpose-built iron hull with a rotating turret, called the _Monitor_. When those two met, the _Virginia_ sinking two and causing a third to run aground. Their battle made wooden navies of the world.” He saw the look of shock on the Mages’ faces and nodded. “Yeah, now imagine that against the ships of _any_ military here. They wouldn’t be able to penetrate their armor and they would go down in one or two shots.”

“So, what do we do?” Erza asked, recovering from the revelation.

“What do you think?” he replied rhetorically, “We’re gonna scout them out and either destroy or shut down their operations. Mira, can you get Makarov’s permission for this quest? All of us, save for the Aura team.”

“Why not them?” Natsu asked.

“Because Ash’s down, the girls probably will take care of him and Brock and Max are probably gonna be training,” answered Drew, sighing, “They’d be useful for a mission like this, but you got to work with what we got.

“Can I join in?” Friedrich chimed in, “It’ll be my first quest with you guys, discounting that vampire Rider from the other day. Besides, if this is an official mission, I can start earning some money.”

Drew smiled ruefully. “Sure, we could use all the help we can get. Alright, go home, pack for maybe a week and meet up at my place at nine tomorrow. Natsu, Lucy, stay back for a minute.”

Everyone, save for the two Guardians, departed for home. Drew grabbed Natsu and Lucy by the shoulders. “Since Ash and Misty aren’t coming, I’ll need you two to step up. As Guardians, you are leaders and that means making choices that you may not like.” He told them both. “At the moment, Gabby is my second in command, following our chain of command. I need to know if I can trust you both to make these decisions.” While he addressed them both, it was clear that he was referring more to Natsu. Then he grinned and patted them on the shoulders. “It’ll be fine.”

The couple nodded in acceptance, before racing back to Lucy’s apartment.

Next Morning about 8:45

Lucy sprinted along the canal with her bag on her shoulder. She had woken up early this morning with Natsu nestled into her bosom. Though she wanted to stay in bed with him, they had to hurry to make the time for their mission. After separate showers for both of them, they were out the door and racing towards Drew’s apartment.

“Come on Luce!” Natsu called out, approaching the door. “Its mission time!”

“Hold your horses Natsu, not everyone has your stamina.”

“Maybe you’d have more energy if you lost AHHH!!! Happy was kicked into the door.

“Sorry my foot slipped.” Gabby called out as she stepped outside. Almost everyone was here and ready to go.

“Is everyone here?” Tori asked as she locked the door behind her and Friedrich.

“Just waiting on Mira. This is also her first mission since she got her magic back, so she might not have the gear,” Drew told her.

“Sorry I’m late!” Everyone turned to see the white-haired girl running up with her bag. They were dumbstruck by the 180 in her attire. Instead of the red dress from yesterday, she wore a purple halter top that exposed the tops of her creamy breasts, black short-shorts with a studded belt that rode low on her wide hips, and purple leggings in knee-length boots that showed off her long, slender legs. Her waist length hair was tied in a ponytail with a red bow. Erza was the first to recover, recognizing the outfit. “Going back to your old outfit, Satan Princess?” she asked teasingly.

“Of course, Armor princess! It’s my first mission back. I actually found clothes that fit me!” The maid fired back, getting both to laugh at what was an inside joke.

Friedrich looked around at everyone, deadpanning. “...Am I the only one who thinks those are lame-ass nicknames?”

“What would you call us then?” Erza asked putting her hands on her hips.

He frowned for a moment, glancing up thoughtfully. “Hm…” He pointed at Mira. “Mab.” Then he pointed at Erza. “You can stay as Titania.”

“Shakespeare,” Tori supplemented, “Both are characters that he used.”

“William Shakespeare was a playwright, whose stories still influence people today,” Drew explained. “Those two are among the most recognizable.”

“That’s not why I picked them,” groaned Friedrich, rolling his eyes, “It’s just that Titania and Mab are fairy queens and Erza already had that. Since the two of you are about even in power, it makes sense that Mirajane would have the other. Titania is the Summer Queen and Mab is Winter. Ah, she’s also called the Queen of Air and Darkness.”

Mira nodded in understanding, smiling at the surprisingly appropriate nickname. She turned to Natsu and Lucy, who were staring at her choice of attire in dumbstruck awe. Natsu, having had his eyes opened to girls, had been stupefied at her appearance, while blood trickled out the blind’s nose. Swaying over to them, she gently patted their cheeks. “Now you two, you’ll catch flies. Come on, let’s get on the train.”

At the word train, Natsu’s face went green, Gajeel not looking so well either. “Why do we have to go on those death machines?!”

“Because we’re on one side of the country and our destination is on the other,” said Drew, pulling out Dramamine and giving it to him, “I’m _not_ walking what amounts to Miami from New York, distance-wise. If we need to, we can find another place to stay.”

Natsu moaned as they headed to the station. A few minutes later, they arrived at the Magnolia Station. Thanks to Jude’s connections, they got an entire car to themselves on the train for the long ride. The line would end a few miles before the border resulting in a small hike towards the actual port.

The group reached their assigned train with a few minutes to spare. At 10:00 AM, the train let out a loud whistle and departed. The moment the carriages moved, Natsu almost lost his breakfast, but he managed to hold it together before lying down on Lucy’s lap. Mira giggled at actions. “He really likes you, Lucy.”

The blonde beamed, her cheeks turning pink. “Yeah. Hard to believe what’s happened since he brought us to Fairy Tail.”

“A lot, to say for sure,” Gabby muttered, “You know, Drew has a similar problem. He beats it by eating something before getting into a car.”

Natsu groaned. “No food…Lucy…comfy.”

Erza smiled at their interaction and lifted the dragon slayer’s legs onto her lap. “Best get comfortable,” she told Lucy, the blonde nodding and leaning against the redhead's shoulder.

Over with the guys, Drew was writing furiously, then crossing something out. Grey saw his frustration mounting and looked at the paper. He saw their names with several strange words next to them.

“What’s this?” He asked.

Drew tilted his head up to meet the Ice mage’s eyes. “Oh this? I’m trying to figure out a line up with all of you that would not get us all killed.”

“Lineup?” He asked sitting down.

Drew nodded. “Each of us has a role in a fight. Whether it's to deal damage or try and distract people. Here, let me show you.” He quickly wrote down his friend’s names. “Alright, we have ten names here, that be two teams, right? Grey nodded understanding that much. “Now let me show you what I want in an optimal team.”

Drew then split the ten into teams. Team one had Brock, Drew, May, Gabby and Tori. Team 2 had Max, Ash, Misty, Anabel and Dawn in that order. “Team one has people who stand in the way of attacks, two people to deal close and long damage, one to keep people away and someone to keep us from getting hurt. In order, that would be Brock as the front line, May as the diversion, me and Gabby as the damage dealers and then Tori to shield and heal us. Team two on the other hand, has less bulk defense. but more ways to strike multiple people. Max and Ash can strike quickly, Misty can strike around her, Anabel can shield and attack from long range and Dawn can support everyone.

“Um...what?”

“Ah, I see what you’re doing,” Friedrich chimed in, sitting down. “Those teams are good. They do a decent amount of damage and have enough tankiness and healing to survive a fight. The weaknesses are obvious, not enough ways to escape on Team one, not enough focused damage for Team 2.”

“Okay, you’ve lost me,” Grey told them, exasperated.

“Yeah, me too. What the heck are you talking about?” Gajeel grumbled.

Drew looked at Friedrich, who shrugged. “May as well tell them, especially if they come to our world.”

Drew nodded. “To understand our logic, you have to understand that we have no natural magic of our own. The closest thing have to magic is video games. Think Lacrimas with special magics for specific games.”

“A tad too generalized, but whatever. Anyway, in some games, there are classes of characters that you can customize.” Friedrich explained. “Things like Paladins, Hunters, Thieves, Mages and others that make a complex game work.”

“Dungeons and Dragons?” Drew asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. I mean, I was more of a Legend of Zelda guy myself. Anyway, Drew’s logic is that most of us have a role to fill for the whole team to succeed.”

“Really?” the Ice mage asked. “So, what does your logic tell you about us?”

Drew opened another page. “Let’s start with the three of us. I’m a Knight: good offense, willing to take hits and great adaptability. Tori’s a White Mage, a mage that specializes in healing and shielding magic. There are other colors by the way. Gabby is a Hunter or Ranger. Her traps can slow down their opponents and allow others to take them down.”

“What about Ash and his friends?” Gajeel grunted.

Friedrich hummed. “From what I can tell, the easiest to decipher are May and Dawn. May’s what we call a Green Mage; they specialize in debuffing their opponents and buffing allies. Dawn is a Spellblade, she creates debuffs on her sword and plants them on her opponents. I’d say Misty is a Red mage; she’s got offensive and defensive magic. Brock would be a tank class, probably a Knight or Paladin.” At the mage’s confusion, he quickly explained, “They can take hits and distract their opponents so that their allies can attack them. Anabel would be her own class, called a Dancer- she can motivate allies and increase their damage, with shades of a Red mage, someone with a mix of offensive and healing magic. Max would be a Scout, someone who can be fast, remain out of fight and still be a nuisance. Ash would be a Fighter: no real defense, but he’s got the power and speed to finish the fight before it becomes a factor.”

“What about us?” asked Erza, having heard the conversation.

“That’s where I have problems. You see, Mages traditionally have strong magic power and can deal a lot of damage to opponents without the right defense,” Drew told them, “The caveat is that physically they’re frail. You see it now?”

“Yeah, none of us are what you’d call ‘weak’ physically,” Erza replied, her eyes narrowing questioningly.

“No, the only person who would fit that description is Lucy,” Friedrich nodded, “Which makes sense, she’s a Summoner. She’s not gonna be on the front lines anyway.”

“So, what kind of roles do _we_ have?” asked Gajeel.

“Well, for the most part, I can tell your team of six here has three strengths and three weakness,” Drew started. “You’re extremely durable, you’ve got a ton of power, especially Natsu and Erza, and you got spells that can hit a wide area.”

“Weaknesses, you’ve got no ways to heal by yourselves, there’s no way to cut and run if you need to and you’ve got no reliable support, outside of Lucy,” Friedrich continued, brow furrowing as he began counting on his fingers, “Grey and Erza would be Knights, but could have two roles. Erza would be the one starting fights, a dragoon to be precise, while Grey would cause long-range damage. Natsu’s a Berserker, so he’s gotta be bringing all of the attention towards him. Mira’s a Black Mage, since she’s got some destructive magic. And Gajeel is a Gladiator with high strength growth. Limited defensive potential, but that’s mitigated since he’s the Iron Dragon Slayer.”

“Of course, this is a generalization,” Drew pointed out. “Some are better at certain stats or roles than others.”

The older man nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and unlike video games, we’re not limited by predetermined programming to particular classes and can expand as needed to compensate for weaknesses.”

“Yeah, hence why we need to begin to expand our repertoire...a lot!”

“These games sound like fun!” Lucy said, finally freeing herself from Natsu and sitting on a seat next

“They are,” Friedrich told her, grinning, “There are tons of creative ones, even outside RPGs, with all sorts of things you can do.”

“I’d like to see that someday,” she said dreamily.

A few moments of silence passed before the older man snapped his fingers. “I got a game we can do. It’s called ‘Million Dollars But…!’”

“I have a really bad feeling about this one,” Drew facepalmed.

“It’s simple: one person gives you a million dollars, but for whatever time listed, if something happens around you, you have to do another thing.”

“So, your saying that we get a million jewels, but in order to get it, we have to do something potentially embarrassing,” Grey concluded.

“Yep. Let me show you an example. A million jewels, but every day one random object will turn sentient and be a bastard to you.”

“So, it’s any object?” Drew asked.

“Yeah, could be doors, clothes, swords,” Friedrich supplied.

“Oh man imagine Natsu getting that, and it activated on a train!” Gabby giggled.

“Or rather, pants or skirts would randomly fall off,” Gajeel leered.

Lucy crossed her arms. “I’m saying no! Somehow my clothes will always rebel, and I’ll be naked the whole day.”

“Oh, come now Lucy. With a body like yours, you should be showing off.” Mira told her.

“I don’t know…” the mage said bashfully.

“Lucy, if you were back home, guys would be tripping over themselves to talk to you,” praised Drew, making the blonde blush.

“Well I’ll take the money.” Erza replied. “Imagine fighting my own sword, it’s would be a worthy battle.”

“What about cake? That’s an inanimate object, right?” asked Tori, to which Friedrich nodded.

The red head paled. “On second thought…”

“Good catch, Tori. I’d take it for the laughs. Anyone else?” Drew

“I’ll take it, it’s an easy million jewels,” Grey boasted.

“No deal, we have weapons that can poke an eye out!” Gabby answered.

“I already have enough objects breaking down on me,” deadpanned Friedrich, “No go for me.”

And so, on the game went, with everyone coming up with ridiculous scenarios and overall chaos in the car. Before they knew it, they were at their destination, Muget Town. The moment it stopped, Natsu was revived. “I’M ALIVE! I’m never taking these damn machines again!”

Drew sighed. “Just when we were getting some peace.”

Before he could continue, Gabby tapped his shoulder. “Look over there.” She was pointing at a wagon off to the side as several workers loaded them into the back, the lightning bolt of Skylar Industries embroidered on them.

“Let’s go wreck that wagon!” Natsu said clenching his fist only for Friedrich to karate chop his head.

“No, scale for brains. We do that, anything in there will blow up and hurt the civilians,” Friedrich growled.

“He’s right. Our best bet is to track it outside of town and stop it outside,” Erza theorized.

“Correct. In a town this small, A group of ten people tracking a carriage might look a little suspicious.”

Tori then remembered something and turned to Friedrich. “Do you have anything that could help with sneaking up on people?”

“On-hand? Only something that’d affect me,” was his response, “I could put a charge into stealth, but then I’d need time in order to make anything.”

Drew nodded. “Alright then. Show us what you got.”

Friedrich rolled his eyes. “Ain’t nothing to show. Gimme a moment to think.” He tapped his temple and muttered, **“Two charges, stealth.”** To the rest of the group, nothing happened, but he began to pace back and forth, eyes narrowed as he mumbled to himself, to quiet to make out any words. Finally, he stopped and nodded. “Alright. Think I got something.” So, saying, he drew his knife, which flashed green and morphed into a long, metallic staff. Several strips radiated from the top like a flower, while a glowing green orb floated above it.

The orb pulsed, a translucent bubble radiating from it to wash over everyone in the group before stopping.

“And there we go.”

Erza blinked seeing that they were still visible. “Not to be rude Friedrich, but I believe it didn't work, we’re still visible.”

“Not to anyone else,” Drew corrected. “Our eyes work by absorbing light from reflected surfaces. It’s why we have colors. All Friedrich did was remove that reflection on us. So, in essence as long as we’re near him, no one can see us.”

“Or rather, this device,” Friedrich replied, shaking it, “As long as it’s active, everyone in range will be invisible to the normal spectrum of light. ‘Course, I can always expand it, but that’d risk other people wandering in, and I didn’t have time to add noise cancellation. So, y’know, _keep it down.”_ He looked pointedly at Natsu and Grey.

“It’s fine for now,” Drew praised. Turning to the others, he continued, “Just be careful, we’re invisible, not completely unnoticeable. Someone could hear and smell us out,” Walking out of the alley, they watched as they passed by the villagers without even getting a glance. They spotted their query heading down the road out of town and tailed them at a reasonable distance to throw off suspicion acting like tourists. Once out of town, they quickly ran into the treeline, blending into the foliage. To get a better view, Gabby scaled a nearby tree and leaped across the branches.

“Looks like three people, two in front one in back,” Gabby reported.

_“Roger. We wait till they stop and ambush them._ ” Drew replied. He turned the others. “We keep following them. Sooner or later they are gonna stop.”

They quickly picked up their pace to keep up with it. As they went, the Earth Riders noticed the wagon continuously listing off to the side, as if the driver was drunk.

An hour of watching later, the wagon finally stopped, causing everyone to tense as they stilled as well. They watched as the three passengers set up camp. All three were male, the rider being slightly bulkier with a large axe on his back. His partner was taller and slimmer, with a metal staff slung to his back, his nose a bright red. Finally, a rat-faced man swaggered out of the car, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused.

“Man, these things are sooo good. Why don’t we just take this and keep for ourselves?” The rat faced man asked.

“We’re being paid to deliver it to the boss. Once it's on the ships, they’re going all over Earthland,” said the tall man, “This stuff ain’t cheap. Thank god for the Captain!”

“Yeah, who knew this stuff could fetch thousands of jewels. It's good stuff,” agreed the driver laughing.

His laughter was cut off when he felt a knife to his throat. “If it's that valuable, then maybe you should’ve hired some muscle,” Gabby whispered, appearing out of thin air.

His two partners moved to defend him but Erza and Gajeel held their swords to their throats. Drew appeared out of the trees flanked by Lucy and Natsu. “You could have hired us, but I doubt your boss wanted the extra expense.” He motioned to Gabby. “Gabby go check out the cargo, Mira, Lucy tie them up.”

Soon enough, all three were tied up against a tree. Drew took a seat in front of them. “Now, we’re nice people. We don’t want to hurt you more than necessary. You tell us what we want to know, and it will reflect whether or not we leave you conscious.”

The rat faced man twitched. “We ain’t telling you nothing.”

His spittle revealed yellowed and rotten teeth, something Friedrich noticed. “Tori, can you do a health check?”

“What’s up?”

“Something’s not right with these three. Bloodshot eyes, looks irritable.”

“Yeah, well, maybe we have a powerful magic!” the tall man yelled.

Before they could reply, Gabby approached them quickly. “Drew, Friedrich! You might want to see this!

Curious, the two followed the hunter. Something spooked her to the point she needed both of them. Approaching the wagon, she led them into the back. Inside, she pointed to torn bag, with white stuff flowing out of it. “Recognize it?”

Seeing the bag, Drew tightened his fist. “That better not be what I think it is.”

Friedrich took a sample and clenched it in his fingers. “Cocaine. Damn it, they’re drug smugglers.”

“Not just cocaine. Look in here.” Gabby pointed to a box she’d propped open. Peering inside, they spotted syringes and countless pills.

“Pills to crush for meth,” Friedrich realized.

“And needles for heroin injections,” Drew growled clenching his fists. He stormed out of the wagon and marched up to the bound captors. He grabbed the driver and slammed against the tree. “Where the heck did you get this stuff?”

Erza tried to calm him down. “Drew what has gotten into you?”

Drew glared at Erza. “These bastards have substances from our world. Things that will send you to jail if caught dealing with them! The driver here, has needle marks in his arm. Red nose here has been snorting, and rat-face there has rotten teeth. All symptoms of long-term exposure.”

“Wait...what?” Lucy asked confused. “Drugs like that Advil medicine you take?”

“Not exactly,” Friedrich answered, entering the clearing, “Rat face here gets his drug by crushing pills. The needle marks are a sign of heroin use, a drug that gives you an incredible but short lived high. And red nose here is a cocaine user. All three illegal drugs.”

“And the money selling this stuff is gonna set us for life!” laughed the driver, only for Drew to grab him by the throat.

“Do you have any idea what kind of damage these things can do?!” he snarled. But then, realization hit him, and his eyes widened slightly. “Of course. That’s the plan.” Drew let the man drop.

“What plan?” Mira asked horrified at the effects these men were subject to.

“Captain Skylar plans to introduce these all over Earthland.” Drew deduced. “These drugs will eventually enter the country and take over the lives of everyone using them. Once they’re all drugged up or killed, Yuzan can swoop in and take over.”

“No one would know how to help the addicts,” Friedrich continued, staring numbly, “Social order would collapse, riots in the streets, the whole country would be in anarchy…”

This caused everyone to gasp in shock and cast their murderous gaze over the three. Drew glared at the three, holding Brave to the driver’s head. “You three are in a lot of trouble. We know Skyler is a distributor; question, is who’s the supplier? You’re gonna tell us, now!” To emphasize his point, everyone summoned their weapons and pointed at the three, their expressions morphing into angry frowns.

“We don’t know! It came in from another company that couldn’t risk being caught with it on their trains! All we were hired for was to move it to the port!” screamed the tall man, panicking.

Lucy gasped. “Junelle! They’re using their trains to hide the boxes. Using the Skyler logo, they can get through any scrutiny!”

Drew growled and grabbed Brave by the barrel. Before the tall man could react, he was hit on the side of the head and knocked out, his buddies shortly following them. “Tie them up and send a message to the local garrison. Tell them they tried to ambush us, and we stopped them,” he ordered.

“What about the carriage?” asked Gajeel, flipping his thumb to it.

Drew stared at the carriage. “Unhook the horses, then burn it.”

Gabby and Tori quickly did so and led the horses into the trees. Drew then motioned everyone back. He summoned a fireball, glared at it and then added more power to it making it grow in size. Then he flung it into the wagon.

*BOOM*

The wagon lit up in a column of flames that raced towards the sky. The ground shaking boom scared the horses and they ran away quickly. Drew watched the flames burn, before turning towards the path. “Let’s go, we should be there by nightfall.”

Gabby and Tori followed with no hesitation, shortly followed by Friedrich. The mages looked at each other nervously before getting in line. Erza ran to catch up and grabbed his shoulder. “What’s gotten into you? This isn’t like you.”

The Fire Guardian glared back at the redhead and then jabbed his finger at the flames. “Those drugs ruin _lives!”_ he started, getting their attention, “It starts off simple. Someone who’s already a user pressures you into trying it. You feel good for a little bit, then you crash. You look for more of it, so you go to a dealer and get it. But the high never lasts, so you get more and more. Eventually you lose your job, your house, even your family all to feed the addiction. But you can’t stop because you’re hooked. Eventually, you take so much that you die!”

The mage’s reactions were stunned silence, especially with how casually Drew described it. As Mira slowly regained her wits, her hands holding her gaping mouth in horror. “How could anyone _do_ this?”

Drew shook his head. “It's the poor that get hit the hardest. In the inner cities, you see this _ALL_ the time. It's disgusting and destructive.”

“Why don’t these people get help?” Erza said holding her head.

“They either can’t get it, or hide it until it’s too late,” Friedrich suddenly spoke up, “Either way, taking it messes them up inside, until they honestly believe that they need it, that nothing else in life is worth anything like it.”

Drew glanced at him. “I don’t even need to explain how these things are messed up back home. I doubt Earth Bet, or the future are much different.”

The older man stared straight ahead, stone-faced. “Only difference was that the dealers had Capes backing them.”

“Any stick out? Like MS 13, Neo Nazis? Those guys?” asked Gabby.

He grunted. “Funny you’d mention them. Yeah, Brockton Bay’s always had a gang problem, even before powers came into the mix. After that, it all just kinda…congealed, ‘til we got three major gangs, each one as bad as the last. You’ve got the Azn Bad Boys, an all-Asian gang headed by a man who could turn into a dragon. Real ‘might makes right’ kinda guy. Always swiping girls to sell into sex slavery. His lieutenants were no better.

“Then you got Empire Eighty-Eight: neo Nazis. Biggest following in the city, most capes in their ranks, and all-around thugs. Their Capes ended up getting outed; turns out their boss was head of a pharmaceutical company.” Spotting a look of confusion on the Fairy Tail mages, he explained, “Company that makes drugs and medicines, so you can understand how a gang would be helped by that.

“And then…” He took a deep breath, and his half-blue, half-green eyes _burned._ “Last, and _definitely least,_ you had the Merchants. Imagine the dealers that Drew just mentioned, now make them infinitely scummier. They would grab anyone they could and forcibly addict them, then make them join. No better than animals, all of them, fighting and maiming anyone who crossed them. Even the other two gangs looked down on them.” His fist clenched particularly hard. “...I wiped them all out first,” he said lowly, a note of raw anger in his voice, such that they had not heard from him before.

Tori looked at Friedrich sadly. “What happened, Friedrich?” She asked startling him. “We may not have the Aura sense Ash and his friends have, but I still have a strong empathic ability. You wouldn’t kill them without a good reason.”

“Kill them?” he asked, leaning away from her, “Who said anything about killing them? I just beat the crap out of their Capes, rounded up every last one of ‘em and forcibly… _un_ -addicted them. But…well, yeah, I guess there was a reason.” He gave a tight, bitter smile. “Even before I ended up in Brockton Bay, ending up living like them was…something that terrified me, more than anything. I dunno what my future would’ve had, but I’d like to think I’m smart enough to do _something_ good, but if I got into the hard stuff like them, I doubt I’d ever recover. And that gang did that to people _all the time.”_

Tori hugged him, making him squirm, but he didn’t pull away. “You’ll never have to worry about that with us. We’re too close to let anyone fall that far.”

“M-mm…”

The group continued in silence, digesting the information. As the sunset, they finally got within sight distance of the Skyler Port. Reaching a bluff, they gazed down at the harbor.

“So, this is where Captain Skyler set up his operation,” said Grey aloud.

“Somewhere down there is a warehouse full of illicit substances. They must pay,” growled Erza.

Gabby who had been scouting out the port, spoke up. “Drew, I think you might need to see this. Friedrich, you too.”

Drew took her binoculars and looked where she was pointing. It was a ship, a HUGE ship at least by Fiore’s standards. Lowering the lenses, he frowned. “Those aren’t Civil War era.”

“What do you mean?” Happy asked.

“When we heard the word Ironclad, we were thinking ships that are essentially tugboats with sloped sides. River boats by any other name,” Tori explained. She pointed to the ships in the harbor. “Those are 80 years and two World Wars later.”

“3...4...5. I see five ships,” Drew called out, “Based on the size of the guns, I see three Cruisers, some escort vessel and a Battleship. If they wanted to ensure no ship can oppose them, this would be the force to do it.”

“What’s the plan?” Natsu asked pounding his fists.

“Stealth. Primary objectives is to find and destroy the warehouse that contain these drugs,” ordered Drew.

“We also need to find out where these drugs are going and who else is shipping them,” Friedrich pointed out, “There should be some sort of manifest in an office somewhere.”

“Finally, this should happen after we find the first two, wreck those ships in harbor. If they have those types of guns, then they can be disabled by their own weapons,” said Drew. He held up two fingers. “I want two teams. Natsu! Did you get a whiff of those drugs? Specifically, cocaine?”

“Yeah, it was messing with my nose. It’s disgusting!” whined the pink-haired boy, rubbing the bridge of his nose tightly.

“Right. I’m gonna take a chance and put you in charge of this team. Take Lucy, Erza, Gajeel and Gabby,” Drew told him, “When we’re inevitably caught, I’ll need offense there. Meanwhile, Grey, Tori, Friedrich and Mira come with me. You’re comparatively the stealthiest. We’re going for the manifest up in the main office here.”

They all agreed and made their way down into the port. With the setting sun, the shadows cast by the walls protecting the compound, allowing them to sneak close to the gate. Coming from the side, they spotted two shadowy figures, indicating that either Yuzan was there or she had given Skyler some help. Drew nodded to Gabby and she summoned her bow. Taking a deep breath, she focused her energy into the arrow and waited for her shot. When one of the guards crossed in front of the other, she let the arrow loose. The bolt struck true on the first and pierced the one behind it, dissolving almost instantly.

Drew patted her shoulder in pride as they entered the port. At a given signal, they split off to do their assigned tasks.

Warehouse team

Natsu sniffed the air and made a disgusted face. “There’s a lot of unfamiliar smells. A lot of grease and gunpowder.”

Gabby at the bigger ship. “All of these ships, especially the battleship need a lot of fuel and ammo. Coal to get the ships moving, and gunpowder to fill the shells to fire them. These turrets could hit the opposite shore if what Drew said was true.”

“Are there any weaknesses to this...thing?” Erza waved her arms to it.

“Well, they don’t have a lot of support ships, so from the sea a good underwater shot could sink it. From land, they aren’t being careful with the ordinance. We can probably make use of it,” Gabby whispered. She spotted more armored guards walking by with a middle age man. He was wearing a blue captain’s hat and eye patch over his right eye.

Everyone thought the same thing: _That must be Captain Skyler._

“How goes the loading?” the captain asked one of the guards.

“It’s been tough sir, there’s so much to load,” said the guarding trooper, “In addition, our coal shipments from our mine is delayed due to what happened with the Heartfilia's. At best, we will be ready to go as soon as two days.”

“Are the Cruisers ready?” The captain asked, annoyed at the delays.

“We have one almost ready to launch, but we don’t have enough crew from Mistress to sail with at the moment.”

“I want them ready to go tonight! The longer this contraband remains here, the more chances the council will catch wind of it!” Skyler snarled. “I want them to watch helpless as this country burns. How dare they dismiss me over harassment. I’ll show them!”

Skyler continued towards another part of the port. Gabby turned to Natsu. “What’s the call, Natsu?” she asked to his shock, “Drew told me that when if there was a split up, he’d put you in charge. This is your opportunity to show that you can lead and make the right calls.”

Natsu looked down, biting his lip in thought. His gut, his dragon heritage, was telling him to go in fists blazing. But another part of him, his logical side, was starting to wake up. He knew that if he went in with his normal bravado, he would get his friends, and more importantly his romantic partners, hurt. “We need to find that warehouse. If trailing one of these guards or even that bastard captain, they might lead us there!”

“Fuck that, Salamander!” Gajeel snapped. “This place needs to burn!”

“With us in it?!” Natsu hissed trying to keep his voice down. “We haven’t even _found_ the stinking warehouse. You saw how that wagon blew up!”

“He’s right,” Lucy concurred, “That wagon’s explosion was too much for the amount of magic Drew used. That tells me these things are _really_ volatile.” She glanced at the ships and shivered. “Whatever those ships fire are probably just as combustible, same with the fuel if what Gabby says is true.”

“So, shut up and listen lugnuts! I’d rather be out of here if this place blows up. So, either get to sniffing or get behind me!” Natsu snapped.

Gajeel glared at his fellow slayer, before sighing reluctantly. “...Fine! Where do we go?”

Natsu glanced behind them. “They were heading that way. Something tells me that we’re gonna have trouble over there.

Gabby nodded. “Good call. I’m going up on the roof to get a better sightline.” Before they could question it, she made a running start at the wall next to them and scrambled up to a pipe. From there, she climbed up onto the roof, before sprinting and leaping over to the next building.

“Oh yeah, I remember they did that before. Looks cool,” whispered Lucy. They quickly left alley and headed in the direction the captain went.

Moments later they spotted a large group in front of a warehouse. They saw some of some guards talking to an animated Skyler. Judging by how the man suddenly wheeled around and punched the guard, whatever he’d heard had pissed him off. He spun around and stormed off, presumably towards his office. Seeing a potential opening, Natsu held up a hand to stall the others, watching for a chance to take out the muscle. A whistling caught their attention. Looking up, they spotted Gabby pulling back her bowstring. She quickly fired three shots in quick succession. All of the shots found their marks and destroyed the guards. Once secured, she led them into the warehouse. Walking into the open doors, they gasped at the sight that greeted them.

“What...What is all of this?” Lucy asked horrified. Towering above them were boxes upon boxes of pills, powdered cocaine and even medical syringes with weird green substances in them.

“This is…barbaric,” Erza whispered. “Why do they exist?”

Gabby started taking pictures of the whole warehouse, spoke sadly. “This is probably much larger than what most cops will ever find. They create it, smuggle it, and sell it under the cop’s noses.”

“Can’t the government do something about that?” Lucy desperately asked.

“Yes, but it’s too much unfortunately, even with government crackdowns. If they push too far, they run the risk of turning into a police state,” Gabby explained, “Drew hopes that things in the future will turn around...based on Friedrich’s description it doesn’t.”

“So how do we dispose of them?”

Gabby sighed. “The normal convention would be to put it in an incinerator or blow it up. However, because of where we are, a fire would run the risk of everything blowing up with us in it.”

“Why?” Gajeel grunted

“A fire breaks out here,” Gabby began pointing towards the harbor. “And it doesn’t get controlled, it’s gonna find its way to the shells and fuel these ships use and set those off. Natsu bringing down a town by accident is nothing compared to this!”

Before anyone else could press the issue, an alarm began to blare. Erza’s eyes narrowed and summoned Milo. “Our cover’s blown, prepare to fight!

As she said this, multiple troopers charged inside. Natsu raced toward them, igniting his feet to bowl through the group and propel them outside. He landed on the ground and spotted several more approaching quickly.

“Heh, no more sneaking around. Guys let’s show them what it means to threaten our homes!” He roared, summoning Urvan and slamming it into the ground, shaking the group. The others quickly summoned their weapons and stood ready to fight.

With the Retrieval team 15 minutes prior

While Natsu’s team searched the docks, Drew’s team made their way to the office to find the crucial evidence to get Skyler tossed in jail.

“Where are we going?” Grey asked.

“We need to find the main office,” Drew explained. “Typically, they are in a spot that can oversee the entire harbor.”

“Why go through all the trouble then?” the ice mage pressed.

“Because I doubt the Council is gonna believe us without evidence,” Drew told him, “That’s why I asked Gabby to go with Natsu. She can take shots of what they have, and we can present this with what we find in the office.”

“This is on top of the fact that a prominent businessman is trying to bring down a legitimate government,” Friedrich supplied, “Regardless of intentions, that's treason, which usually means life in prison or death. Jude obviously was the exception.”

Drew tilted his head up and motioned everyone to a hide behind a box. Glancing over it, he spotted a long staircase, leading to a watchtower.

“That has to be office. Friedrich, your device still working?” Drew asked.

“Yeah, but like you said, they can still hear us,” responded the older man, “We just got to keep an eye on the other guards.”

“Right. Tori, Mira watch our six. Grey you are on point,” Drew ordered. Grey nodded and hefted Tundra to his shoulder and led the way forward. A few tense moments of sneaking, ducking behind boxes and the occasional take down from Drew and Friedrich later, they reached the door.

“What’re the chances this is locked?” Drew asked rhetorically.

Tori leaned down to examine the doorknob. “Gabby’s normally the lock pick expert, but I know what I’m doing,” she mumbled reaching into her bag.

“No, I got it,” Friedrich offered, kneeling next to her, “One of my copied powers lets me master anyone mundane skill at a time.”

“Sounds like something from a game,” Drew grumbled, looking down over the railing, “What’s this one called?”

“It's from a guy called Uber. Like I said, he could master any skill,” Friedrich explained as he jiggled with the lock, “Mostly used it for martial arts or elocution.”

“I doubt he would learn the relevant muscles or skills needed to pull that off without the powers,” Tori theorized.

“You’re not wrong on that, but…ah!” The lock clicked and he twisted the knob open. “As long as you can use a skill when you need it, temporary muscle memory’s just fine. Anyway, we’re good to go.”

Drew marched up and pushed the door open. Leading with Brave, he quickly peered into the darkened office and pivoted to watch each corner. Finding no one, he lowered his weapon. “Clear. Get in and block the door. Grey, Mira watch the windows, the moment someone gets close let us know.” Drew told the mages as he approached the desk. “Now let’s see what you got, Mr. Skyler.”

A look of irritation crossed Friedrich’s face, but he said nothing. As Tori walked over, she hit her foot on something. “Ow... damn it!”

“Tori, I know your balance isn’t the best, but come on, tripping over nothing?” Drew joked.

“No knucklehead, there’s something under here!” she growled, trying to pull at the rug underneath her, Friedrich jogging over to help. Their efforts resulted in the carpet being rolled up to reveal a large safe with a generic tumbler lock. “Jackpot!” Drew grinned, “If there was anything he wants hidden, it would be in here. Friedrich?”

“Way ahead of you,” he called out, working the tumbler. A few moments later, the safe popped open, revealing stacks of jewels and a large folder. Taking the folder out, the traveler skimmed through them. “Looks like drugs aren’t the only thing he’s transporting. They’ve got a coal mine somewhere in Fiore.’

“Right, that would need a ton of it to power these ships. Clean the safe out quickly, I have a feeling things are about to kick off. We need to get these to the council or someone in the government,” Drew told them as he looked through the remaining manifests before loading it on a drive.

“This feels wrong, stealing money like this,” Mira said sadly as Tori and Friedrich cleaned out the vault.

“Where he’s going, he’s not gonna need them,” Tori answered. “We found Duke Everlue trying to smuggle stuff as well. We wrecked his mansion and made him dirt poor. Used the money we got to pay for the mission because our client didn’t have it.”

“Besides I doubt it's the last he has,” Drew reasoned pulling the drive out of the computer. “Now how are we gonna wreck these ships?”

“I see a couple of PT Boats,” Tori called out looking over the harbor. “Torpedoes in the right spot can sink them all. Also gives us a way out.”

Before Drew could answer, there was a knock on the door. **“HEY! WHO BLOCKED MY DOOR! GRAHH!”** a monstrous voice roared. Everyone backed away from the door quickly, ready to fight. Drew glanced at Friedrich. “You have a way to hide these?” He motioned to the drive and folders.

“Yeah, give them here,” Friedrich told him, hiding them in his jacket. They tensed as the desk they’d propped against the door began to crack, from the repeated blows. With a loud squeak, the desk and door were sent flying back, forcing everyone to drop to the ground

Storming through the opening was a massive bird that had to bend down to get inside, a pair of _massive_ wings folded up and hunched around him awkwardly, feathers gleaming with a slight metallic sheen in the office lights. He waddled in on his hands, seeming to lack human feet, but still possessed a set of large talons. His face was a bizarre, distorted mix of a human’s and a bird beak, his beady eyes permanently set in a glower.

**“Well, well what do we have ‘ere?”** growled the Dopant in a thick British accent **“Some bilge rats scurryin’ about in my ‘arbor, eh?”**

Drew narrowed his eyes as they stood up. “Captain Skyler, I presume? Well then, that makes it much easier to tell the council.” He moved closer to Tori, who instinctively grabbed his arm.

**“Tell the council? You’re ‘avin’ a laugh. If anything, you’re gonna be the message to the entire country that we _can’t be_ stopped!”**

“Yeah, well one small problem with that,” Drew told him hold up his hand and igniting it.

“ **Wossat?”**

The Guardian grinned. “You’ll have to catch us first!” He swung his arm and blasted out the window, the wall blowing out as well. The captain gave a cross between a shout and a screech, trying to spread his huge wings, but Drew had already leapt out of the room with Tori in his arms. Friedrich quickly followed suit, leaping onto an adjacent roof, while Mira launched Gambol Shroud’s whip towards the same roof and helped Grey down to it.

Albatross roared, **“SOUND THE ALARM!! CHECK ALL THE WAREHOUSES! THOSE BRATS MUST BE STOPPED!”** before hurling himself after them, spreading his immense wings and soaring upwards.

Having just landed, Drew looked over his shoulder and groaned. “Just our luck! Keep running!

“Where do we go!?’ Tori asked.

An explosion, suddenly rocked the harbor, making them stumble briefly. They all glanced to their right to see smoke coming from the warehouses.

“What are the chances that’s flamebrain?” Grey called out.

“Right. Grey let’s stall them out!” Drew ordered as he turned to fire at the oncoming dopant.

Grey pulled out Tundra Claw and fired, only to get clicks. Drew groaned. “Seriously?”

“I wanted to be sure that I couldn’t fire accidentally!” he snapped.

“That’s why we have the damn safety!” Drew roared back, firing multiple bolts at Albatross. Some of the shots hit the wings. He squawked in indignation as the shots injured the joints, making him his in pain. He recovered enough to dodge the extremely fast bullets. Drew cursed and grabbed Grey before leaping off the roof out of the way of the impact.

They looked around and saw they were being closed in from multiple directions. “Tori! Shield up, Grey, Mira push through!”

“No,” said Friedrich, striding up behind them confidently, “I got this. I’ll catch up.” As he said this, he drew his knife, which flashed green and morphed into a new weapon. It resembled a dark blue rifle, decorated with some sort of paler, feather-like plates, marked with a cross. “Just came up with this on the train-ride here. I’ll think up a name later.” Planting his feet firmly and cocking the bolt, green light glowed from under the metal parts. “Now, get going!”

Drew nodded and cocked Brave’s hammer back. “Alright then! Let’s move guys!

Tori spun her staff and summoned a large shield of water. Grey, Mira and Drew immediately opened fire, Drew charging with his pistols. He got close to the surviving opponents, before pulling out Leonid and doing a spin attack. Igniting the sword mid swing he spun around twice and took them all out without breaking stride. His friends quickly followed through the disintegrating dust.

“Is it okay to leave Friedrich behind like this!?” Mira called out.

“He’ll be fine!” Drew replied. Then glancing at the sky, he frowned. “We might not be so lucky!”

Indeed, Captain Albatross was flying right above them, looking extremely pissed off. Spying them down below, he grinned with malice. **“There you are! Time for these interlopers to feel my wrath! KAWWW!”** He flapped his wings and dove towards them.

Everyone looked up to see the charging kaijuu. Drew turned and saw a large crane with a wrecking ball. “Grey! Ice that chain!”

The ice mage quickly took aim and fired several bolts of ice at the indicated target. The shots impacted and froze the joint solid. Drew followed up by charging up a shot from Brave, fired it at the ice with an echoing retort. The fire smashed the ice, snapping the chains holding up the large iron ball. Without its lock, it began its quick descent towards the Riders.

“Now the ground!”

Seeing his plan, Grey swiped his arm, frosting over the surface and creating a solid sheet of ice, leading straight towards another group of enemies. They all dove onto the ground, sliding smoothly under the falling ball. The wrecking ball came screaming down and barely missed them; Mira, sliding on her back, had to hand her spine almost completely back to avoid getting her breasts caught.

Albatross wasn't so lucky and watched the ball get closer. **“Son of a…”** Whatever he going to say was cut off as he was sent crashing back by the force of the blow.

Meanwhile, the Riders quickly got back on their feet as they approached the group of troopers in front of them. Mira recovered the quickest and grabbed Gambol Shroud and stabbed it into the ice, using it as a brake. Using the new purchase to shift her momentum, she spun around and stood, sliding the blade out of the sheathe in a flash. In one fluid motion, she powered up the blade and sheath with Darkness Magic and swung them, one after the other. The two swipes created large waves that sailed towards their opponents, cutting through them like butter.

The four Riders leapt off the ice and landed behind the dust cloud.

Drew grinned and held out his fists, which the other three pounded in return. They quickly set themselves back into fighting stances. “Good job. Don’t get cocky yet. There is now way that finished him off.”

Albatross roared as he flew out of the wreckage and landed in front of them in a gust of wind from his huge wings. He glared at the flames from the various battles spreading through the harbor and snarled. **“Oi! Wos’ ‘appened to my port?!”** Then he refocused and glared at the Riders in front of him. **“You bloody bastards! I’ll tear your guts out, I will!”**

Before he could attack, a large bolt struck his beak, snapping his head to the side with a grunt of pain. Looking around, he saw Natsu charging in with his fists ignited. The pink-haired boy hit a fiery cross onto the kaiju’s beak, sending the monster spiraling into several crates.

“Heh, you think you can beat us? You got another thing coming!” he roared. The rest of the team quickly caught up to him and pointed their weapons on the kaijuu.

Albatross screeched in fury, whirling around in midair and stopping his flight with a flare of his wings, before another flap allowed him to hover gently in the air. **“You…why’re you gettin’ in the way of our progress?!”** he snarled, clenching his taloned hands, **“All of this tech will create a new age! An age where magic will become obsolete!”**

“Your progress will make people sick!” Drew called out, “Technology marches on, but it can’t be forced. People need to be _motivated_ to learn, not forced to adapt because of threat!”

**“Then you’re a _fool!”_**

“Look who’s talking,” Drew countered. “You think your tech is so special? You’re being robbed!”

Before the kaijuu could respond, there was a *Pchunk!* an impact and a burst of sparks, followed by the monster recoiling with a cry, clutching at a hole at the edge of one of his feathers. Everyone turned to see Friedrich hoisting his new weapon onto his shoulder.

“Okay, so, I just took out a ton of goons,” drawled the man, seemingly unconcerned at the scene he’d just walked in on, “Pretty easy, right? So easy that I got to come up with all SORTS of things in my downtime. For instance, I figured out how to get this thing to fire piercing ammo. And then, I figured out how to make piercing ammo outta plants. Fucking _plants._ I agree, you got _robbed._ Good god, man…bird…get yourself some better henchmen. Like, damn.”

Drew chuckled. “Glad to see some things haven’t changed.”

“‘Course were you expecting me to?” asked Friedrich, cocking his head.

Rolling his eyes, Drew nudged his head towards the rest of the group. “I need you to get them to one of the PT Boats in the harbor. Natsu, Lucy and I can take care of this guy!”

Friedrich shook his head. “No thanks. Let me help you guys out. I really want to test this baby out and, well, I think I need to pull my weight a bit more.”

Drew could only gaze back at the older man with respect but nodded. “Alright then.” He turned to Tori. “You know where the boats are, right?” At her nod, he pointed towards the water. “Lead them there, we’ll join you soon. If you can get into the bay, try to disable the smaller ships!

**“You’re not touching my boats!”** Albatross roared. With one mighty flap, he shot into the air and dove toward them, only for Drew to fire off multiple shots and scorched several feathers on his wings. He growled. **“Once I’m through with you, I’ll destroy your friends!”** He gave another powerful flap, and the Riders dove out of the way as massive feathers suddenly rained down on them, their tips piercing concrete with a disquieting crack.

“Over our dead bodies, you bastard! Luce, you ready?” Natsu asked his blonde partner while slipping on his transform rings.

**DRIVER ON! Please~! Shabadoobie touch to Henshin!**

Lucy held up her Virgo key while her belt appeared as well. “Let’s do this!”

Drew grinned and pulled out his phone, spinning it on his finger. _These two...are gonna be just fine moving forward._ He stopped spinning it and pressed his thumb against the Leo button.

**STANDBY: LEO**

As one they shouted. “HENSHIN!” And activated their belts.

**COMPLETE**

**FLAME PLEASE! Hi Hi HI HI HI**

**SUMMON: MAIDEN!**

As their armors formed, Friedrich cocked his rifle’s bolt back. “Let’s bring you back to earth, shall we?”

(Start Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Boss Theme 2.)

**“I’ll send you to Hell first!”** Albatross screeched, charging at the group talons first.

CLANG

Draco planted himself in front of the group, taking the initial blow from the kaijuu. While his opponent tried to break Urvan, Zodiac and Friedrich stood behind him and took potshots with their pistols and bowgun respectfully. Pleiades raced in, her hands transforming into drills, and struck out against his stomach, getting satisfying sparks from the hits. Draco raised his axe and pulled the lever on the axe and fired into Albatross’ head.

The kaijuu screeched in pain as he staggered back, shooting even higher into the air. **“You bloody bastards! Feather Missiles!** He swung his wings once more, shedding and firing several more feathers like aptly named rockets at the Riders. They all quickly leaped out of the way of the feathers, scrambling about so as not to be pierced by the heavy fletching.

Zodiac leaped back and glanced up to the roofs. “Up there! Come on, guys!” He pushed energy into his legs and propelled himself up to the roof of a nearby building, while Draco scooped up Pleiades and did the same.

Friedrich shouldered his gun and grunted, **“Command V!”** A magic circle flashed at his feet and he leaped up after them.

**“You brats think you can get away from me?”** Albatross roared, taking off after them.

Meanwhile with the others, Grey and Erza fired their guns to blast through another crowd of troopers. With their faster acting weapons, they were leading the charge, with Tori shielding them from harm and Gabby picking off stragglers. Behind them, Gajeel and Mira were firing off spells at those trying to flank them. Mira was firing off Dark slashes and pulses, while the Dragon Slayer launched a storm of Lightning infused knives at the large group approaching.

“This is getting out of hand. How much further, Beanstalk?”

Scowling at the nickname, Tori swung her staff to heal the rest of the group. “Not much, the waterfront is right there. Gabby, think you can pilot this?”

“Better than you, Sandy!” Gabby quipped.

“One time and no one saw it!” the healer snapped, “Erza, Grey push through!”

Grey poured magic into his rifle and charged the shot. **“Ice Make: Arrow Surge!”** Pulling the trigger, multiple streams of ice flashed out of the barrel, piercing through several troopers at once.

Erza, seeing an opening, hurled her shield through the crowd. It ricocheted between the buildings, slicing through the stunned and grounded group. She leaped up, catching the shield again and slung it out again, sending it crashing down on the survivors and sending out a shockwave of slicing wind to bifurcate the lot.

She rushed through the cloud and onto the wharf before the rest of the group caught up with her. Tori quickly spotted the boat. “There, come on!” she directed. They followed her onto the boat, Erza and Gabby cutting the lines. The sniper flipped several switches to turn on the engines which roared to life as she pulled out of the slip. Under fire, they quickly entered the middle of the harbor.

“What do we do?” Erza asked over the loud engines.

“These torpedoes are underwater weapons. Gabby only needs to use a sight up front to aim but we need to prep them!” Tori pointed at the tubes as she set them up to launch.” When released they roll off and race towards the target. The problem is we’ve got no defensive cover and this whole harbor is gonna go for us while we make the runs at the ships. We’ll need all of you to keep them off us and give us a hand at sinking them! Also, give me a hand setting all of these up!”

“You can count on us!” Grey called out. He glanced down at Gajeel, who suddenly looked green. “Damn it lugnuts, pull yourself together!”

“Fuck off!” Gajeel groaned.

“Look sharp! We got company!” Gabby called out, “First target, 1 o’clock! Prepare to launch!”

“Got it, Erza, Mira cover the port, we got starboard!” Tori yelled as she summoned water from the bay and fired it at the approaching motorboats.

Erza and Mira watched the portside and fired off several rounds. “This is so much fun!” Mira told her friend.

“You would think so, Mab!” Erza smirked.

“I missed stuff like this!” she continued, firing off a dark spell. Another ship exploded in a plume of black flames and fell away from its pursuit.

Gabby eyed the target up and placed her hand on a panel that had four switches. “Firing torpedo one, NOW!” She flipped the top right switch. The first launcher quickly unfurled and rolled the loaded bomb over the side. Seconds later, the bomb raced towards the cruiser.

BOOOM!

The torpedo found its mark under one of the turrets. The explosion found an ammo hold and set it off causing a massive fire. The ship was doomed on impact as it began to keel over.

Tori seeing the explosion grinned and let out a small cheer. “Nice shot!”

Gabby nodded as she turned the boat towards the next ship. Grey tapped her shoulder. “Where are the others?”

As if to answer their questions. Another explosion on the wharf signaled where they just were. “Let’s take care of the smaller ships first, then worry about them. If I know them, that battleship’s gonna be taken down without our input.

At the site of the explosion

Zodiac rolled out of the way from the explosion and fired at the rampaging kaiju. The bird shrugged off the attacks, his flight path barely budging as he screeched back and hurled more feathers at them. The Rider turned to Friedrich, reloading his gun. “We can take pot shots all day, but we need physical damage! I can’t get close without getting picked off!”

“We need someone to match the kaijuu in the air. But I don’t have the time to create wings or jet packs,” Friedrich replied, pulling back his bolt with a grunt.

Albatross took the momentary distraction and dive-bombed towards them. However, he didn’t see the Earth Guardian barreling in from his right, axe cocked for a vicious blow. Pleiades, using her whip had wrapped it around him, before swinging him around. Using a similar tactic to when they’d faced Jose, she sped up her spins before flinging Draco into the air. With a shout, the draconic Rider’s flaming fist connected with a satisfying crunch, blasting him into another roof with a crash.

Draco landed and laughed. “That’s what you get bastard. Great job, Luce!”

“It’s PLEIA in this form!” Pleiades shouted, “Use our Rider names, idiot!”

“Fine! Pleia, that was awesome!” Draco corrected.

“Draco!” called out Zodiac, “Do you have a green Ring?”

“Uh…yeah?” he responded, glancing at his ring holder.

“Slip it on. Green usually means Wind! You can probably fly in that form!”

Not needing to be told twice, Draco flipped his belt’s face.

**SHABADOOBIE Touch to Henshin~! SHABADOOBIE Touch to Henshin!”**

He pulled off the fire ring and replaced it with the green one. Flipping the face, he thrust his hand over the belt.

**HURRICANE! PLEASE~! FU FU! FU-FU-FU-FU!**

A green magic circle appeared above Draco and fell on top of him. As he passed through, the circle stripped away the fiery reds and replaced them with a more brilliant green. The front of his helmet shifted, forming a leaner reptilian snout as the red metal likewise changed, the eyes flashing in the shape of a swirling vortex. The bulkiness of his Fire form slimmed down, the gem-like armor at his chest taking on a triangular shape, while a much longer cape streamed out from behind him.

** “Kamen Rider Draco: Hurricane Form!”  **

Albatross popped his jaw back into place. **“You think ye can match me in the air, brat?”**

“Yeah! I’ll show you that Dragons are the masters of the sky, you dumb bird!” Draco taunted.

**“You’ll pay for that!”** roared the captain, rocketing towards Draco. The dragon slayer swung his axe and slashed his face. Taking advantage of the momentary stun, Draco propelled himself forward, magic pouring out of his feet and keeping him aloft with small tornadoes. He took a big wind up and slices downward. The shockwave caused by the swing caused multiple gashes and made the monster roar in pain. He was sent crashing into and collapsing the warehouse below.

As Draco soared over his quarry, Zodiac gazed over the harbor and spotted one of the cruisers sinking. He heard another distinct boom from another explosion as a torpedo punctured the hull and caused it to flood. Spotting the large ship from before, a figurative lightbulb went off in his head. “Draco!” The flying Rider turned to them. “Lure him over to the battleship! I’ve got an idea!” He ordered and ran off. Pleiades and Friedrich quickly followed on his six.

The Dragon Slayer snapped back around as his opponent recovered and met him in the sky, panting from the previous barrage of attacks. He was covered in bruises and cuts, his skin hissing from the energy used.

**“You…shitty bastard…how are you…beating me!?”**

“Cause we're stronger than you and anything that you can toss at us!” Draco boasted.

**“I'll kill you...then your pretty blonde friend!”**

The green Rider snarled, but remembering that he was still in a fight, quickly calmed down. “You'll have to beat us first!” he snapped blasting off. Albatross roared and chased after him towards the harbor. The dragon slayer glanced behind him as he flew to see the kaijuu’s glaring mug screaming closer. Looking ahead, he spotted Zodiac waving to get his attention atop one of the large turrets. Rocketing towards the large weapon, landing with a thud and cracking the ships metal sheets.

Albatross followed, landing a bit more gracefully. He began to laugh as he took it all in. **“You see this? This is the ship that will bring Fiore and the world to their knees.”**

Zodiac scoffed. “Yeah, well, a couple of bombs to the right spot can bring them down.”

**“You’re having a laugh. These things can sink ships from miles away!”**

“Yeah, well you got two weaknesses that you don’t have any protection against.” Zodiac replied. “One, what do you have against air attacks?”

**“Air attacks? You’re daft, if man were meant to fly, they’d have wings like me!”**

“Tell that to the boys who lost their lives to air attacks on a ship like this!” the Guardian growled. Draco and Pleiades looked confused, but Friedrich gripped his gun harder, something Zodiac briefly noticed but continued. “Second, what would happen if...I don’t know, some of your weapons were turned against you.”

*BOOM*

Before Albatross could respond, another explosion rocked the harbor. **“What the ‘ell was that?”**

Friedrich rolled his eyes. “Good god, man, have you no sense of dramatic irony? Take a wild guess.”

“If I had to guess…that was a torpedo striking the ammo hold of that cruiser.” Zodiac grinned.

Albatross glared out onto the sea and noticed one boat racing around the harbor with several of his own chasing it. **“You BLOODY BASTARDS! You know how much these things cost? I’m ruined!”**

“You were ruined before we destroyed the ships!” Friedrich told him. “What’s left of your fortune is safely in our hands!”

**“You think you can get away with this? You’ll watch as I send your friends to Davey Jones Locker!”** he snarled. He flapped his damaged wings and leapt towards the water. Pleiades, knowing that their friends would be sitting ducks if he got away, whipped Mutsuraboshi out and snapped it towards the kaiju. The whip was just long enough to grab his talons and arrest his momentum.

**“Stupid bitch-! Let go!”** He demanded, trying to pull away from the Guardian.

“No way! I’m not letting you hurt my friends!” she screamed, trying to dig into the ship’s deck. Zodiac and Friedrich quickly grabbed the whip and pulled back anchoring themselves. Their bigger size along with their strength snapped the kaijuu’s momentum back towards them.

Draco raced towards the stunned kaiju, his hands already reaching for the finale ring. Slipping it on, he flipped the belt’s switch and placed his hand over it.

**VERY NICE! SKY STRIKE! SAIKOU~~~!**

The dragon slayer swooped in and snagged the struggling kaijuu before blasting upwards. Despite the squirming, Draco held hard and increased his speed to near supersonic.

**“NO! LET GO OF ME!”** Albatross begged, struggling in the slayer’s grip as they rocketed up even higher.

“No way! I’m gonna show you what a dragon can do!” roared Draco. His arms strained to hold those massive wings in place as he reached his apex, before slowly tilting backwards and falling headfirst. **“Fire Dragon’s Stormfall!”** He began to spin, picking up momentum and wind as he fell, until he resembled a tempestuous drill.

Zodiac watched him fall toward where they were and turned to the others calmly. “I think this is the part where we abandon ship.”

Both of his companions agreed and scrambled to the railings. They glanced down to see their friends motoring up to the large ship.

“Come on!” Gabby called out, gesturing. All three quickly leaped down their friends scrambling to catch them to avoid jostling the boat to avoid jostling the boat.

“We need to go!” Zodiac ordered.

“Why? Where’s Natsu?” Mira asked worried.

To answer the mage, the team from the boat all pointed up, where everyone saw a grey and green spiraling object getting closer. Not needing to be told twice, Tori pushed the engines to max power and sped away from the impact sight. Seconds later, the green tornado crashed into the large ship, splitting the deck in two and rocking the entire structure, metal screeching and tearing as claws of wind slashed about chaotically. Seconds later, the kaijuu exploded through the opening, flames shooting off into the sky. As the flames spread deeper into the ship, the large shells in the hold became exposed to them. A number of them were quickly ignited causing a chain reaction of multiple explosions throughout the hull, before one more massive blast finished it off. The force of the blast uprooted a 10-foot wall of water that raced towards the PT boat. Zodiac took control as Tori raised a shield to protect them. The wave reached them and pulled them atop its crest before letting them slide down the other side.

(End song)

“Is everyone…alright?” Zodiac called out breathlessly as he powered down.

“Other than a bad hair day, I’d say we’re fine.” Gabby replied wringing her hair out. “Definitely need some pampering after this.”

Drew sighed exhaustedly. “Alright. Let’s get our Dragon slayer back.”

They slowly made their way back through the harbor, weaving through the carnage. What remained of the superstructure was slowly toppling down to their right, while the turrets were bent of shape and groaning as their metal cracked from the heat Eventually, they found the impact site. As expected, there wasn’t a whole lot between the bow and the rest of the hull anymore. Even with the flames lighting up the night sky, they had to use flashlights to search the water.

Happy, who had been flying above for a better look, spotted a lump near one of the turrets. “Over there!” He flew towards the mysterious object and, pawing at it, turned it over to see the familiar pink locks of his partner. “Natsu! Hang in there!”

The boat quickly rode up to him, the flying cat pulling him onto the boat. They laid him flat onto the deck in an attempt to resuscitate him. A cough came out of Natsu’s mouth causing everyone to back off. His friends watched as he sat up and spit out the admittedly disgusting water. “Gods that water is nasty.”

“Natsu…” Lucy tearfully began and hugged him around his shoulders. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“We all are, man,” Grey concurred in a surprisingly less hostile voice, “Got to admit, that was epic.”

Natsu grinned. “You got that right. But…” Natsu held his mouth; his motion sickness had decided to rear its ugly head at that moment. “D-damn it, my stomach’s killing me.”.

This got everyone to either giggle or groan at the dragon slayer’s discomfort. Drew sighed as he turned for the exit to the harbor. “Some things never change.”

“Yep,” Friedrich replied to his right. As he turned away, however, he suddenly spotted something in the water. “Hold up a sec.”

Drew stopped the boat at his request. “You find something?”

Friedrich reached into the water and pulled out a familiar flash-drive-like device, marked with a stylized A. “Somehow this survived.”

“These are more durable than we thought,” Drew muttered as he picked up speed, the harbor burning behind them, “Not bad for a first mission.”

“Could be less destructive,” Friedrich deadpanned as more explosions rocked the harbor, “Even if they were gonna be used for evil, someone put a lot of effort into making those ships.”

“Yeah well you try to do that without wrecking everything.” Drew snarked. He then smiled. “Thanks for the help today. Don’t know how we could have gotten out without taking some serious damage.

Friedrich hummed. “No problem. So, where do we go from here?”

“Our priority is getting what we found to the authorities,” Drew told him.

“Gotcha, I'll take care of that when we get back. By the way, where are we docking?”

“There's a port a bit further down the coast. That one has a train station connected to the main line. We’ll head out in the morning. Lord knows we need the sleep.”

Friedrich glanced behind them. Tori and Gabby were already lying next to each other and dozing off. Erza had laid Natsu’s head on her lap. Lucy took up a position on his stomach and after some hesitation Mira laid on his shoulder.

“Yeah. We definitely deserve it.” Friedrich mumbled, laying back on his seat and closing his eyes. Drew smiled as they motored on, the burning harbor disappearing into the horizon.

**End of chapter**

**UO: That took too long for my liking. I’m sorry, but quality takes time. As an apology here's an omake**

Omake 2: Cabbage salesman

Griffin Sie was humming as he adjusted the cabbage in his cart. He had an excess amount this season and figured Magnolia would be a great spot for selling them. As he finished, he didn't see Max leaping over him, nor did he see the wind gust propelling him. The backdraft uprooted the cart and tipped it over.

He gasped in horror. “MY CABBAGES!”

The next day, Griffin brought more, and this time set himself up next to Fairy Tail. He realized his mistake when the guild started a brawl and a table was chucked out the window and destroyed his cart. “MY CABBAGES!”

The day after, he set himself up next to a canal figuring he’d be safe there. He stepped away to get something to write with. When he came back, somehow an iron pole had embedded itself into the cart!

“MY CABBAGES! That’s it, I'm going to Crocus!” Griffin yelled.

At the Riders training ground, Natsu perked up. “Sounds like someone got hit by metal face’s attack!

“Was he screaming about cabbages?” Drew asked.

“Yeah why?”

“What are the odds that's the same person that was screaming the last two days?”

Friedrich snorted trying to keep his laughter in. “Pretty good, all things considered.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Omake
> 
> Preview: A request from Makarovs friend sends Team Natsu, Friedrich and the other Guardians on a mission in the mountains. But Grey has been acting unusual and the mountains don't help. What could be causing this? Find out:
> 
> Next time: The Cold North! The Giants of Sun village!


	23. Red Giants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Request by Makarov's old friend reveals a frozen city and something for Grey to find

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOSH
> 
> UO: Well Now that the Gaiden is done for now ROLL CALL!  
> Natsu: I’m fired up!!!  
> Drew: Easy there, Tiger.  
> Natsu: I’m a dragon! Not a Tiger!  
> Drew: It’s an expression. Tiger is someone else though…  
> Ash: *Looks at script and clenches it* You’re bringing him into this?  
> Drew: Hm? *Looks at Ash’s script* Yeah, this might get ugly…  
> UO: Don’t care! Disclaimer!
> 
> Anabel: Unitedosprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem do not own Pokemon, Kamen Rider, Fairy Tail or any references. UO only owns the plot and OCs, same with NorthSouthGorem and Friedrich.
> 
> UO: Finally my studio survives-
> 
> *Boom*
> 
> Friedrich: Spoke too soon.

“Speech”  
Text  
 _Thoughts and Flashbacks_  
 _Inner to outer_  
 **Dopant/Rider/Super form**  
 **Skill/Technique/Magic**

Chapter 23: Red Giants

August 30th, X784

Drew watched his opponent across the table. Ash looked very calm and composed as he shifted his cards on the table. His other opponents, Natsu, Brock, Max and Friedrich were watching intently, having already folded out of the hand. The group was playing Texas Hold ’em, a different card game that the rest of the guild wasn’t used to and had drawn a variety of onlookers. Considering the stacks on both Drew’s and Ash’s side, it was a tense affair.

“What do you have?” Drew muttered. On the board was 5 of diamonds, King of Diamonds, 7 of Diamonds and 9 of Spades. He held his hand over his stack and tossed several chips into the middle of the table. “Call.”

Brock piled the chips up and dealt the last cart, revealing the King of Clubs.

Seeing the last card, Ash grinned, betting a large amount. “You think you got a good hand?”

Drew just called the bet and said nothing.

Friedrich hummed. “I think I know who won this. Alright, flip ‘em.”

Ash flipped his first, revealing the Ace and Queen of Diamonds. ”Diamond Flush.”

Drew nodded. “Alright, that’s good, but I think a Full House of Kings and Sevens would beat that.” He revealed the 7 of Clubs and King of Spades.

Ash groaned. “Damn it!”

Drew chuckled as he took the chips back and Max dealt the hand. “Sometimes it’s all about luck.” He glanced at Max and grabbed his hand. “What the heck man, you’re hiding cards!?”

“Don’t you start with me; I’ve seen you take a card or two!” Max defended.

“Only because Ash started it. Where the heck did you learn sleight of hand?” Drew asked. “Anabel?”

“May surprisingly.” Ash muttered. “Said something about using her appeal to swipe stuff. But I saw Friedrich tapping the table! He’s counting cards!”

“If you’re not cheating, you're not trying!” grinned Friedrich, “Just like Brock here has stuff up his sleeve.” He reached over and pulled a card from the gym leader’s sleeve.

As the card group began to argue, Grey set off Natsu again and the two began brawling. Without the girls there, the guild descended into its normal chaos.

“Brock, what the heck, man!?” Ash screamed as he ducked a table being thrown at them.

“Poker’s all about bluffs, I was just following Friedrich’s lead!” Brock responded casually, looking at his cards and throwing them back in.

“You two learned this from dad!” yelled Drew. He turned around and caught a flying Wakaba, lifted him up and power bombed him into the floor. Turning back, he saw Max trying to sneak an Ace into his sleeve. “Seriously dude?”

“Geez, you guys need to chill, it’s only a game,” Friedrich mumbled, “Check.” His shield casually flared up, blocking a diving Grey.

The hand went on with more arguing even as the guild descended into chaos. The noises was so loud that none of them even heard the door slowly swing open. An elderly man stepped through the door and chuckled. “Ah, Fairy Tail, as lively as I remembered it.”

Drew glanced up at the visitor and waved. “Uh, hello, who are you?” He noticed that the new arrival had a very… _wooden_ appearance: his hair looked like a green canopy of leaves, with branch-like protrusions coming from what Drew assumed as his scalp.

The man chuckled, the noise getting everyone’s attention. I am Warrod Sequin. I used to be a mage of this guild. I wanted to talk to Master Makarov.”

Instantly, almost everyone froze, then bowed in respect. Makarov laughed as he approached Warrod. “Good to see you, old friend, how have you been?”

“It has been going well, Makarov. But I am afraid this isn’t a social call. Please, let us talk in your office.”

The two older gentleman quickly headed into the backroom, leaving everyone to slowly return to normal.

Drew raised an eyebrow at the newcomer’s appearance. “Is Warrod a powerful mage or something? I mean I get he used to be a member of Fairy Tail.”

Mira who was helping clean up the bar, snapped her fingers. “That’s right, you wouldn’t know. You know how there are Ten Wizard Saints?” At their nods, she continued. “Well the Top 4 Saints are called the Gods of Ishgar, the four strongest mages on the continent. Warrod here, is considered the 4th strongest, and possibly the oldest. He was around when the guild was founded.”

Friedrich hummed. “Old guy like him is only the 4th strongest? Man, the other three must be powerhouses.”

“His magic feels similar to May’s,” Ash replied. “He has a lot of Wood Aura, but I don’t sense any energy that could be considered aggressive.”

“Your saying he’s the 4th strongest and he’s a _supporter?”_ asked Drew, amazed, “Damn, the girls could learn a thing or two.”

“Speaking of, where are the others?” Mira asked curiously.

“They’re having a girls’ day.” Max shuddered. “Best not bother them until they come in. Surprised Erza went along.”

Before more could be said, Warrod came back out, with Makarov in tow. The Guild master cleared his throat. “Alright. Natsu, Grey, you two were requested by Warrod here take a mission. I also believe there may be more to this going on, so I suggested he send the strongest mages we have right now. Drew, Ash, can you go find Erza, Lucy and Misty and tell them they have a mission in the morning.”

Drew’s eyes narrowed. “There’s something you’re not telling us. There’s something that needs _our_ abilities to handle.”

“Very perceptive,” Makarov hummed, “Let’s just say, something unnatural happened and we need you all to investigate.”

Drew sighed with some exasperation. “Fine. Do you mind if we meet up tomorrow?” he asked the Wizard Saint. “Or is this urgent?”

“It’s not drop-everything urgent, but I would like to resolve this as soon as possible.”

“Right, come on, guys. Let's go pack,” he motioned to the others and left the guild with Natsu and Grey in tow. They were still arguing about the card game when they approached the girl’s apartment, the music from Anabel’s table being heard down the street.

“You think they’ll hear us if we knock?” asked Friedrich amused.

Drew patted Ash on the shoulder. “Thanks for volunteering buddy. Go get your girlfriend.” Ash mumbled something under his breath. “You kiss your mom with that mouth?”

The Aura guardian shut his mouth and, with the air of a soldier about to breach an enemy’s room approached the door and knocked. The music turned down before it opened, revealing Anabel in her purple bra and sheer leggings under an open robe. Ash noticed with a grin that she was wearing the amethyst earring he liked along with a ruby necklace. The empath smirked and leaned her side against the door. “Hey there what's up?”

He gulped as she asked the simple question. Her voice carried a seductive allure, the jewelry and outfit only adding to her charm. “Um, Makarov asked for Misty, Lucy and Erza to come with us on a mission tomorrow. I just wanted to tell them.”

The purple haired girl nodded and stretched her arms. Ash smiled at the sight. “Having fun?”

Anabel returned the smile and leaned her back against the door “Yep, they look amazing.” She trailed an arm up his and gently hooked his collar. “You can join us...Ashley.” As she did this, she trailed a foot up his leg in an effort to ensnare him.

Ash chuckled and snuck a kiss in. “Nice try, Espeon.”

Anabel pouted. “Darn, I thought I had you. Alright, get moving, I will tell the girls. Love you,” she said kissing him again before sashaying her way back inside.

Ash goofily grinned as he went back down the stairs to the others. Drew rolled his eyes. “I swear you would have gone with them if we weren't there.”

Grey gagged at the thought. “Please, that was nauseating! Act like that on your own time.

“If we did, we would be seeing him in a dress and make up later. Still scaring by the way that May does that do you,” Max shuddered.

“Can't believe he still does that,” Friedrich grumbled.

“Got the photos to prove it,” Drew told him. “And I wouldn't be talking, Grey. If you have the guts to talk to a girl, you would be worse, I guarantee it.”

The Ice mage grumbled as they continued their walk. Meanwhile, Anabel strode into the living room. Everyone was in bathrobes, save Lucy and May, the blonde clad in her underwear as they decorated her, while the brunette was having her nails done.

“Who was that?” asked Misty, looking through at some bottles with a thoughtful expression.

“It was Ash and the guys,” Anabel answered, “You, Erza and Lucy are going on a mission tomorrow.”

Erza looked up from her observations of Tori and Gabby’s work with Lucy and nodded simply. Having worked at the guild for so many years, she was used to such sudden missions being assigned to her. “I see. It's a good thing we’re doing this today.” She stood up and wrapped an arm around the blonde. Lucy had been under the same spell Dawn liked to be put under. Other than a gradual reddening of her creamy skin, she showed no outward reaction.

Anabel grinned and calmly waved her hands. “Alright Lucy, you can move.”

Instantly cognition returned to her eyes. Lucy blinked and looked around the room. “How long was I out?”

“A couple of hours, we got some great shots,” Gabby commented.

“OH!” May clapped. “I got an idea! Girls, go get your jewelry boxes!” She dashed up to her room, followed shortly by her partners.

“Jewelry?” asked Erza, brow furrowing.

Gabby grinned. “I think I know what’s coming.”

Soon enough, the Aura girls came down with small boxes. Opening them up, the Mages’ eyes widened in amazement as the various pieces sparkled in the lighting

“Wow!” gasped Lucy, “Where did you get these?”

Dawn beamed. “We got these on our travels. We passed these...trials. At the grounds afterwards, there were a large amount of treasure and jewels. Some of us like Anabel got more jewelry, while others got more gold. Misty and Ash’s treasure horde could fill up the guild hall a couple of times.”

Erza picked up a couple of pieces watching them sparkle in the light. “These must be worth millions of jewels, this is amazing.”

Anabel nodded, picking up a bracelet and casually putting it on. “Yep. I could spend all day wearing these. See, May’s got her exhibitionism thing. Dawn loves to be dolled up. Me? The cool feeling of the metal just gives me _goosebumps._ Here, lemme show you.” She picked out a simple sapphire necklace and laced it around the blonde’s graceful neck. The blue gem fell right between her mountainous breasts, drawing even more attention to her.

Lucy couldn't stop the shudder that went through her body as it wrapped around her exposed neck. “It feels…tingly!” she giggled.

“I know right, you can borrow them,” Anabel offered.

“Really?” The mages asked.

Misty shrugged. “We got so much; we don’t know what to do with them. The gold we can spend, the jewelry we might donate some of it. We’re not hurting for money. Our goal is to help people not lord over them.”

Lucy smiled brightly and Erza nodded at that. The blonde shivered as the girls had fun adding accessories to her. When they were done, a large, pink, jeweled bra enclosed her breasts with a matching sarong. Her ankles had two silver bracelets. On her hands there were matching gold bands while her wrists had two golden bracelets. On her head was a bronze circlet, which complemented her pinkish blonde hair.

Erza observed Lucy with a bright smile and a blush to match her hair. “You look amazing, Lucy.”

Lucy returned the smile, “That means a lot coming from you.”

“You have the makings of a model Lucy,” said Gabby, snapping away. “No, better idea, costumes and dresses, A cosplayer!”

“A what?” Lucy asked confused.

“Essentially you dress as different characters for conventions and stuff,” Tori explained.

“Sounds...fun?” pondered Lucy. After the pictures, she was released from Anabel’s control and put on a pink top and black pants. Once Erza redressed into her normal blouse and skirt, they said their goodbyes and headed back to Lucy’s apartment.

“That was fun,” Lucy spoke after a few moments of comfortable silence.

“It was. Perhaps next time we can bring Mira,” agreed Erza. She took the blonde’s hand in her own. “You were very pretty. Your body is amazing.”

Lucy’s blushed, but squeezed the Knight’s hand in return. “So’s yours. I don’t have the confidence you and May have in showing off your bodies so freely. The only reason I did was because Anabel had me under her spell.”

Erza chuckled. “Nonsense. You just need the right motivation. Everyone in that apartment could see; _Natsu,_ for all his obliviousness, has noticed. I doubt he could keep his hands off you.” She slid her hand over Lucy’s waist and pulled her closer, making the blonde squeak. “I certainly can’t.”

Lucy beamed through her blush. “Thanks.” Before they realized it, they were in front of the Celestial mage’s apartment.

“I know you don't think your pretty compared to the others,” Erza told Lucy hugging the girl close. “But you are absolutely gorgeous to me and Natsu. You just need to be more confident.”

The redhead kissed Lucy, making the smaller girl moan. “Good night,” she whispered before walking away with a confident sway of her hips.

Lucy touched her lips and blushed at the images in her mind. She entered the apartment and headed to the bathroom. She sighed in bliss, washing away her makeup and the sweat from what she been through, while filling the tub.

Stripping off her clothes, she slipped into the warm water and sighed in bliss. A half hour of scrubbing and cleaning later, she climbed out and drained the water. As she reached for a towel, she caught herself in the mirror. Her body now exposed, she had never realized how curvy she looked or how big her breasts were right now, or even how lustrous her hair was.

_“Lucy if you were back home, boys would be drooling all over you.”_

_“Have you ever considered being a model?”_

_“I think you need to realize that you are absolutely gorgeous to me and Natsu.”_

Lucy looked down at her body and slowly caressed her skin. It got her to shiver, though that might have been the fact she was standing in her bathroom without anything on.

_To think for so long, I never really liked that my body developed so much. But now, I have friends who actually like it. Especially…”_ Her thoughts turned to Natsu, darkening her pale skin beet red. Then Erza slid into her thoughts, the red head beckoning toward her. She felt goosebumps dance across her skin, as if her lovers were right beside her. She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Recovering her wits, she reached over to grab a fluffy towel and wrapped it around her body.

Exiting the bathroom, she sauntered over to her desk and picked up her pen. She gasped as inspiration struck here hard. She quickly scribbled them down, page after page rapidly filling up as she wrote. Before she knew it, it was well past when she was supposed to go to bed. She yawned, stretching her arms over her head and making her breasts bounce slightly. “Damn, it’s already ten.” She looked down and saw that she was still in her towel. “Huh? I thought I put something on…” Shrugging, she walked over to her bed and dropped the cloth, baring her naked body and hourglass figure before crawling in. “One night like this won’t make a difference.” She said pulling the covers over her body, the blankets tenting over her breasts.

She fell asleep quickly, dreams of her partners filling her head; mostly dates at exotic locals like the beach or even a resort. In almost no time, it was morning, the bright light hitting her on the face. She blinked herself awake, feeling very warm and comfortable. The first thing she noticed was besides the blankets, she had nothing on, the material feeling great against her skin. “Damn…I must’ve been tired,” she mumbled sleepily to herself. The second thing she noticed was a pair of tanned arms, wrapped around her stomach. She glanced over her shoulder to see Natsu snoozing away hugging her like a stuffed animal. She blushed embarrassingly, mainly for the dragon slayer catching her like this. She nudged his shoulder with her elbow. “Natsu wake up.”

The dragon slayer grumbled and opened his eyes. He sleepily smiled. “Morning, Luce.”

Her heart melted at his tone, but she had to set the boundaries. “As much as I like waking up like this, I would like to get dressed.”

“Huh?” Natsu uttered, tilting his head confusedly, before suddenly stiffening as the situation suddenly registered to him. “Wait...you’re…?” His brain finally caught up with his body. Covering his eyes and turned away in a panic. “I’m sorry!”

Lucy giggled sitting up while holding her blanket. “Its fine. Next time just ask. Also did you come in my window again?” His sheepish smile told her that he had. “I’m gonna have a key made for you, okay? Now can you wait outside?”

Natsu nodded and rushed out, tripping over her carpet and her discarded clothing to the blonde’s amusement. As the dragon slayer exited, Drew could only shake his head. “Dude, you do that back home, your gonna have a lot of problems.”

“Natsu, you shouldn’t barge in on a lady like that,” Erza scolded gently. “But it’s nice that you want to see our girlfriend.”

Grey gagged at the implications while Ash and Misty laughed, and Friedrich rolled his eyes. Lucy emerged a few minutes later, wearing a purple tank top and a blue knee length skirt. He cleared his throat, “Come on then. Let’s get a move on!”

The group nodded and headed out of town, Erza leading the way.

“So how far out is Warrod’s home?”

“Maybe a couple of hours? It's not that far from Magnolia. He treats the town as a home away from home,” Erza said proudly.

Drew hummed and raised his arms behind his head. “Long time since we travelled this.”

“I kind of missed it,” admitted Ash, “Never was one for school work, but thanks to you guys I was able to catch up.” He smiled, squeezing Misty’s hand. The red head was wearing jeans instead of her normal shorts and bikini top under her blue cloak.

Lucy glanced the Aura couple. “So how did you two meet? Was it some sort of childhood romance?”

At that, Ash and Misty, as well as Drew and Friedrich, who knew the story snorted and busted out laughing. This continued for a few moments before Drew managed to catch his breath. “You...You honestly think Ash and Misty were friends at first? Oh man, the stories they could tell.

“What do you mean?” Grey asked raising an eyebrow.

Drew turned to the partners. “You two tell it, I wasn’t there.”

Ash rubbed his head, smiling sheepishly. “Well...it was my first day as a trainer and Pikachu wouldn’t listen to me. In my infinite wisdom, I provoked a very angry bird species and an entire flock came after me. I jumped into a river to escape and I saw this fishing lure. Misty’s to be exact.”

“I saw the condition Pikachu was in and I thought he abused him,” Misty continued. “HE needed to get to a Pokemon Center, a hospital for Pokemon and he took my bike to do so. Pikachu scorched the Birds and my bike! So, I followed him until he could pay me back.” She rubbed Ash’s arm. “At first that was the only reason I followed him. But as time went on, I fell for his charm, courage and his kindness. By the time he paid for my bike, I didn’t want to leave.”

“Which is why I was happy you came during that desert kingdom fiasco,” Ash replied kissing her cheek.

Lucy smiled but Grey had another question. “What about the others?”

Ash scratched his cheek. “Well...I met May and Dawn after separate kidnapping events involving Pikachu.”

“And scorched _their_ bikes,” Misty chimed in. “They told me all about that.”

“Seriously,” Friedrich deadpanned, “I know it happened with you and May, but Dawn too? Good grief.”

Ash laughed sheepishly. “Well, on the bright side, they joined us eventually.”

“What about Brock, Max and Anabel?” Natsu asked curiously.

“Brock...we, meaning Misty an’ me, met him as my first Gym leader challenge,” started Ash. At the mages confused looks he quickly explained. “Gym leaders are kinda like Guild Masters. You need to beat eight in order to be considered the best in a given region, or at least attempt to be.”

“Like no one ever was?” asked Friedrich, grinning. Drew laughed as they pounded knuckles. “Sorry inside joke.”

“Ha ha,” Ash grumbled, “Anyway, Max and May are the children of one of the gym leaders in their home region and Max tagged along after we met him. And Anabel was a special type of leader that was attacked, and we saved her.”

“So, you’ve known each other for a while,” Erza deduced.

“Being a group that travels so much, it’s kind of brought everyone together,” Ash shrugged. “We’re more like an extended family at this point.”

The scarlet hair mage nodded and turned to Drew. “What about you, Gabby and Tori?”

“We’re schoolmates, Tori’s been my neighbor for the last 5 or so years,” Drew replied,

“What about your parents?” Grey asked. The long silence made him realize that was a bad question.

“Compared to you guys, my home life is normal. Save for the fact mine no longer live together,” Drew growled, walking faster, Friedrich quickly following him.

Ash sighed. “Drew’s parents are divorced. Which means legally, they are no longer bound by marriage. To be honest, he got lucky. He May and Max are the only ones with a regular family, the latter two the only ones with an intact family.”

“That’s why he said what he did when Natsu saved Macao,” Lucy realized, “But why would someone not be married?”

Misty shrugged. “Who knows? His step-parents are nice people at least. They don’t know about us, at least not yet. Most of the time, a step-parent doesn’t work like that.”

The mages quickly fell into silence, digesting the new information. Friedrich caught up to Drew in the meantime. “Dude, you kind of blew your lid there.”

“I know I should be lucky my parents are alive, considering the company,” Drew growled, “But it still hurts my parents aren’t together. And I feel like part of it is my fault.” He rubbed his face and sighed. “You miss your folks?”

Friedrich averted his eyes, gazing at the road ahead. “Yeah. It’s been ten years, after all. I can’t even imagine how much worse it’s been for them, having their son up and vanish. If I’m lucky, maybe time just…stopped, there. And if I go back with you, it’d be into the past…” He took a deep breath. “

An hour later, they arrived at Warrod’s home It was an old one-story house on top of a hill hat was slightly overrun with vines and leaves. They saw the older man watering his plants and humming a small tune.

“Hello?” Erza asked as they approached.

“Shh…” He told the group. “The plants like it quiet so keep your wretched mouths shut.”

“Not true.” Drew grumbled. “May and Dawn love to take care of Mrs. Ketchum’s garden. They thrive on attention.”

Warrod chuckled, standing up to reveal his towering height. “You’re a wise one aren’t you.” He scanned the group. “So, you’re the specialist group welcome both you.” He said picking up Happy and Pikachu.

Friedrich glanced at Drew and Ash twirled his fingers around his head. “Are you Warrod?”

He placed the animals down. “No, of course not.” At their deadpan stares, he waved his hands. “I joke, I joke. Please have a seat.”

Warrod led them over to a table where he brought a book. “In my travels, I’ve done many things to make the world a much livelier place. I was on my way from turning a large desert into a forest when I stumbled onto this village.”

“Back up,” Drew raised his hand. “You turned a desert, sand and all into a thriving forest?”

Warrod nodded and held out his hand. “My magic over the last century has steadily gotten stronger.” Out of the palm of his hand, a single pink rose appeared out of it, amazing the mages and stunning Ash, Drew and Misty.

“A magic like that could save lives!” Ash realized. At Warrod’s questioning look, he replied. “There are several HUGE deserts back home and in some areas it’s getting worse.”

Friedrich hummed. “That could be useful back home. The ability to turn a wasteland into a jungle of life would save many people.

“And then what? Explain how the Sahara became a paradise overnight?” Drew growled. He turned back to Warrod. “There are much larger deserts where we come from, where the magic could come in handy. But the trick is to do it without tipping people off.

“Indeed, but that is not where I want to you to assist.” He pulled out a map of Fiore. “I can across a village where there are supposed to be an Eternal Flame. But when I arrived, the whole town was frozen over, the flame missing,” making everyone gasp.

“Why can’t you do anything?” Misty asked.

Warrod closed his eyes and sighed. “As much as I’m considered one of the strongest mages in Ishgar, to be honest, I don’t have any offensive magic. All of my magic is focused on healing the earth. However, with your group, I believe you can solve this.”

A quick glance at the mages around him brought a smile to the wizened mage’s face. “Good, now this place is called the Sun Village.” He pointed at a spot on the map. “It’s well over 1200 miles away.”

“And you expect us all to head over there and take care of it today?” Drew asked. He knew 1200 miles was a long distance even for a plane trip. Without even that to consider, it would be at least a month of walking to get there.”

“No.” Warrod said standing up. “I have the means to teleport you that far really fast. Please stand back and stand close together. And then face right.”

The mages followed the orders to the letter, making the elder man chuckle. “Just as gullible as ever.”

“HEY!” They all parroted. Drew and Friedrich could only facepalm, while Warrod raised his hand, causing the ground underneath them mages to glow.

“I thank you for taking this task youngsters of Fairy Tail. Should you find yourself in trouble just look closely and you shall overcome any obstacles in your journey.”

From the ground, roots began to sprout and grow. It gently grabbed the group and placed them on a bed of pink leaves. Then it sped up and rocketed away from the hill.

“Whoa! This is incredible!” Ash yelled, the wind making it hard to hear him. Pikachu agreeing from beside him.

“I could use this any time!” Grey yelled back.

“Such power, he can make a tree fly like a dragon,” Erza observed.

“This certainly beats any jet, much comfier too,” Drew grinned.

“Got that right!” Friedrich agreed. “OH! I got something for ya!” Carefully, he pulled out a notebook and handed it Drew. “I got these from the mission I went on with Levy!

Drew raised an eyebrow and grabbed onto the paper, holding onto it tightly. As he read it, his curiosity was replaced with fascination. “Where did you find this?”

“One of the scroll they asked to help translate,” Friedrich explained. “It was in Hebrew.”

“Hebrew?” asked Drew seriously, “As in the Jewish language!?

“Yeah, don’t know if that means anything. However, it talked about these temples and a great power, using the names of the Magic Riders.”

Drew hummed. “Snowy Sun, Ruby Trees, Earthen Mines. Yeah, this sounds like a quest to find them!”

“Are they tests like it said?”

“Yeah, but they don’t need to know until we find one!” Drew informed him. “It isn’t dangerous, but if the temples haven’t revealed themselves, that means they aren’t ready.”

Before Friedrich could answer back, the tree slowed down. “We must be close!” Misty announced. Indeed, the tree finally came to rest on a hilltop and let them down. Almost immediately they all felt a sharp drop in temperature. As they leapt off the receding branches, they got their first look at the village. From where they stood, giving them a view of the wide valley, the whole town was completely blanketed in a layer of purple ice, with the buildings and walls being the worst off. While most of the group was fine against the cold, Lucy and Misty weren’t as lucky.

“Damn it, it’s freaking cold in August! Why me!?” moaned Lucy, instantly hugging Natsu close. Happy opened his mouth to make a remark but Pikachu inadvertently slapped him with his tail.

“Well, something’s _definitely_ not right. It's the end of August, not supposed to get cold for another month at least,” Misty observed, rubbing her arms. Ash took off his jacket and handed it to her, making her smile in appreciation as she slipped the jacket over her shoulders.

“This place...it's just like Galuna,” Grey mumbled.

“How so?” Lucy asked.

“The ice, the feeling of death, it’s bringing back bad memories. It reminds me of what happened with Deliora on the island…”

Friedrich hummed as the group walked around. “Whatever this is, it’s not natural. Ice just doesn’t freeze purple like that.”

“You think it’s a Dopant?” Erza asked.

“That’s always a possibility, but we shouldn’t rule out straight-up magic.”

Ash was about to comment when Pikachu perked up and leaped off his shoulder. “Pikachu, where are you going?”

Ignoring his master, the mouse ran behind a tree. Drew narrowed his eyes slightly and cleared his throat. “Whoever’s back there come out. We aren't gonna hurt ya.”

A few moments later, a young girl stepped out. She wore a red t-shirt that strained against her budding breasts, and a thick braid of crimson hair framed her face, falling all the way to her waist. In her arms was Pikachu, chirping happily as she petted him.

Friedrich blinked, raising his eyebrows as the redhead hesitantly stepped forward. The girl before him was already a beauty. And he knew in time she would be a knockout. He knew her name, but the others didn’t, so he asked. “Who are you?

The girl looked up to see Friedrich’s smile and blushed. “I’m...Flare. Flare Corona. It's nice to meet you.” She looked down to Pikachu and held him out. “Is-is he yours?”

Ash chuckled, taking the mouse back. “He’s mine. He doesn't do well with strangers normally.”

Flare gave a wobbly, uncertain smile, to which Friedrich couldn’t help but smirk back. “He, um, just c-came up to me. I wanted to find his owner, since I didn’t think he’d be out here in the cold.”

Drew smiled, but then crossed his arms, all business. “So, what are you doing hiding behind that tree?”

Flare bit her lip, twirling a strand of hair. “I…I live here with the giants; they raised me.” A haunted expression flashed across her face, her free hand trembling minutely. “A-a few days ago, a couple of demons c-came in out of nowhere and…they froze everything! Everyone’s been frozen for such a long time! I thought I could t-try and thaw them out with my magic, but I couldn't…the ice was too strong...” She drooped with every word, growing quieter and quieter.

“Hold on, you said there were giants?” asked Erza incredulously.

The other redhead nodded. “Yes? Doesn’t...everyone know that Sun Village is home to giants?”

“What is your magic?” Lucy asked changing the topic.

Flare’s magic spiked, causing her hair to float above her head and turned a bright crimson. “It’s called Crimson Hair. Thanks to the Eternal Flame here, I can manipulate my hair and ign-ignite it at will. Let me show you, blondie.”

A gently caressed Lucy’s cheek making the girl giggle, before igniting into a line of small, glowing flames. “It tickles!”

Friedrich smiled at their interaction. “Well, hair manipulation is never too bad. A bit of ingenuity and you could take down a lot of people, especially once you take the ignition into account.”

The girl blushed and pulled back. “Really?

He nodded. “Yep.”

Before the conversation could continue, they reached the town center. All around the village there were massive humanoid statues. They appeared to have been made almost instantly, freezing them as they moved about the day.

Natsu and Happy voiced their thoughts rather loudly. “HUGE!” They gazed at the canyon above them. “HUGE!” They looked at the frozen giants. “HUGE Then at the walls: “HUGE!” Then they glanced at Lucy. “HUGE!” Then at Misty. “Small.”

*SMACK* *WHAM*

Misty growled, holding up her hammer, the two mages groaning on the ground “EXCUSE ME!?”

_I thought she got rid of that,_ thought both Ash and Drew.

Flare though ignored the chaos and waved her arms at one of the statues “The giants lived in this village, guarded by a large flame. The legends go that this village was founded by a dragon that protected humans. Now with the flame gone, I don’t know if they can be brought back,” she sniffled. Friedrich didn’t know why he did what he did, but reached over and hugged the girl, offering her comfort.

Ash walked up to the statue and held his hand to it, closing his eyes. “Well whatever froze them, hasn’t killed them yet. This one still has very strong Aura. But it would help if we find whoever did this and quick.”

“Natsu, let’s see if we can’t thaw them out!” Drew said ignited his hands. The dragon slayer followed suit and they both placed their hands on the giant’s legs. Channeling their magic, they increased the heat, in hopes that it would melt without hurting the person underneath. A few moments of concentrating later, Drew sighed and pulled back. “No good. Something else is keeping it frozen; my money is on defeating who caused this.”

“Good luck with that!” a snide voice called out, getting their attention. The source of the voice came from atop a large building to their right and saw three men with their arms crossed glaring at them. One of them was a silver haired man in a black suit, the second was a spiky black-haired man in a grey jacket with a long sword that was taller than him on his back, and a large man with a pompadour hair and a large nose.

Erza narrowed her eyes and summoned Milo. “Who are you?”

The silver haired man grinned. “I’m Drake, and this Hiroshi and Rala. We’re from the Sylph Labyrinth guild of treasure hunters.”

“Are you, now?” drawled Friedrich, seemingly unconcerned.

Hiroshi laughed. “We’re the best treasure hunters out there! We were looking for the Eternal Flame here, but we got ourselves something more valuable.” He held up a familiar object.

**FROST!**

Drake also pulled out a small vial, smirking. “This flame’s been burning for years without end. Now with the giants frozen and this Moon Drip, the Flame’s as good as ours.”

Grey growled. “Moon Drip can break any enchantment. We need to get it back!”

Friedrich’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ll say! That sounds like some powerful magic. If I could reproduce it reliably, then…”

Drake growled and turned to leave. “Hiroshi take care of them!” he shouted, running into the woods. The third hunter, who still had remained silent, followed closely behind.

“Right!” said the man, holding up his hand. A Living connector sprouted out of his wrist before he jammed the memory in. His body instantly froze over, multiple stalagmites erupting from his body, before the ice shattered. The figure that remained now had wrinkly skin as if the ice had aged his skin two hundred years in seconds. On his head as a crown of ice, while surrounding his body was a black leather jacket.

**“You can call me Rimelord!”** growled the dopant.

Drew turned to the others. “We need to get the others. Someone take this guy down.”

Ash stepped forward and held up his sword. “I got him!”

“No, _we’ve_ got him,” Misty chimed in, unhooking Lugia.

Drew smiled and backed away. “Have fun, you two. Guys let’s move.” He called out. Everyone save the two Guardians rushed after the Dopant’s friends.

“Oi! Save the Memory!” Friedrich called out. “I want to research it!”

Ash waved him off as they dropped their cloaks to the ground. “Pikachu!”

“Pika!” cheered the mouse, leaping off his shoulder. The Aura guardian pulled out his buckle, while the mouse shrank to the size of a card. Misty did the same thing, pulling out her buckle and Starmie change card. They went into their stances as their belts pulsed wildly.

“HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

The two shields popped out and struck the dopant, sending him flying back. The two barriers then slid backwards and enveloped the two Guardians.

“So, you think I should lead this, honey?” asked Triton sweetly.

Aura shook his head. “Nah, I’ve been itching for a fight since I had that allergy attack. But of course, you can have a fair shot.” As he said this, he pulled out a card depicting his Quilava and swiped it over his buckle.

** FLAME WHEEL **

He took a couple of steps before front flipping and becoming a wheel of fire. He revved up and raced towards Rimelord. The attack struck home, making the dopant gasp and thrown into the wall behind him.

**“How…how did that hurt!?”** he wheezed, struggling to remain upright.

“Geez, how strong did we get under Friedrich?” muttered Aura, “That felt way stronger than normal.”

**“Are you mocking me!?”** the Ice Dopant roared.

“No, just admiring at how strong out attacks are,” said Triton idly, holding up her hand. **“Swift!”** A shower of stars shot out of her hands and crashed into the Dopant, bursting into sparks and rending the flesh across his arms and chest. Rimelord staggered back and dropped to a knee, gasping raggedly. He watched in fear as the Guardians advanced on him, turned the other way and fled further into city.

Aura groaned, “Why do they always run?” before immediately rushing after him.

“Who cares, we need to take them out!” called out Triton. With a flourish, she summoned up a sphere of water to enclose herself and shot after him, sliding across the ground like a bullet.

At the same time

Meanwhile, Erza and Drew had separated from the chasing group. The scarlet haired knight had stopped and then turned back towards town, realizing they could be pulling them away from their true target, the Eternal flame. Drew had followed her mainly to keep her out of trouble.

“So, you think they’re going after the flame itself?” Drew asked.

“Yes. They are leading us away so they could steal it.”

He frowned, but before he could respond, they reached the center of town. Much like the rest of the town, the hexagonally-shaped main area of town was frozen over. Many of the giants had been frozen in place around it. Raised above them set of stairs leading up to a large stone cauldron.

“Okay, this isn’t normal. I doubt the Dopant did this,” muttered Drew, approaching the solid fire.

“What makes you say that?” Erza asked.

“Just because Ash and his team can use Aura doesn’t mean its exclusive to them. All of us can use it to some degree,” replied Drew, “Mostly power-sensing and augmentation. I sensed all three of their power levels. None of them were above Lucy and she’s not using a lot of magic at the moment.”

He glanced towards the statue and nodded. “I think I can get this restarted. Gonna need a power boost though.” He reached for his earpiece.

“How?” Erza inquired.

“Using a little trick from Ash’s world. Aura, you there?”

_“Yeah, we’re chasing our target.”_

“You think you could use Sunny Day?”

_“Why?”_

“We found the Flame and I think I can restart it with some power.”

_“One sec.”_

Aura turned to Triton. “You okay with Sunny Day cutting your power?”

“I’ll be fine, this guy’s nothing,” She replied.

Aura nodded and returned to the call. “One power-up, incoming!” He reached into his deck and pulled out a card depicting his Torterra glowing brightly and brought it over his belt.

**SUNNY DAY**

Aura’s armor glowed red as the air around grew warmer. Above them, the clouds parted, drifting away and dissolving, the sun shining brighter and brighter, beaming down on them. As the temperature rose, the ice began to melt, something the other mages noticed.

“Flame Brain, is this your doing?” Grey asked.

“If it was me, I’d own up to it, Stripper!” Natsu snapped.

Friedrich hummed in thought. _That Dopant from before wouldn’t try and make things hotter. Must be Ash’s doing._ Before he could ponder further, he spotted something flashing in the trees. Without thinking, he put a hand and a barrier flashed up in front of Lucy. A loud *Bang!* echoed through the trees, the bullet ricocheting into a tree. The loud noise caused everyone to drop to the ground.

“What the heck was that?” Lucy screamed; a hand clasped to her endowed chest.

“Sniper fire! One of our opponents has a long-range rifle!” Friedrich deduced, his half-blue-half-green eyes narrowing. A long nail shot out of his coat into his hand, and his barrier expanded, curving around to enclose them in a translucent dome.

“He’s not the only one you have to worry about!” another voice shouted. Natsu caught Rala racing towards him. The Dragon Slayer brought up his fists and met the giant hand trying to squash them.

In Town

Erza’s head snapped around, gazing towards the distant echo. “What was that?”

“Sounds like they found a sniper,” commented Drew, shrugging off his cloak unconcernedly.

“We need to help them!” she proclaimed in alarm, summoning her red and gold sword.

“They’ll be fine. Just watch my back.”

Erza watched him ignite his fists and felt heat radiating from his arms. “Why did you call for Ash?”

“In his world, there are certain Pokemon moves that actually change the battlefield, changing stats and even the weather,” Drew explained, “The move Ash used is called Sunny Day. It boosts Fire Type moves at the expense of Water type moves, among other changes. Natsu will get a lot out of it as well. Now then…”

He concentrated his magic into his arms and increased the intensity; the flames roared up, almost as high as his head now. “Got to work on this,” he mumbled placing his hands against the ice. Erza watched as the ice slowly melted into steam.

“You’re doing great!” she encouraged, glancing around for incoming enemies.

“Yeah, but the issue is that when the ice is melted there’s not gonna much left to help restart it. We need something to keep it lit.”

Back with the others

While those two debated on what to do, Grey was firing his own rifle into the trees. Lucy had summoned Sagittarius to help with spotting, but so far, they hadn’t any success in finding the attacker.

“Damn it! I can’t get a good shot! Lucy, you have any luck?”

“No!” called out the blonde, “The trees are too thick!”

“Moshi Moshi, he is being elusive,” the horse spirit apologized.

“Makes sense,” Friedrich called out blocking a charge from Rala. “Most long-range users want to stay out of range and in some sort of concealment. We need to flush him out.”

Grey growled and lifted up Tundra Claw to his shoulder. “ _Where are you…”_ He muttered. A stray memory sprang forward into his mind

_ Flashback shortly after Galuna Island _

_“So, Lupus the wolf huh?” Drew asked._

_“Yeah. I met the spirit in my dreams,” answered Grey, “I met this girl Tsuki, she filled me on different things you left out._

_“She would know better than me,” Drew conceded, “Anyway, you got yourself a good animal. Wolves are pack animals; they never fight alone.”_

_“So, is there anything that it might give me?”_

_Drew hummed. “Well...wolves and by extension most canine species have poor eyesight. But they make up for it with great senses of smell and hearing. A wolf can track its prey over hundreds of miles. So perhaps as you use your rings you might get stuff like Natsu. My advice trust your other senses when your eyesight fails”_

_ End Flashback _

Grey closed his eyes and breathed slowly. _Trust...my senses…”_ With his eyes closed, his ears became more sensitive. He scanned the trees listening for any noise.

In the bushes, Drake was grinning as he took aim at Grey. He shuffled his arms to get a better grip, inadvertently stepping on a branch.

“Found you,” said the ice-wielder, taking aim himself. A magic circle flared open **as** he charged up his magic. **ICE MAKE: ICE ROUNDS!”** He fired four rounds at where he heard the sound. Drake cursed as he saw the ice streak towards him. He quickly jumped to his feet and dashed through the woods, the shots freeing the trees behind them. Grey kept up the fire and shouted at Lucy. “Follow my shots, he’s gotta come out some time!

Lucy nodded and raised her hand to her spirit. “You heard him, Sagittarius!”

“Yes ma’am!” boomed the horse-man, pulling out an arrow and firing into the bushes. The arrow struck true, knocking him back and pinning him to a tree, making him cry out in pain as the arrow punched straight through his shoulder into the bark behind him, immobilizing him entirely.

“Great shot Lucy!” Grey complemented. As they went to grab him, however, something caught Grey’s eyes and without thinking, he shoved Lucy out of the way. Before the blonde could even ask, a large hand shot out over their heads and crashed into the trees behind them, inadvertently freeing Drake.

“Whatever! If we can’t have the flames, those Golden Keys will fetch us a ton!” cackled Rala only for a flaming fist to smash him across the face, sending him tumbling.

“No one’s taking Lucy’s keys!” Natsu roared.

Grey stood up and glared into the trees. “I’d surrender if I were you! Otherwise you’re gonna lose that vial!

Staggering an2d trembling with pain, Drake scoffed and shakily took aim at the Ice mage. “W-What’re you talking about!?”

Grey smirked and reached into his pocket. To everyone’s surprise, he held up the Moon Drip vial.

“How!?” asked Rala in horrified astonishment, before another fist smashed across his cheek, spinning him dizzily until he toppled over. Friedrich stood over him, cracking his knuckles.

“When you got close to me, I discreetly used my Ice make: Hand magic to take it out of your pocket,” the Ice mage taunted, “So I suggest you get your buddies and leave!”

As if to emphasize the point, at that moment Hiroshi crashed to the ground, with his groaning corpse in the middle of the smoke. Casually, Ash and Misty strolled into view, completely unharmed and looking rightfully smug. Rala shakily pointed his finger at the two approaching mages. “W...What are you? How could you beat someone with a Gaea Memory?!”

“Haven’t you heard? We’re just Fairy Tail Mages.” Ash shrugged.

The gangster sputtered at the indignant response quickly scooped up his friend and ran away in fright with a trail of fluids down his legs, with Drake in tow as well.

Ash rolled his neck. “That didn’t take much, did it? Wonder how Drew’s doing?”

As if to answer their question, Ash’s radio went off. _“Hey is the battle over?”_

“Yeah, the hunters are gone. What about the flame?”

_“I managed to thaw it out, but there’s a bit of a complication. Meet us in the center of town.”_

Ash nodded and turned to the others. “Come on, we need to regroup in town.”

“I’ll show you the way,” offered Flare, hope her

A few moments of walking later, they reunited with Erza and Drew. Flare gasped. “The flame...it’s Gone!”

Drew sighed, rubbing at his neck. “I tried my best. I thought that if I could thaw it out, I might be able to reignite it but, well…” He led them to the cauldron and motioned for them to peer inside. Doing so, they could see that, while it hadn’t gone out entirely, the flame had shrunk down to a tiny, flickering ember.

“I realized that in order for it to be an Eternal Flame, it needs to be self-sustaining. I’m not staying here being some sort of furnace. If this was back home, we’d hook a gas line up to it and ignite it.”

As the rest of the group began to argue what to do, from using Natsu’s flames to Ash’s Pokemon, Grey glanced around the landscape. If it weren’t for the constant sense of dread pressing on him , the village would be very homey. A crunching sound caught his attention, making him look around. As his eyes alighted on the source of the noise, Grey realized that a pure white wolf was walking towards them, padding nearly silently on the ice. If it wasn’t for the purple ice, the wolf would have blended in with the snow completely. Before he could react, Lupus, his wolf spirit, leaped out of his ring and bounded up to the wolf. A few growls and barks later, Lupus turned to Grey and nudged his head, motioning for him to follow.

The ice mage glanced behind him to see the others still talking before he started towards the spirits. The two wolves then turned and began to run off causing him to panic and rush after them.

Happy though spotted him leaving and called out to him. “Grey! Wait up!” His shout caught everyone’s attention and they turned to see him ducking into an alleyway.

“Stripper!? Where the hell are you going!?” Natsu yelled racing after him.

“Grey! Get back here!” barked Erza, following the ice mage.

As Team Natsu chased after Grey, Ash turned to Misty and Drew. “You think it’s a temple?”

“It is. Grey wouldn’t react like this,” Drew replied, walking down the stairs and past Friedrich. “You want to see a temple, now’s your chance. Come on. You too, Flare.”

The redheaded girl merely nodded and followed them, keeping close to the older man.

Grey, meanwhile, had cleared the town and was now climbing the hill towards the woods on the outskirts, following the two wolves that only he could see. They led him into the trees, the snow and ice thickening, fading to a proper white. Behind them, his team was trying to desperately to catch up.

“Man, what has gotten into Ice Princess?” Natsu growled.

“Maybe’s he possessed by Lucy’s spirits,” Happy muttered, only to hit his head on a tree branch. “Ouch!”

“Whatever it is, it’s going into a c-colder area than what we were in,” Lucy shivered. Indeed, if anything the area was even colder, than the town. This forced Lucy to call Horologium and have Erza carry the spirit. Behind them, Ash Misty and Drew just wrapped their cloaks tighter, putting their hoods on as well, and ran closer to the Fire Guardian.

Lagging in the tail end of the parade was Friedrich and Flare. While the traveler was conditioned against the weather, not to mention wearing his heavy navy-blue coat, the red-haired girl was dressed only in a t-shirt and short skirt. She shivered as the wind began to pick up, unconsciously grabbing his sleeve. Friedrich noticed, eyebrows rising, and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. “Stay close to me,” he told her, making her blush at the contact.

As Grey went further into the forest, the winds began to howl, and ice belted his body. Still he could see the wolves and their pace had slowed down. They finally stopped in front of a whirling mass of snow and ice. The winds were almost deafening and there seem to be nothing to protect them.

(Play: Baten Kaitos OST: To the End of the Journey of Glittering Stars)

“GREY!” Erza yelled over the winds. “What’s gotten into you?”

Grey merely pointed at the dome. Despite the strength of the winds, they weren’t being pushed back. “Something led me here! But I don’t see any way to get through!”

“Have you tried your rings?” asked Drew, approaching from behind.

“My rings?” inquired the ice mage.

Misty nudged her head to the dome. “Take one of your rings and point it at the dome. If it works, it should dissipate.”

Seeing as he had nothing to lose, Grey pulled out his transform ring slipped it on and pointed it at the swirling winds, feeling stupid. To his surprise, his ring suddenly flashed and let out a beam of light that pierced the dome. Almost instantly, the wind and snow began to dissipate and to the mage’s surprise, a large castle began to appear. With its aged and stony appearance, the structure looked foreboding, coated liberally in frost and hanging icicles. Two wolves, the ones Grey had been following approached the group. While Erza looked ready to fight them, the ice mage calmly walked over and knelt down to them.

“Good boys,” He replied petting them. The ice wolf nodded and vanished, while Lupus disappeared into his belt. He gazed at the building in wonder and glanced behind them. “So...what is this place?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> UO: Author Magic: Evil Cliffhanger. I also know the irony of working on an ice chapter in a bloody Heat wave. So yeah, this is part one of a combination of the Sun Village arc and something that will be explained in the next chapter. Loyal fans might recognize where I am going with this.
> 
> Preview: Grey’s skills are put to the test as the Mages get their first real taster of being a Guardian. Meanwhile, sinister forces move in on the Sun Village.
> 
> Next time: The Battle of Alphas! Grey’s Icy Test


	24. Battle of Alphas! Grey's Icy Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grey's Temple is Found! What secrets lie within?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Well now talk about a cliffy. Let’s keep up the momentum.  
> Natsu: Awesome! (Explosion) Grey did it!  
> Grey: You asshole!  
> Friedrich: STAY OUT OF MY LAB!  
> UO: Oh my god.  
> Drew: *pats his shoulder*  
> Misty: What happened now?  
> UO: I don’t care, DISCLAIMER!
> 
> Lucy: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem doesn’t own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider or Pokemon or any other references. No money is exchanged
> 
> UO: Also, some of you were talking about the Sun Village arc being too early. We got plans that involve this arc being out of the way and this was only way to realistically have the events in this chapter

"Speech"  
Text  
 _“Thoughts and Flashbacks”  
Inner to outer  
_ **Dopant/Rider/Super form  
Skill/Technique/Magic**

Chapter 24: Battle of Alphas! Grey’s Test!

The mages stood agape at the sight before them. Natsu and Happy were amazed at the size. Lucy loved how the snow and ice looked so pretty on the castle, while Erza admired the architecture.

“So, what is this place?” Grey asked again.

Drew, Ash and Misty approached the manor and as one lowered their hoods as if they were pilgrims reaching their goal. After a few moments, they turned around and Misty spoke. “Welcome to your testing ground, Grey.”

“Testing ground?” The ice mage cocked his head, confused. “Don’t we already have those back at the Guild.”

“No, those’re _training_ grounds.” Drew turned towards the cold manor in the distance. “Every one of us, Guardians and Knights both, has a place where they test the wielders of the belts, to ensure they have a proper successor. It’s a test of wisdom, strength and courage. At the end of the grounds, you will earn a much more powerful form. An upgraded form, if you will. Misty and Ash, along with their friends, have already taken their tests, and my test is a ways down the road. However, this is _your_ grounds. The other six are somewhere else in Fiore, or even anywhere on Earthland.”

“Why does stripper go first?” cried Natsu.

“Because your test is harder than his and more than likely is gonna be the last one here,” Drew answered calmly, “Now come; I don’t think the spirits of this place will like waiting longer than they have to.”

The fact that the three held this place with reverence caught the mages off guard. With a glance at each other, they followed the Guardians towards the door. Suddenly, Ash slowed down and slid up to Friedrich. “Here, I think you wanted this.” In his hand was a light blue Gaea Memory with a dark blue F emblazoned on it.

“Oh hey!” said the man brightly, taking it, “Thanks! Wasn’t too much trouble, was it?”

“Nah, you should have seen my finisher! It lit him up!” Ash beamed.

He sighed. “Wish I did. I love flashy stuff…”

Erza caught the exchange and frowned. “Why do you have that memory?”

“Well, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been trying to collect them,” explained Friedrich, turning the new Memory over in his hands, “Between my Tinkering and the fact that Gabby uses them herself, there’s bound to be _something_ I can come up with that will let me use them for good.”

“Is that why you took over that room at the Guild Hall?” asked Drew.

The man shrugged. “Eh, one reason…”

Flashback shortly before they left for Warrod’s

_Drew yawned as he came into the guild. Normally, he wouldn’t even be here this early, but Friedrich had asked him to come by to see something. He glanced around and saw that only Mira and Makarov were in. He waved to Mira, asking, “Is Friedrich here?” A low rumble shook the guild and he sighed. “Never mind. Something tells me that’s him.” He walked over to what used to be an empty storage room and opened the door. He was met by a cloud of smoke, which caused him to cough. “Yo! Friedrich!”_

_The traveler stuck his head out of the cloud. “Oh hey, you showed up,” he said shortly, “Come in, then.” He ducked inside, and a moment later the cloud dissipated._

_“Is this gonna be a regular thing? Or am I gonna have to go back on my inhaler?’”_

_There was a glow of light and a light breeze before the smoke dissipated entirely. “Yeah nah, just getting used to adapting magic to my Tinkering. That should be the last explosion, since I saw what went wrong. Come in already!”_

_Sighing, Drew stepped into the closet, only to blink as he looked around. “...Uh, Friedrich? I don’t think closets are supposed to be this big.”_

_Indeed, the room had expanded dramatically, having somehow become as large as a classroom._

_“Well_ obviously _a closet’s not gonna do the job!” scoffed Friedrich, peering at a layered stone and wood slab he’d set up on a counter, “I had to come up with some special magics to get it like this. Adapted it from the powers of a couple of people back home, y’see.”_

_“So, you turned it into...what Doctor Who’s TARDIS?_

_He rolled his eyes. “No, that’s a huge, complicated mass of a spaceship. This is just one room that’s been turned into a Tinkering workshop.” He glanced around at all the empty countertops. “Well, it will be, anyway.”_

_On the counter in front of him, the four Gaea Memories that Friedrich had collected were arranged in a neat line. “It really sucks, not having a ton of resources,” he sighed, picking up the Steel Memory, “This thing’s clearly more tech than magic, but I can’t exactly plug it into a computer.”_

_“Yeah, can’t look up Google either. So, what exactly do you want with these?”_

_Friedrich straightened up, showing Drew the Memory. “I want to be able to use these for myself, without having to be stupidly evil.”_

_“Reverse Engineer it, huh? That would be something.”_

_“Gabby manages just fine,” he pointed out, shrugging._

_“That’s because it’s a filter,” said Drew, “I asked Tsuki, my sister, about it and she explained that the Orion Driver is currently the only known device that can filter these. I have a feeling our opponents found another way. Matter of fact until we saw them, we thought she was the only ones with the Memories.”_

_“That just means that no one else has bothered trying,” replied Friedrich, “At the moment, I’m trying to come up with a magic that’ll let me safely use these things’ powers, but I’m drawing a blank as long as I can’t understand how they work.”_

_“I’ve noticed. Come on, we’ve got a mission.”_

_He deadpanned at him even as he turned to go. “Glad to know you were listening…”_

_“I was! I just know that if we don’t get our butts moving Erza will tear us a new one! You can’t understand it unless you can safely take those apart!”_

_“They’re USBs. If I take them apart, all I’ll get is circuitry.”_

_“We’ll figure it out. Come on!_

End Flashback

“You’re using these things as a weapon?” Erza asked, frowning.

“Well, yeah, against the Dopants and whoever Yuzan represents,” agreed Friedrich, shrugging, “Just because they were made by villains doesn’t mean they can’t be repurposed.”

“Weapons are reverse engineered all the time, Erza,” Drew pointed out, “Don’t tell me all your weapons were bought.”

Erza conceded the point as they stopped at the door and Ash waved Grey forward. “Go ahead Grey, let’s get this party started.”

Grey nodded and took hold of the handle before pushing. The door creaked open slowly, ice cracking away and falling from the door. They had entered some sort of foyer with a faded red carpet and layers of dust covering the floor.

“Must have been a manor or something,” Drew mumbled.

“Reminds me of one of the dungeons in Zelda,” Friedrich pointed out, craning his neck to look around the entrance hall, “Yeah...an iced-over abandoned mansion? Getting a sense of deja vu…”

“Really? Must be a game that hasn’t come out in our time. The Aura team’s temples were all like Zelda dungeons too. Misty’s was the _infamous_ one.”

“Ah, the Water temple from Ocarina of Time, so many frustrated gamers…” He smiled wryly. “Granted, I…never actually played Ocarina myself. Never finished Majora’s Mask either, though I played a little, and got stuck on Wind Waker’s Triforce hunt.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Lucy.

“Don’t worry, just talking about some games we both like. This apparently is one from a future game. Anyway, I do remember that three of them were not ones I recognized. Anabel’s had a bunch of laser walls and stairs made of light, Ash’s forced us into the sky with a cannon and Dawn’s had a huge buddha statue.”

Friedrich frowned, wracking his brains. “That’s…hm, okay. Temple of Time, City in the Sky and Ancient Cistern. Two of those are from the same game as this, the last is from way later.”

“Right, so how do we proceed?”

Before they could answer, Natsu perked up and sniffed the air, “That smells delicious!” He raced to the door on the right and found themselves in front of a fireplace. Sitting on a couch was an old man, with bluish-gray hair and wrinkled, tanned skin. He was wearing a blue and red robe and had opaque glasses.

He tilted his head and smiled. “O-oh…! Visitors! Come sit by the fire, it’s been so long.”

Everyone raised an eyebrow at the old man but did so finding the fire warm and inviting. Sitting around the couch, the old man smiled. “I’m Neptune. I-it’s so good to have company…I wish i-it was warmer b-but m-my bedroom is locked, and I can’t remember where it is…”

“If you want, we can look for it,” Erza offered.

“T-that would be wonderful, here is a map,” Neptune offered a folded piece of paper. After the map unfolded he pointed at a spot. “Here, I think, I left the key here.”

“Alright; Grey, Ash, you’re with me. Everyone else try to warm up,” Drew ordered. The trio headed towards the door on the other side of the room. Opening the door, they spotted an icy floor with a square switch in the middle. As they approached, a chilling fog descended on them rendering them blind to floor.

Grey chuckled. “Fog’s no match for me--OOMPH!” His boast was cut short when he slammed his face into something invisible.

Drew rubbed his head. “Power, Courage, _WISDOM!_ Think! Why would the fog be there?”

“To obscure our path, meaning it could be hard or extremely easy,” Ash deduced.

Grey groaned and sat up. “So, is there a trick to this?”

“How should I know, never played this temple,” Drew shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think the developers would put in something this hard this early. I do know as this is an ice temple, normal physics won’t work.

Scoffing, Grey looked down. He noticed something reflecting in the ice and called to Ash and Drew. “There’s walls here! Maybe I can my find way to the switch.”

“Is that all there is?” asked Drew offhandedly.”

“I can’t see where they end. Damn reflections,” grumbled Grey, “Wait, reflections?” He looked down and saw there, through the glassy, iced floor, reflections of the white walls. “So, if there’s a wall, there’s got to be a top right?” He reached into the fog and felt the invisible wall there. He slid his hand along it, feeling for anything more unusual. At about eye level, he suddenly felt the wall stop and stumbled, feeling at the air blindly. “Ah! The walls, they don’t go all the way to the ceiling.”

Drew hummed. “Good, now try to find where the maze leads. You step on the switch, it should disappear.”

Grey nodded and felt his way through the maze. Drew was right, the maze _was_ simple; he eventually found the center and stepped on the switch. The fog and maze vanished abruptly, and the door at the other end of the room clicked open. The three mages pushed onwards through the door and out into a wide-open courtyard. This part of the dungeon looked a bit more worn down than the others, but still served its purpose. In the middle of the courtyard was a large tower with a spiraling staircase, leading up to a room with a large lock.

Drew eyed the tower. “I think that’s the heart of the Temple. Careful, snow’s deep, and who knows what surprises they could hide-”

As if on cue, several wolves made of ice leaped out of the snow, snarling in an odd, empty sort of sound. They stood upright, with curled claws and glaring, hateful red eyes glowing.

“Wolfos! Stay on guard!” Drew called out, summoning Leonid. The wolfos ignored him and Ash, however, and instead focused on the Ice mage, who pulled out Tundra Claw and tried to swipe at them. He realized that when he tried to move, his legs would take a longer time to react, and as a result, three sharp claws slashing through his shirt and sliced his chest. Ignoring the pain and leaking blood, he reared back and stabbed one through the jaw. Before a second could attack from behind, Drew bisected it before shooting a third. The last three slowly backed up now that the odds were evened out.

“The snow’s slowing us down, keep the wolves in front of you!” Ash called out.

Grey grunted and hefted his weapon, shifting it to his gun form, and fired at the right Wolfos, nicking its shoulder. Snarling, the Wolfos charged and pounced, knocking him to the floor, forcing him to block with the gun as it snapped at his face. Without leverage, he struggled to push the wolf monster back.

*BANG*

The wolf stiffened before shattering into dust. Grey turned to Drew, who was lowering Brave to his side, the barrel smoking.

“You could’ve shot me!” complained Grey, climbing to his feet.

“You weren’t in any danger; I just took the shot,” Drew replied casually, blowing the smoke out. He spotted a door on the other side of the courtyard. “Come on, we should keep going.”

Grey grumbled and walked behind the two Guardians. A few steps later, the ice mage tripped over something. “Ooof!”

Ash turned around. “You alright?”

“Yeah, hit something in the snow!” Grey replied digging into the snow. Suddenly, a small patch of snow was shoved aside as a small brown treasure chest rose up from the ground. Taking Tundra Claw, he tapped the lock, popping it open. Inside was a large silver key. “What’s a key doing here?”

“Well, typically, you need to find keys like this in order to open locked doors. There should be one nearby,” Drew replied. The three walked across the courtyard to a door and opened it. Inside was a small hallway with an ice floor. In front of them were two small icicles that were slowly moving around. Behind them was yet another door, this one barred by a set of chains and a massive padlock.

“Careful, those things can freeze you solid with a touch,” he warned them. Knowing that the floor was slippery, he ran at the wall and leaped up onto it. He ran further up and leaped as high as he could into the air, before crashing down on the icicles with a cry, driving his sword straight down into one, splitting it in half, before slashing the other two pieces, his flaming sword biting clean through the ice without resistance.

“Plain and simple! Grey use the key to unlock the door,” he ordered.

Grey did so, the lock coming undone easily and dropping to the floor with a crack. He turned to Ash, who was still carrying and poring over the map with a look of intense concentration. “How much further to this chest.”

“Looks like...this room and then the room after,” Ash commented as they walked through the door. Once clear of the threshold the doors slammed shut.

“Oh, what now!?” Grey complained.

Drew noticed more enemies sliding closer. Instead of advancing, however, he turned to Grey. “Knock yourself out. I’m not holding your hand. We’re not moving until they die”

Grey nodded and pulled out Tundra Claw. Sliding on the ice, he reared back like a baseball player smashed the first one, before spinning and stabbing the second in the skull in mid stride. He then shot a burst at the last one, shattering it into ice crystals. As the rest of the crystals vanished, the doors opened. Grey grinned and walked through the door, Drew and Ash following closely. In the next room, he spotted a chest. “That’s got to be it! This temple was too easy.” Collapsing his weapon and stowing it away, he ran to the chest. “You guys gonna help me?

Drew smirked. “This temple is a bit more...lively than you think.”

Before Grey could ask the two what they meant, the door slammed shut, bars sliding into place. “Oh, come on!” he snapped. As he spoke, two stalagmites dropped from the ceiling and struck the ground. Even as they shattered into long splinters, however, they quickly reformed into two soldiers, pointing spears the Ice mage. Growling, Grey drew Tundra Claw once more, charged up his gun and fired off two large bolts at the ice warriors. They shattered almost instantly before they could even take a step.

Drew shook his head. “You really are like Natsu sometimes. Alright grab the treasure and let’s head back.”

“Tch...Like I said...this was...easy?” Grey trailed off as he opened the chest, only to find two objects. One was what appeared to be a flat turquoise heart, rather lightweight and easily stored in his pocket. The other was, of all things…a pumpkin. A decently-sized one at that, large enough that it would need two hands to carry.

“You think they would leave the main boss key this early?” asked Ash, picking up the heart and spike, “This is probably just a piece of it.”

Drew nodded. “You got a long way to go man.” As he said this, the right wall sank away into the floor, revealing another door. “Come on, we need to regroup.”

[Meanwhile, earlier]

“Hey, Neptune, you mind if I get some practice in? Some of this stuff might get damaged in the process, so you might wanna point out anything valuable you want spared.”

The old man perked up. “Oh, don’t w-worry, these things a-aren’t that pricy.”

Friedrich shrugged and held out his hand. “Let’s see...Ah here we go, molecular explosions. That sounds good.”

“Molecules?” Lucy asked, confused.

Friedrich remembered that the mages wouldn’t know what that was. “Ah. Molecules are the building blocks to everything made of matter. Water, air, stone, you, metal, etc. The only things that _aren’t_ are energy, like fire and darkness.” With a green flash, a rapier appeared in his hand. “Hm...this is a bit plain…gonna have to research materials in this world later. In fact, one charge into Materials.”

The blonde blinked at the seemingly random statement but shook her head. “So why are you working with them?”

“Well, on my last mission, I got to copy quite a few new magics. One of them seems like it’d be pretty handy, if a little difficult to use.” A brown magic circle flared around the blade of his sword, sheathing it in a glow, while a blue aura flickered around his body. “Seemingly he could cause explosions by manipulating oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms. Those tend to explode the easiest. For the record, a single atom has a ton of energy, especially if you split it. Imagine being able to do it on a much larger scale.”

“Fried...we both know what happens on a larger scale,” Misty commented, laying back on the floor.

“Yes, we do,” he agreed, deadpanning, “I’m not gonna do THAT. I’m not stupid.” With a flash, he stabbed his rapier into a nearby pot. There was a pulse of a magic circle, before it burst with a bang. Then he slashed at the pedestal underneath it, the blade seemingly passing clean through, before another blast launched the top half into the air, spinning wildly. Then, twisting his ring with a flash of red, he fired off a blast of red light, which struck the flying pillar and smashed it to pieces. Those pieces then flashed brightly and exploded again, showering them with dust. “Hm…”

“U-um…” Flare spoke up suddenly, flinching as everyone focused on her. “Sorry, but…I’m a little stuck on something else…”

“What is it?”

“You...said you could copy magic?”

Friedrich blinked, straightening up. “Oh, yeah. Once I see it performed enough times, or if I touch the user, I can figure out how their abilities work and become able to use it myself. That extends to magic and other things, though abilities that come from objects are no good.”

Flare’s eyes brightened. “Do you think you could…teach me how to u-use my magic better?”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise but smiled widely. “Of course! Though, given the place we’re in, it might be a bit of a crash course. Hope you’re a fast learner.” He held out his hand. “Now, mind letting me have a look?”

“You’re just gonna copy everything aren’t ya?” Lucy deadpanned.

“Of course!” he barked, whirling around to point dramatically at the blonde, “The more you expand your skillset, the more you can do!” Then he shrugged. “Also, it’s not like I’m stealing from anyone.”

“Says you, you think you can copy my spirit magic? The Spirit King won’t like it.”

“Oh, I’d still need the actual keys, but I can sure as hell copy your ability to use them and form contracts.”

Lucy pouted as Flare gently took Friedrich’s hand with both of her smaller ones, blushing. The man fell silent, frowning for a moment.

“...Alright, I think I’ve got it,” he said finally, nodding.

“What do you mean?” asked the cute redhead

“When Friedrich watches or touches someone, he’s essentially copying your power and adding it to his own.”

Flare twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “R-really? So, if I lose it, the Eternal Flame is with you?”

The man paused, tilting his head to think about it. “...Maybe. That part seems to stay with you. Can’t quite parse it. But if something were to happen to you, it’s possible.”

“I-I wouldn’t mind…”

An eyebrow arched. “Huh?”

“Th-th-that’s to say, um-! I wouldn’t mind if you got g-g-guardianship over the Flame, since you s-seem trustworthy!” she babbled, eyes practically swirling as she blushed a bright red.

Friedrich smiled. “Thanks. That means a lot from someone I just met.”

The young redhead practically steamed, trembling as she looked down at her feet, hair drifting forward to hide her wide eyes and a wobbly smile of her own.

As the other girls watched this exchange, something clicked in their heads. This was clearly more than a case of Flare being shy around the older man. _...Really?_ they all thought with no small amount of incredulity, _With that guy?!_

If Friedrich noticed their questioning looks, he ignored them as he mentally dissected Flare’s magic. Moments later, they heard muffled voices, before the door swung open again.

“God damn it, all that work for a stupid pumpkin and a heart,” Grey scowled, hefting the gourd in question.

“Like I said, no way this was all of it, we’re way too early,” Drew countered.

Misty sat up. “What happened?”

Ash held up the heart. “We found this and a pumpkin. We suspect the rest of the key is somewhere else.”

“O-oh that pumpkin. You can p-put it in the soup,” Neptune quavered, pointing a shaky finger at the pot.

Drew sighed, pulling out the map. “So...any other hidey holes?”

Neptune hummed. “Let me see…” He took the map and circled a room far to the northwest. “Try...there,” the sound of a door opening echoed through the manor.

Drew nodded and handed the map to Friedrich. “Why don’t you go out?”

Friedrich shrugged. “Fine with me. Hey, Flare, this’ll be a good opportunity to teach you more, so why don’t you come with?”

The redhead gave an indistinct murmur of assent and nodded, while Erza walked over to them. “Allow me to accompany you.”

“You might want to warm up beforehand,” Misty offered pouring soup into the bottle and taking a sip. “This is actually very sweet.”

“T-thank your young lady, though it’s still missing an ingredient to make it perfect,” sighed the old man.

The others quickly surrounded the pot in curiosity and took a helping themselves. Their reactions were similar to Misty’s and even put a few of them in a much happier mood.

“Reminds me of Thanksgiving,” Drew reminisced. “Friedrich, you might want some before it gets cold. Or Natsu eats it all.”

“Ah…” Friedrich smiled uncomfortably. “Thanks, but…I’m not a soup kinda guy. I’m a pretty picky eater…”

“One bowl ain’t gonna kill ya. Besides, Brock’s soups could feed an entire army and still make you feel like your home. You’re gonna need something to get through the mansion.”

He grumbled, looking away. “...stow some in a bottle,” he said finally, “I’ll have it later.”

Meh,” Drew grumbled, pouring some in the bottle, “Alright, go find that chest. Hopefully it will be the last one.”

“You never know. Come on, guys.” Friedrich motioned for Flare, Grey and Erza to follow him. Exiting the room, they returned to the foyer and found another unlocked door, opposite of where they started. Opening it, they found themselves in the same courtyard as Drew had been in, only on the opposite side of the wall. This side had ice walls that stretched around the perimeter. The path before them, which ran alongside those walls, led both left and right. However, squinting into the distance, Grey spotted that the left hall ended in a dead end, with a cannon facing towards the courtyard wall rather obviously.

The young man rubbed at his chin. “Hm…” Glancing to the right, he saw that, to his dismay, there was another large ice wall blocking the way, this one blowing a freezing wind. “Great. Looks like both routes are blocked.”

“Let’s check and see if that cannon’s loaded,” suggested Erza, “Perhaps we’ll be able to break through the ice walls.”

Friedrich walked up and peered into the barrel. “No luck looks like we need to find the ammo. Any way forward you see?”

Before Erza could respond, howls echoed through the hall as three Wolfos appeared. Erza cursed and summoned her sword, Grey matching her with Tundra Claw.

“Alright, Flare,” drawled Friedrich, putting a hand on the younger redhead’s shoulder and bending down to speak into her ear, “How fast, long and precisely can you control your hair? You don’t have to tell me, just tie those guys up.”

Flare nodded silently stared at the Wolfos, her eyes narrowing. Her hair began to rise, drifting about as if underwater, her braids coming undone. Simultaneously, the crimson strands suddenly ignited, bright red flames making her hair shimmer eerily. They all lashed out, curving around nearby rocks and pillars before shooting back to wrap tightly around the icy wolf-monsters. They yelped and snarled as they abruptly became tangled up, steam rising from their frosted flesh as the burning hair dug into it.

“Good. Now, hold them steady for as long as you can.”

Flare lifted the beasts up, allowing Grey and Erza to shoot them into dust. The last one gave out a painful yelp as Flare squeezed it and evaporated its body.

Friedrich smirked and patted her shoulder. “Great job.”

Flare blushed as her hair returned to normal, falling limp around her body. “T-thank you.” She looked away and spotted something off to the side “Look! A window!” Indeed, there was a window set into the far wall, all the way on the other side of the path, through which the snowy wind blew. “I think that’s the way forward.”

“Better than staying out here,” Erza agreed. The group trudged through the snow, to the window. Using his Ice Make magic, Grey easily boosted them through the window, taking care with Flare as she hesitantly climbed the created stairs. On the other side was a long, icy hallway filled with more of the small enemies from earlier.

“Alright, Flare, now try using your hair to cut through them. As many as you can get in one go.”

“You do know this is my test, right?” Grey asked.

“Well I doubt it’d take much for _you_ to take ‘em all out.” Friedrich deadpanned, “Since Flare’s not as experienced as you guys, we’re putting her through some abbreviated training. Even if this test is yours, that doesn’t mean others can’t use it for testing of their own.”

This time, Flare cried out, her hair bursting into roaring flames, and shining strands, almost like wires, flashed out. All along the hall, the icicle creatures stopped and abruptly collapsed sliced in half at various angles, the cuts steaming slightly.

Friedrich whistled. “Reminds me of Walter. Great job Flare! And on your first try, too! You must’ve practiced quite a bit to get your magic this refined.”

“R-r-refined?” she asked, hair falling limp again as she turned to him, eyes shining, “Y-you think so?!”

“How thick is he gonna lay it on…?” muttered Grey, shaking his head in exasperation.

The hall led to a set of stairs, going up, which of course they followed. At the top was another cannon, this time with a large stone ball near the base.

“It’s like the cannon outside,” Erza realized. “This must be the ammunition.”

Flare, peering around the others from where she lurked in the back, noticed that the cannon had been pulled open, revealing a compartment at the top of the main barrel. “Look!” she exclaimed, pointing it out, “M-maybe you need to put something in there that’ll explode!”

“Makes sense,” agreed Friedrich, “It _is_ a cannon. Alright, pick it up. We’ll cover you, and if you carry it with your hair, it leaves all our hands free.”

Flare nodded and carefully wrapped her hair around it, lifting it up with a grunt. “Th-this is heavy…”

“Alright, so that would be your limit…”

Grey cleared his throat. “Alright, load it up!”

He and Erza helped Flare bring the ball up the stairs, holding it to take some of the strain off her hair. They reached the main barrel and loaded it. “So, what do we fire at?” asked Friedrich.

Erza pointed at the wall opposite of where the cannon was pointed. “That ice wall seems to be the best way out of here.”

“Alright. Grey help me move this into position,” Friedrich ordered. With him on one side and Grey on the other, they turned the cannon to face the ice wall. “Ice ball,” he grunted, indicating the empty base, prompting the Rider to conjure a large chunk of ice and drop it in. “Stand back, I’m gonna light this thing.” He slapped his hand against the ice, orange spikes crackling along its surface. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

The cannon exploded, blasting the cannonball into the wall and shattering it utterly. As Erza had predicted, there was now a way forward. Carefully they moved onto the ice and headed to wear the wall was. Opening the door, they saw the next room had no floor. Rather it was a series wooden beams with ice covering them.

“Oooh boy,” breathed Friedrich, stopping dead. “Ice and wood are _not_ a good combo. Considering the age these temples are, I don’t think the wood’s very strong.

Grey took a careful step forward. The wood creaked and groaned under the weight. “I think most of us will be okay. Erza, don’t hate me for this, but you need to strip off your armor.”

“Excuse me!?” The red head snapped.

“He’s right. These look like they can barely hold one, much less four. We need as little weight as possible,” Friedrich explained, “Besides which, you keep whipping out that ‘ultimate armor’ of yours at every opportunity.

Erza huffed, but with a flash her metal armor vanished, leaving her in her Heart Kruez blouse and skirt. “You better know what you’re doing,” she grumbled wrapping her arms around herself, wishing Natsu was there to warm her up.

Grey looked at the wood and traced a line in the air. “Okay, follow me, I think I can lead us out. We need to be careful.”

The ice mage carefully made his way onto the first beam. He took note of some of the ice. “It looks the ice is set up for us to move on. We got to be pick which ones to move on.”

“Remember, ice physics,” Friedrich offered, “There’s less friction, so it’ll take more to stop if you make a mistake. Take it slow and don’t push in any direction except straight down.”

Grey nodded and leaped onto the first beam. Carefully balancing on the aged wood, he slowly made his way across the rickety beams. The wood creaked and cracked under the ice mage’s step, echoing like gunshots in the dead silence. Slowly, he slid across the ice-covered walkways, carefully navigating the ice to leap onto the next one. Eventually he reached the other end and got onto the platform next to the door.

“I made it, come on guys!” Grey called out.

Friedrich turned to Erza. “You go next, I’ll help Flare across.”

The knight nodded and carefully followed Grey’s path, almost slipping once or twice but recovering as she balanced her way across the weakened structure.

Friedrich turned to Flare. “You go next, I’ll be right behind you.”

The girl nodded nervously and with Friedrich’s help, she stepped onto the beams. Putting her arms out, she slowly walked across the frosted wood, shaking, eyes wide. She had gone about a quarter of the way and was approaching a turn when disaster struck. One of the support beams above them cracked and splintered, before falling in the abyss.

Friedrich’s eyes widened as he saw it break and fall away, before the rest of them began to shake and splinter. He started forward, his ring flashing. “SHIT! HANG ON FLARE!”

“A-ah!” she cried, stumbling and flailing as the wood beneath her feet sagged. Her hair lashed out, binding her to the beam and keeping her steady, but another crunch made her scream. “N-no! Help…!”

 **“Command V!”** the older man roared, leaping out into space. He shot straight out through the air and snagged the slender redhead, scooping her up safely as he bounded from one beam to another, a small barrier bracing each impact to protect the wood. Finally, he touched down on the other side, holding her securely. “It’s alright, I’ve got you,” he told Flare, whose eyes were shut tight.

Flare clung tightly to his coat, curled up and trembling as she gasped for breath, pale as a sheet. “W-What was that…!?” she whimpered.

“Looks like the temple’s age showed itself. Shame, this really is a nice place, ice and monsters aside.” Gently, he set her down, the girl stumbling, legs trembling as she kept ahold of his hand.

“How do we proceed?” Erza asked looking at the remains of the walkways.

“Other side should be the courtyard, perhaps we’re closer to a way to get around the ice wall. Perhaps even get past that blizzard.”

The group followed into the next room. Indeed, they were on the other side of the ice wall with a cannon. On one side was a locked gate.

“There’s gotta a key around here,” Grey observed, “We need to dig around.” Before they could proceed, more Wolfos appeared. Erza, eager to get some action, summoned her sword and rushed them, the wind kicking up a flurry around her. The ice mage meanwhile carefully scanned the ground looking for anything that stood out. Finding a brown object in a field of snow, he quickly dug it out, revealing a chest. “Found it!” he called out, picking up the key.

Erza walked over casually wiping the ice off her sword. “So, what do we do?”

“Well let’s see what this door unlocks,” Friedrich replied walking over to the door. As they approached the door, he noticed a lever sticking up into the air. He walked over and jumped up to grab it and pull it down. What it did was raise a catapult-like object off the snow and folded into the wall behind it.

“What did that do?” Flare asked.

“If I’m right, there’s an equal weight on the other side,” Friedrich pointed out as Grey opened the door. Inside was a whole store room of cannon balls. “Bingo. Erza, Flare, stay on that side, Grey help me out here.” The two boys ran over and picked up the cannon ball before bringing it over to lever. Placing the ball in the catapult, Friedrich flipped he lever back. On the other side, Erza and Flare watched curiously as the cannon ball dropped in front of them. The boys quickly met them and they all hauled it to the canon. Then Friedrich and Grey turned the cannon to face the large ice wall, spewing icy wind.

Once more, the younger boy created an ice ball and dropped it into the base, while Friedrich slapped it with a burst of orange sparks. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” he shouted. The shot blasted through the wall as if it was cardboard, the sound echoing throughout the dungeon.

Grey grinned, looking at the map. “Looks like the key’s in there! Come on!”

Friedrich nodded and turned to Erza. “Keep an eye out for trouble. Come on, Flare.”

The girl nodded and followed behind the man, her eyes shining now as she gazed up at him. They reached the door and opened it to reveal a large storeroom and another door at the end of the hall.

Grey made a move to move forward, but suddenly paused, his brow furrowing. “This is too easy…” He summoned Tundra Claw. “Something’s not right here.”

 **“You got that right, bastard!”** A demonic voice called out. Both doors instantly slammed shut and locked themselves.

The noise caught Erza’ attention, as she had been clearing the courtyard. She rushed to the door. “Friedrich? Grey? Flare?” She pounded on the door, trying to open the door. Finding it locked, she summoned her blade in an effort to bash her way into the door, only for the sword to bounce off it. “Damn it! I can’t break in!”

In the storage room, Grey and Friedrich stared down their opponent. It was a large dopant that looked to be straight out of a volcano, with a jagged mouth and flaming eye sockets, its body formed of countless coals, a flame within lighting the lines within them with an orange glow.

**“I knew following you punks would lead me to something good! And as Regent Rala, you’re gonna hand it all over as payment for what you did to Hiroshi!”**

“Two things. One, you got the wrong people who beat your buddy. Two, if I believe correctly, this treasure doesn’t belong to you.”

Before Friedrich could continue, Flare gasped. “Y-you! You three were with the monsters that took the Eternal F-Flame!”

“What?” asked Grey.

“When the Sun Village was attacked, I hid in the forest and watched. I remember seeing these three captured by the invaders. But instead of getting frozen, they bought those things.”

Grey growled and quickly grabbed his transform rings. “You made a bad mistake coming here.”

**DRIVER READY! MOUNT UP, THE HUNT IS ON!**

He blinked at the new line from the belt, before shaking his head, slipped his rings on and flipped the belt’s Hand Author to the right. “HENSHIN!”

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

A light blue magic circle appeared and covered Grey, turning him into Lupus. He raised Tundra Claw and fired up a charged pulse of ice at him. Rala grinned and tanked the shot, shattering into thousands of tiny, flaming stones. They all rolled in different directions and then shot across the ground towards the Rider.

“Oh no you don’t!” barked Friedrich, flinging out a hand and conjuring a barrier in front of Lupus. A shower of coals struck it and bounced off, igniting fully as they then swerved through the air towards him instead. Another barrier flared up, only for the embers to try and swarm around the edges. “Like I wouldn’t expect that,” he scoffed, widening the shield with a twist of his fingers. However, the embers sped up even further, forcing him to expand his barrier to completely enclose himself, before they coated the entire thing, blazing with such heat that all the others in the room flinched.

“W-what strength!” Flare said amazed.

Friedrich grunted, sweat already coating his brow as he crossed his arms, keeping the shield up. “Damn, this guy’s tricky. Lupus, can you sniff him out?”

Lupus took a whiff of the air. “The air is too thick. I can’t find the core. How are we gonna cool him off?!”

“ARE YOU AN ICE MAGE OR NOT?!” barked the older man, “Get this bastard off me before I boil to death!”

“ALRIGHT YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT! WE’RE NOT GONNA BE SOUP!”

“THERE’S A JOKE IN THERE BUT I’LL SAVE IT!”

Lupus concentrated, gathering his magic. **“ICE MAKE...”** He thrust his hand up towards the ceiling. A trail of ice spread across the stone surface catching the Dopant off Guard. Once Lupus was satisfied with the coverage, he zeroed in on his reforming opponent and smirked. **Wolfpack Ruin!”**

Out of the ice several wolves appeared, growling at their target. As one they charged at him, attacking like the wolf pack they were, knocking the coals off the shield dome. The struck embers hissed and dimmed as they fell away, and the whole mass writhed agitatedly.

Rala surged away, pouring down the hallway and reforming into his humanoid body, forcing the others to give chase as he sprinted away, blazing. **“Good Luck catching me! The faster I move, the hotter I get! Soon you’re gonna be burned alive!”**

 **“Command V!”** Friedrich shot after him, shrouded in a skin-tight forcefield as he reached out to grab the Dopant, “Then we just gotta keep you from moving! **Metal Make: Chain!”**

A steel chain sprang from his palm to spiral around the coal-formed monster.

 **“Too slow!”** Regent Rala leaped over the chain just as it snapped shut. It just barely snagged his leg, which crumbled away. Even as he landed, he bounded away, growing a new one instantly and leaving the coals from his old leg to fly into Friedrich’s face. He growled, batting them away.

Meanwhile, Erza gave up on cracking the door. Noticing that the stone was cracked and worn down with age, she stepped back and summoned her shield. She raised it in front of her and let out a battle cry. She rushed the wall, putting her magic and her Wind power into the tackle. The collision caused the wall to break like dominoes. Out of the dust cloud, Erza lowered her shield and watched as the Dopant reformed himself from the remaining pieces of himself

“Guys!” Erza called out.

Friedrich noticed her. “Erza! Thank god you're here!”

“What do we need?”

“Um...A way to cool him down!” Friedrich yelled. “He gets faster as he heats up!”

“How?”

“Oh my god, YOU’RE A GODDAMN WIND MAGE! ARE ALL OF YOU FAIRY TAIL MAGES THIS DENSE!? Rhetorical question!”

 **“Are you sure you should be ignoring me?!”** roared the Dopant. Thrusting out his chest, a massive clump of embers shot out as a massive, flaming ball.

“Will you shut up? I only care about getting that damn memory of yours!”

“What?” Erza and Lupus asked dumbly.

“How do you think I got the memories? I pull them out of the Dopant before I let them get crushed. Hell, you saw Ash give me one earlier!”

**“I’M NOT LETTING YOU TAKE IT! MOLTEN STREAM!”**

Out of the creature’s mouth came a river of lava blasted its way towards the three in the hallway Lupus pounded ground, forming an ice wall that blocked the stream. There was enough momentum though to divert and surround him, leaving about two feet from being burnt.

“Erza! Use your Wind power and help spread my ice magic to cool it down!”

The Knight nodded and thrust her hand out. A strong wind funneled through the wall she had created. The narrowing wind concentrated the magic through the opening and increased its speeds to near storm like strength. Rala grunted as he felt the current blast him forward. **“You think a little wind is gonna harm me?”** he asked, burning brighter.

“No, but how about some ice to compensate!” Lupus roared.

The wind and ice combined to create a swirling low-pressure system not unlike a nor’easter. With the moisture in the air, it created a miniature blizzard that swirled around Regent Rala. To his immense surprise, he was beginning to slow down, his lava and fire solidifying into a dark, fragile crust.

 **“What...Are you doing?”** Rala gasped.

A green glow lit up the room as Friedrich stepped forward, his knife dissolving into a shapeless mass. “Whatever comes to mind,” he replied, smirking, “Let’s try out one of my theories. If I’m gonna use these Memories for myself, then I’d better figure out a way to adapt them!” With a flash, his weapon transformed, becoming a large, blue revolver. He gripped the barrel before popping it downwards, revealing an opening in the back. “Courtesy of your friend, Hiroshi,” he said, pulling out the Freeze Memory and slotting into the empty chamber. He cocked the barrel back up with a satisfying ratcheting sound.

**FROST! MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

Friedrich lifted his gun and sent his magical energy into the gun to charge it up. “Now then, why don’t you go into the deep freeze!” He pulled the trigger, blasting multiple streams of ice into the air, where they curved towards the Dopant. Rala’s last sight was six very cold bullets racing towards him and striking him repeatedly. As the Memory’s name implied, frost spread over his entire body, snuffing out his flames entirely. “You know,” said the man, swaggering forward with a red aura rising from his hand, “Back on Earth Bet, there was another Villain named Regent.”

With a *crunch,* his hand speared through Dopant’s chest, grabbed hold of his Ember Memory and ripped it out, followed by Rala freezing all the way through. “...He was FAR more annoying than you were. Lupus! Flare! Do your worst!”

With the others a few minutes prior

The group felt the mansion shake from the explosions from the other side of the building.

“Aw man, stripper’s having fun without me,” Natsu moaned.

“With the explosions I doubt he’s having fun,” Drew grumbled, cleaning Brave carefully.

Lucy noticed what he was doing and became curious. “Why are you cleaning it?”

“Well...like most things, they become dirty. Except in the barrels of guns, if too much residue builds up, it could become jammed. Don’t want that in a fire fight.”

“N-No, I s-supposed you wouldn’t,” Neptune coughed, “That weapon of your is m-mighty powerful.

“It is, it’s why I took the bullets out, so I don’t shoot someone.” Drew replied.

The old man hummed. “S-so true. W-when I was in s-school, it was one of the things we were taught.”

Another explosion rocked the manor, knocking some snow onto Lucy who shrieked at the coldness. “Damn it, Grey’s making it colder in here.” She cuddled into Natsu who wrapped his arms around her. “Good thing I have my own heater.”

Misty scoffed as she rubbed her arms. “Lucky. We should have brought a fire type.”

“Sorry for not thinking that far ahead,” Ash mumbled.

“Just means I get a cuddle pillow,” Misty whispered kissing his cheek.

Neptune chuckled. “Y-young love. I-I remember when I was in love. It was a sweet girl, H-Hikari was her name.”

Ash and Misty weren’t paying attention, but Drew was, and he glanced at the old man questioningly. Before he could question the old man’s words, Grey slammed the door open.

“AGAIN!? I get some stupid cheese and another part to the damn key!” he yelled, stomping over the old man and grabbed the armrests. “Enough playing around, old man! Where the heck is the last part of the key?”

Neptune looked scared and cleared his throat. “M-my apologies, m-my memory isn’t what it used to be. W-who has the map?”

“I do,” said Friedrich, looking especially proud of himself as Flare clung close to him. The old man stood up and walked over to him. Drew was moving to calm Grey down but stopped as the old man moved. He looked down and noticed that despite being in the chair for a long time, the cushion was undisturbed.

Neptune took the map gently and made another mark. “Here. The last part of the key is here.”

“It better, we’ve already had to deal with a dopant here.”

“Really?” Ash asked raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah, it was one of the treasure hunters. According to Flare, they made a deal with the bastards that attacked her village. We kicked his ass, though.”

“Which tells me that the third guy should be back there. We need to finish this soon. Lucy, Misty, Natsu, go with Grey and find that last part.”

The blonde pouted. “Goodbye fireplace,” she sighed.

“Alright, let me show you how it’s done, Ice Face!” Natsu cheered, getting Grey to scowl at him before Erza broke it up.

Drew glanced over at Misty as Friedrich handed her the map. “Make sure they don’t kill each other.”

“Oh joy,” Misty grumbled. The sound of a door opening to their right caught their attention. The group of 5 plus Happy quickly moved to the east part of the manor.

As they entered another courtyard, Misty noticed a large block of ice off to one side. “You two, push that block against the wall, we might need that later.”

The dragon slayer and ice mage grumbled as the two pushed the block into place. Once satisfied, they continued on their way, only to come across a spiral staircase with a large ice monster blowing cold air up the staircase.

“How are we g-gonna get past?” Lucy shivered as the air swirled around her and blew up her skirt.

“Natsu!” Misty called out. “Can you blast this thing?”

He scoffed, igniting his hand as he approached. “No problem!” He reared back and flung a giant fireball through the opening in the cage. The giant ice creature stood no chance to a dragon’s fire and melted into steam in seconds.

Climbing the rest of the way up, they saw another ice wall which Natsu easily took care of and a door with a lock on it. On the other side of the wall was the foyer they entered.

“Well this is a dead end,” Happy mused.

“There’s always a way forward, you just need to see it,” Misty explained. “I see a chest, but no way to cross.”

“However, there’s a chandelier we can’t get to,” Grey continued, and smirked at Lucy, “At least not without help.”

“Right!” exclaimed Lucy, summoning Mutsuraboshi. She snapped her whip a couple of times before flinging forward. The metal whip snagged the metal device and with some help from Natsu, she yanked it towards their side of the hall.

“I don’t think Grey can get it going without help,” Misty said. “So, pull it back and let it go, Grey you hop off grab the key and hopefully the momentum will keep it going so you can leap back on.”

Grey nodded and hopped up on top of the chandelier, while Lucy pulled her whip away. The chandelier dropped from the balcony with incredible force. At the apex of the swing, Grey leaped off and rushed to the chest. Grabbing the key, he rushed back and leaped on the chandelier as it swung back to the group. Timing his jump, he leaped off and grabbed the ledge before it swung back, snapping off and falling into the foyer below.

A few moments later, their radios went off. _“Why did I know this was gonna happen!?”_

“It was Lucy this time,” Happy chimed in.

 _“Don’t care, just finish the damn temple and keep the property damage to a minimum,”_ Drew grumbled clicking the radio off.

“He’s right, we should be near the end if the puzzles are getting more complex,” Misty grumbled going back to the previous room and unlocking the door. On the other side was a large metal contraption with a large cannon next to it Grey recognized it from before. “That thing can load up cannonballs. So, where are they?”

“Can we hurry i-it up? I-it’s absolutely freezing!” Lucy chattered.

Grey quickly ran over and pulled the lever. A large ball dropped into cup that came from inside the wall.

“Flamebrain help me with this,” Grey ordered. The dragonslayer scowled but followed his orders and lugged to the large cannon.

“Now what?” asked Natsu blankly.

Misty glanced behind her and then walked over to the cannon. “There’s something big back there, let’s line this thing up to face that.” With Natsu and Grey’s help, they turned the cannon 180 degrees, so it faced the ice wall.

“Natsu, you need to ignite this, to propel the ball into the wall there!” Grey ordered.

“How is that gonna work?”

“Just do it, idiot!”

Natsu growled, igniting his fist and flinging fire into the barrel.

BOOOM

Seconds later, the ice wall shattered into dust. They rushed over and climbed the ladder before opening the door.

Misty looked at the map, “Last part of the key’s in there.” Before they could proceed the door slammed shut. Hearing the other door lock with a loud clunk, she reached for Lugia. “Something’s in here.”

Everyone took the hint and reached for their weapons. As they looked around, a cold drip of ice splattered onto Lucy’s neck, making her yelp. “What the heck!?” she screamed. She looked up to see several stalagmites falling towards the ground. Everyone watched as the ice dropped to the floor and reform into several ice soldiers.

Lucy growled and whipped Mutsuraboshi around her body. “I’ve...Had….ENOUGH OF THIS DAMN COLD!” Before they could react, her whip whirled around heavily, forcing the other Riders to duck, before _cleaving_ clean through all the spindly monsters, shattering them completely.

Everyone stared at Lucy with wide eyes, as if they were seeing the girl’s anger for the first time. The blonde looked at everyone and blushed. “Um...yeah, I hate the cold. Can we please finish this place?”

Seeing the doors unlocked, Grey rushed towards the one they hadn’t come in through. Opening the chest, he saw the teeth of the key, looking like a small wolf’s jaw. Pulling out the two other parts, he brought the two separate pieces closer together. They glowed softly before the teeth flew into the pole creating a seamless piece of metal.

“Alright, let’s get out of here!” Grey called out leading the rest of the team out.

As they exited they could hear Neptune’s old voice calling out to them. “O-Oh good, y-you found the key!” he praised. Their friends were right behind him, waving at them. “T-the bedroom is right above you. A-allow me to lead you there…”

With some assistance from the others, Neptune carefully hobbled up the ramp, towards where the last room of the dungeon stood. It was slow going, as Neptune’s old age was making it hard for him to walk. Eventually they reached the top to stand in front of a large door, which had a large wolf’s head on it, connected to multiple chains. Grabbing the key, he held it up to the lock. The key floated into the jaws of the wolf which chomped down and ate it. The head then melted away, the chains falling limp as well. The door slowly opened, ice and snow falling off it as it lifted up. Once inside, they took a good look at the room. Red carpets covered the floor, Drapes covered the windows and large canopy bed laid to one side, with a writing desk and tea table on the other.

“Wow, this room looks like it could be Lucy’s,” Happy muttered.

“I would p-probably have more books in it,” the blonde replied.

“So, what do we do--GAH!” Natsu began before hitting an invisible barrier, about ten feet from the door.

“Natsu?” Erza asked concerned.

The dragon slayer groaned. “What the?” He felt for the barrier and finding something resisting his efforts to move forward. “It’s like an invisible wall.

Lucy and Erza moved forward and felt around. They too felt the wall, Erza even tapping it for good measure.

“Why can’t we move forward?” Erza asked.

“Perhaps Grey should give it a shot,” Drew offered.

“Why would he be any different?” Natsu grumbled.

“It’s his temple, it should respond differently to him,” Drew shrugged.

Grey nodded and walked up to where the three were leaning against the barrier. To his surprise, he walked right past them unimpeded.

A few steps later, he stopped and turned around. “So now what?”

“The reason why there’s a barrier, is because it only allows those who are taking the test to pass through. Isn’t that right Neptune?” Drew asked the old man,

The old man chuckled to everyone’s shock “T-the sharp wit of the Fire Guardian’s lineage still rings true today. How did you figure it out?”

“Three things,” Drew told him, “One, when you were sitting in the chair, you didn’t leave an indentation in it at all. Two, you mentioned a previous Rider’s name, Hikari. Three, you left no footprints in the snow while we walked up here.

Neptune laughed, his voice suddenly stronger, firmer than before. “Well now...I guess there’s no point in hiding,” he said, straightening up. He swaggered confidently past Grey’s teammates and onto the field. “I would suggest, Mr. Fullbuster, that you hold your ring up.”

Slightly startled that he knew his last name, Grey held up his transform ring towards Neptune. A beam of light shot out it and hit the old man.

(Play: To the Garden of the Moon Butterflies in the Moonless Night from Baten Kaitos OST)

As the beam washed over Neptune, its effect was immediate; his wrinkles flattened away revealing smooth tan skin. His greying hair had brightened into a vibrant watery blue with a pair of goggles hanging off his forehead. His blanket and rags had shrunk and turned into a red jacket and grey pants.

The beam died down and Neptune opened his eyes, a brilliant smile adorning his features. “Well, now that I’m not an old man anymore, let me formally introduce myself. I’m Neptune Vasilias, Hunter Corps member and Wolf Knight for the Riders of Magic.”

“A Wolf Knight?” asked Grey slowly.

“Wait, I thought Frosty was the Wolf Knight!” protested Natsu, banging on the forcefield, “What gives here, ghost-gramps?!”

“It’s an inherited title,” Drew explained. “Each Generation assumes the mantle of the previous Knight or Guardian until they fall in combat or pass it to a student. Misty and Ash did that, becoming the Mermaid Princess and Aura Prince respectfully. Eventually I’m gonna have to face the former wielder of the Fire Ruby.

Neptune nodded. “That’s right. Many of our generation of Riders and Guardians from one of the hunter academies, Beacon. We were a special group of people that went out into the fringes of the Kingdom’s civilization and protected people from the Puppetmaster’s various monsters and other baddies. Call us the first line of defense.”

He began to walk slowly around Grey. “I remember the day I first saw the Guardians. There was a big Hunters tournament that was considered one of the biggest competitions of the era. My team of hunters entered it to see if we could impress people. Unknown to us, the five known Guardians at the time and their Knights had entered and cruised through the tournament. We actually got to the final eight before they revealed themselves. We ended up facing Masato, Takeshi, Lila and Haruka. While we were unsurprisingly beaten, somehow, we put up a much better fight than expected. Good thing they were there, as a huge terrorist attack happened near the end of the event. Their power easily pushed them back. Knowing about the plot beforehand kind of helped, hence why they entered.

“When we were summoned to meet them afterwards three members of my team, Team Sun and our friends, Team Ruby and Juniper, were all picked to become Knights to our immense shock. It was even more shocking that two of our friends became Guardian Riders as well.

He smiled at the memories. “Even though we were on separate teams of Knights, our bonds were tight, and we were sent on missions together. I was known as the Wolf of the Frozen North. My Ice skills were amazingly powerful, but nothing compared to the Ice Guardian. Until we fell, Team Sun was always ready for action no matter the cost.”

Neptune stopped and turned to Grey, his face become serious. “I suppose you want to know what we’re doing here correct?”

“It would be helpful,” grumbled Grey.

The spirit grinned, clapping his hands. “Alright. Basically, this is a one on one fight using our armors. We fight until one of us can’t battle anymore which in this case is force me out of my armor through serious damage or a fatal blow. You win, you get a much more powerful form. And well, I get to go home.”

“Huh?”

“Basically, you’re fighting a spirit,” Ash clarified, “If you win, the belt will see you as its rightful successor and Neptune will be free to move onto heaven. Don’t know what happens if you lose.”

“Oh, if that happens, then you can try again after you get stronger,” supplied Neptune, shrugging, “A belt holder can determine a successor at any point. Most wait until they are close to retirement before they train the next holder. Our generation was a rare exception.”

“You think I’ll back down? You don’t know Fairy Tail very well!” Grey boasted, pulling out his Ice Ring summoning his belt.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Neptune laughed doing the same.

 **DRIVER READY! MOUNT UP, THE HUNT IS ON!** The shouts of belts echoed through the hall.

They mirrored each other in their stances before dropping their hands over the hand authors.

“HENSHIN!” They chorused

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

(Play: The True Mirror: Guitar Version from Baten Kaitos)

The magic circles consumed their respective Riders. The watchers observed that although they were similar in color, Grey’s armor was darker, especially around the helmet. At the same time, the windows suddenly shattered, bringing in a rush of cold air and frost, freezing the field in an instant. The wind whipped around the pair, making the group yelp at the frozen temperatures. The two Riders were unaffected as they summoned their weapons and extended them into their Guandao forms.

The two Riders stared each other down before Grey charged in first, swinging Tundra Claw to sweep his opponent’s legs out from under him. Neptune quickly leaped over it, deftly twirling his own guandao in a series of whirling arcs, kicking up wind and ice around him before swinging down. Grey barely had time to block the heavy, overhead strike with the haft of his own weapon, before his predecessor suddenly reversed direction, using the force he’d used to block against him as the butt of the other guandao smacked out of his hands. Cursing, he dove away as Neptune’s blade swung heavily through the space he’d been occupying, backflipping away and slamming a fist into his palm.

** “Ice Make: Lance!” **

A long spike shot out of his fist, spearing towards the spirit knight, only for him to kick off and slide away on the ice, twirling his weapon and batting the speeding lance away easily. “Is that your only follow-up?” he asked, sauntering back towards his successor, “Hope that doesn’t indicate the rest of your skills~”

“Shut up!” snapped Grey, summoning more magic to his palm. **“Ice Make: Ice Rain!”** Out of his hand a shower of icy particles spread rapidly from his palm. Neptune rushed the Ice mage deflecting the ice by spinning his weapon. Before, the mage could react, he was struck across the chest and knocked across the floor.

“Note to self, Grey’s getting more melee weapons training,” Drew muttered, “He’s clearly been focusing on the gun form more.”

“Isn’t the point of his magic to attack from afar?” Lucy asked.

“Even Gabby has close range weapons with her knives and she, Drew and Max regularly practice with them. Grey was supposed to be training with either Brock or Natsu,” said Misty, narrowing her eyes at the dragon slayer.

“He was, but he thinks shooting will beat punching people every time!” Natsu grumbled. “I gave him a few knuckle sandwiches.”

“That’s irresponsible on both of your parts!” Erza scolded.

“No, it’s on Grey’s part for being cocky!” Friedrich snapped, “I fight like I do because I can afford to!”

“That’s gonna be a problem,” Ash told everyone, “His gun doesn’t have enough penetration right now to deal the kill shot.”

“Relying too much on one aspect of your training will make you weaker in the long run as people figure out your strengths and weaknesses. As a Hunter, Neptune would have to adapt on the fly to the conditions,” Drew grumbled. “Erza, is it true you were the only one that used weapons as your skill set before we met?”

“I...think so,” Erza rubbed her chin.

“Then Grey’s not used to using the weapons and he’s falling back on his magic…which may or may be a good thing here. Unlike most of your magic, Grey can’t create on the fly yet.”

On the battlefield, Grey was not having a good time. He’d been trying get some distance from Neptune, who currently had the edge with his variety. But the Spirit continued to press him, sliding as if he was born on it. Instead of closing in, he decided to take shots from afar, keeping Grey from creating his magic.

“I already figured out your magic style. You take a second to gather up your magic and then you mold it in your hands. Problem is, no one’s ever gonna give you that time if they’re smart,” Neptune taunted, “Especially when you don’t use all you have.” He held up another ring, this one black with multiple silver heads. “Wolves always fight as a pack; they protect each other and take down beasts larger than them. Let me show you something that me and my buddy Sun came up with!” He slipped the ring onto his left finger and turned the hand author before scanning it.

**PACK! NOW!**

Three magic circles flared open around him, carving themselves into the ice as the air above them swirled around and came together. Gathering ice crystals, the wind solidified into a set of three clones of Neptune, who all twirled their guandaos and took a ready stance.

“Damn it!” Grey cursed, quickly grabbing his gun and firing off a salvo. His shots burst against the clone’s bodies, chipping away at them in chunks of ice. But just as quickly as they took damage, their wounds quickly reformed. They charged across the ice, swinging with deadly precision.

“And now for a little boost,” Neptune chuckled switching the Pack ring for a red ring.

**HOWL! NOW!**

A wolf’s howl resonated throughout the arena, shaking the walls and making everyone else flinch. Grey had to cover his ears as the noise rang through them. “CRAP THAT HURTS!” He glanced up in pain to see the Ice clones glowing brightly, their eyes in particular shining red. “OH COME ON!” He fired off a couple more shots before dashing away from his opponents, slipping and sliding wildly on the ice, but not falling.

The others had also been affected by the howls, none more so than Natsu, who rolled around on the ground moaning in agony.

“Grey’s in serious trouble!” Erza said worried. “What can he do?”

“Surprisingly, as much...Gah as I want him to attack, his best bet is to keep doing what he’s doing and not use his magic,” Drew said rubbing his ears.

“What are you...talking about?” asked Flare, wincing.

“Fried, you’re a gamer, so tell me, if multiple spells are used, would they need mana?” He asked the scientist.

Friedrich squinted at Neptune. “For someone in this world spells take mana or magic. The stronger the spell, the higher the cost. It could be that keeping those clones active is a drain on his reserves, or he might need to pay when calling them up. Not to mention, as a spirit, there’s no telling how much power he might have at his call. Could be a lot, could be a little. And even then, there’s his recovery to consider; we don’t know how fast he gets mana back.”

Flare furrowed her brow at him. “Couldn’t you copy his magic and understand it, like you did for me?”

He shook his head. “Can’t. His magic is coming from those rings and his belt, so I can’t glean anything from them. The Parasite won’t look at anything that doesn’t come from a living source.”

“Basically, unless Neptune’s got a way to restore his Mana or Magic, what he’s doing is actually hurting him in the long run,” Drew explained. “Lucy, if you really tried, how long could you keep a spirit out?”

Lucy furrowed her brow. “I had Loke take a look at my power the other day. With all of this training, I could keep him out for maybe an hour if I summoned him to fight. Of course, he can come and go as they please.”

Drew took out his watch and flipped it open. “I’m not a math whiz, but I think at the rate Neptune’s going, he’s got...ten minutes before he’d start going into his reserves at the rate he’s using magic. If Grey’s patient, which isn’t one of his strong suits, then maybe he can grind this out. This test is definitely teaching him more than he thinks.”

Out on the battlefield, Grey was beginning to piece together the same logic. Instead of targeting Neptune, he kept up his guerrilla tactics, taking potshots at each clone before sliding away. At first, they were repaired almost instantly but then he noticed as he swapped between targets their healing was starting to slow down.

Neptune narrowed his eyes as he focused more energy into his clones. _I’ll give him this much, he’s way more durable than I expected. At this rate, he’ll just keep running circles around them and I’ll only be wasting energy._ With a wave of his hand, the clones scattered into snowflakes.

“You’re not bad at running away, at least,” Neptune complemented.

“And you’re not bad at being a bastard. What you think you can beat me by yourself?”

“No... but I least have a team backing me. Tell me Grey, are you a lone wolf? Or are you just too cold to warm up to anyone?”

Grey winced. “I’m not a lone wolf! I’m a member of Fairy Tail!”

“Then tell me, why do you constantly fight with everyone, especially your Guardian?” At Grey’s surprised expression, he merely pointed at his head. “When you activated the trial, I got access to your memories.”

Drew growled. “I know what he’s doing he’s stalling to get some mana back.”

“Or charging up an attack and he’s using misdirection so Grey can’t see it.”

Drew glanced down at Natsu, who was watching Grey fight with a frown, and sighed. “Natsu, I know you two don’t see eye to eye, but this is your guild mate we’re talking about. Deep down, you two are a lot closer than you think.”

The pink-haired boy grunted wordlessly, “He’s not…” He was about to retort but then he stopped, realizing that Drew may have a point.

“Before we came along, who was your only real guy friend?” Drew asked.

“Grey…”

“Who was the first one who came to save your butt on Galuna?”

“Grey.”

“Who is the first guy to follow you into battle?”

“Grey! Damn it, it’s Grey!” Natsu snapped.

“Then you better support him!”

“HOW!?” he demanded.

Drew smirked. “I know the rules of these challenges, I believe the rule was no _direct_ interference.”

“No direct interference...wait you mean...that thing you beat Erza and Laxus with, Overwatch?”

“Overlay,” Drew corrected.

“What’s that?” asked Friedrich, his interest piqued.

“A technique we developed where if we needed a boost to our powers we can use our bonds to boost each other higher. The deeper the bond, the better you fight,” Misty explained. “Some of us are more compatible than others, for example Drew can get massive power spikes from Ash, Gabby and Tori. I can do well with Ash, Brock and Anabel.”

“In addition to the power spike, we can also share techniques elements and in some cases even our stronger traits,” Ash finished.

“So...it’s basically a Soul Resonance between Kamen Riders?”

“Yeah, we can use it in and out of armors. Erza can attest to that,” Drew told him, “But the problem is, they gotta be in sync with each other. Which is normally why they start sequence next to each other. Natsu, I’m gonna trust you. Can you try and replicate that feeling we had against Laxus?”

Natsu nodded and closed his eyes. Internally, he saw his magic take the form of a giant dragon. He assumed that this was his Rider symbol, it suited him. Then he saw in the distance a blue wolf, howling in pain.

_That has to be stripper’s power! What’s going on?_

On the battlefield, Neptune reached into his belt and pulled out a dark blue ring that had a giant iceberg on it. “A Knight’s power is beyond a normal mage, soldier or Hunter. A Guardian could be considered a god, hence their royal titles. You haven’t proven you could handle this power. Now allow me to show you the power of a Category 5 Blizzard.

**YES! BLIZZARD! BRACE FOR IMPACT!**

At the belt’s strident announcement, Drew and Friedrich both cursed. “Guys get close and hang on!” yelled Drew, turning up the heat.

Not even questioning him, everyone crowded around them as the snow and wind began to pick up and blow around the arena. Despite Grey’s tolerance to the cold, the sheer strength of the cyclone was damaging his armor and sapping his strength.

 _“This storm is...strong too…!”_ thought Grey, while the storm chipped away at his armor. _Damn...it...is this where it ends?_ He opened his eye trying to see a way out of the storm. Instead, he saw what appeared to be a large dragon walking towards him.

 _Great, I’m hallucinating dragons. Stupid lizard-breath is getting to me...wait a minute._ He took a closer look at the dragon. Instead of taunting him, it was smirking and let out a friendly puff of smoke.

 _What is it doing?_ Grey wondered. _Is Flame brain...trying to help me?_ Sensing his inquiry, the dragon merely held out its hand for him to take. Despite the pain he was in, he grinned and reached out, the two magics intertwining. “Alright Natsu. Let’s...go...OVERLAY!

Moments prior

Outside the blizzard, Neptune casually folded his weapon back into its spiked trident form. “Got to say, you put up a better fight than I expect. But this fight ends now.” As he charged up for a fatal blow, he paused as something hit his helmet. “Sleet” …It’s too cold for that.” Then the icy noise began to give way to a familiar sound of rain hitting his armor. “Now it’s rain? What’s going on?”

(Begin Fairy Tail Theme)

Lucy felt the rain drops and gasped. “How is it raining? It was freezing before!”

“Winter Storms are powerful, but they need three crucial elements,” Drew began. “Energy, moisture and cold.”

“Translation, because of the sudden influx of heat, the weather’s suddenly gone from a Winter Storm to a Hurricane, an equally powerful storm,” Ash finished.

“But where’s Grey getting the heat?” asked the blonde.

Misty smirked and looked down at the glowing dragonslayer. “A little teamwork goes a long way.”

On the battlefield, Neptune couldn’t see through the driving rain. “How is he doing this?” Then he noticed something coming out the maelstrom. It was Grey, his magic flaring wildly in a dark purple aura around him. Behind were the shadows of two giant beasts. Over his right shoulder was a roaring red dragon, his eyes a piercing reading. Over his left was a howling wolf, its grey fur shining with energy.

“He’s supposed to be an ice mage...wait, is this Overlay!? How could he already know it!?” Neptune panicked.

“Let’s go! OVERLAY!” shouted Grey. The purple magic exploded around him, melting all of the ice into steam.

“Gahh!” cried Neptune, the magic impacting the armor like an elephant, taking chunks out of his shoulder pads.

“You were right about this fight being over!” Grey taunted, “But it’s not you who’s gonna win!” He gathered his newfound energy in his fists, clenching it tightly. **“Ice Make: IRON DRAGON”S FIST!!”** His fist became encased in a gauntlet of ice, a bright purple flame flaring up around it. Bracing a foot against the icy floor, he raced towards his opponent, letting out a roar and his fist _smashed_ straight into Neptune’s helmet, cracking it along the eye sockets. Neptune screamed as he crashed into the wall, a sonic boom kicking up from the force of the blow.

The former knight barely survived the blow, coughing up blood in what remained of his helmet. “God damn...this was worse than Yang’s, gahhh!” He roared in pain; feeling several of his bones broken despite his incorporeal form. Still defiant he staggered towards Grey who was charging up his finisher

**FINAL HUNT! DRAGON AND WOLF! HUNTER’S SPECIAL!**

Grey’s weapon glowed with the contradicting magic. “This is the power of my friends. THIS IS THE POWER OF FAIRY TAIL! **ICE MAKE: WOLF’S SCORCHING RAIN!”**

He froze the floor and raised Tundra Claw above his head, glowing with fierce power. With a shout, he skated along the floor, the dragon and wolf spirits charging with him. Neptune could only watch as the attack closed in and closed his eyes. If they could see his face, they would have seen a large smile.

**SCHLINK!**

A large gash appeared on Neptune’s torso as Grey stopped several feet behind him, his weapon still glowing. The former knight’s body burst into blood and ice as he fell to his knees.

(Play to the End of the Journeys of the Glittering Stars Baten Kaitos OST)

Neptune coughed as his body began to break down, ice slowly flaking off and drifting away. “I...guess...it’s time for a new Hunter.”

Grey powered down and approached Neptune. The others wanted to join him, but Drew, Ash and Misty held them back, knowing that he should face this alone. The Ice mage knelt down to Neptune’s level. “Is this the end of you?”

Neptune nodded. “The...end of my journey...but the beginning of yours…” he coughed up more blood while he reached into his pocket, pulling out several rings. “These...are the rings…that I used in our fight...just now,” he motioned to a white and green one. “That is...Frontier...Wolves are at their strongest...proudest on the frontier...use it well...” He turned his head to look at Grey’s friends. “You got yourself...a good pack...A good pair of Guardians…”

The Ice mage looked at his friends. “Yeah...They are family. Our whole guild is.”

Neptune hummed and looked towards the windows. The sun had broken through the clouds, making him smile. “The sun...it’s been so long; it’s beautiful.”

Grey looked up and smirked. “You know, you’re the second person who said that to me.”

“Must...be a special lady…” he told the younger man. He struggled to lift his arm. “Take my hand...please.” Grey did so closing it tight. “Remember this...We lived as we...died...protecting our loved ones...my legacy...is now yours…” Grey nodded, tears prickling his eyes. Neptune then closed his own. “I’m...glad...I didn’t die alone…” With that last, fleeting breath, Neptune’s body finally broke down, turning into ice and shattering. The snow dust swirled around and gathered near Grey’s chest, opposite his guild mark. The dust condensed and formed an intricate wolf’s head on his chest.

(End Song)

He held his hand over the symbol and closed his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Grey?” Erza’s voice called out. He opened them to see his friends walking up to him.

He stood up and nodded. “I’m fine Erza.”

“Congrats Grey,” Drew told him. “Passing this trial makes you worthy of being a knight.”

Grey looked at the wolf tattoo on his chest. “Does it hurt, ending someone like this?”

“Yes,” Misty said softly. “It was hard for all of us to see our...predecessor die like that. But in a way, it means that a stronger warrior can take up their mission,” She giggled. “Bet the girls would love that mark.

“So now what?” Friedrich asked. As if to answer him, a section of the floor in front of them glowed and dropped slowly into the floor, forming stairs.

“Well, I have a feeling Grey won’t worry about money again is what,” Ash grinned as they climbed down the stairs. After a short walk, they reached the bottom and gaze at the room in front of them. The Mages gasped in wonder as they surveyed a vast treasure room. It was the size of a decent sized living room, but filled nearly to the brim with gold, precious gems, various artworks and furs.

“Whoa…this is amazing,” Lucy spoke after a few moments.

“This is just a small portion of the Kingdom’s overall treasure,” Drew explained. Each Knight and Guardian’s temple contain a portion of it. Ash’s and Misty’s treasure room was much larger than this.”

“Wasn’t kidding you wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long time if ever,” Ash told him.

Grey could only watch the room in awe. “How do we get all of this out?”

“Over here!” Happy called out floating over a pedestal. “How do you think it works?”

Drew just smiled and looked at Grey. The ice mage nodded and walked over. Placing his hand on it, a large scroll appeared in the air and unfurled itself. Like a vacuum, the treasure was lifted up and sucked into the magical scroll. In moments, it was all packed away, leaving the room completely bare.

“So where do these go?” Grey asked.

“There’s a vault we can set up, so only you can access it without permission,” Misty explained.

Erza glanced at the empty vault and noticed a casket sitting in the middle. “Is that…”

Drew noticed and nodded. “That’s Neptune’s body. It's the last thing we should do here. Girls, you stay here.”

“Why?” asked Erza.

“Because it's tradition that pallbearers are male,” Ash explained softly as they reached the casket. As one the guys lifted it up over their shoulders. At the same time a large portal appeared, and everyone stepped through. They were teleported outside the manor, where the blizzard had stopped. Finding a large tree, Natsu let and create a large grave to Drew’s specifications. Then as one, the boys slowly lowered the casket down and covered it before stepping back.

“Does...anyone have words?” Lucy asked softly.

Drew stepped forward and held out his hand. “Here lies Neptune, a warrior with the heart and soul of a wolf. May his spirit rest with his entire pack and may his goals be fulfilled. Amen.” He did a cross on his chest before stepping back. “Come on, we shouldn’t linger too long.”

Everyone nodded in silent agreement before they headed back into the woods. Grey lingered for a few more seconds and looked down at the grave. “Thank you,” He whispered. He looked up to see a pack of white wolves. He smiled and nodded, to which the wolves returned. They reared back and howled, as if they were recognizing a new leader. Grey turned and ran to catch up, not even noticing one last wolf appear from the grave before disappearing.

The walk back to the Sun village was quiet, the only noise being the crunching snow. Friedrich’s sigh broke the silence. “So that was one our temples I heard so much about. Got to say, I wonder if there was more there?”

“If there was we weren’t paying attention,” Drew replied.

Before he could continue, Flare spotted something in the sky and gasped. “Look!” Everyone followed her gaze and spotted black smoke coming from where the Sun Village was located. “The village! It’s under attack!”

“Double time! Let’s move!” Drew ordered. They all quickly picked up their pace as they silently they weren’t too late to save the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: EVIL CLIFFHANGER! Anyway, the next chapter concludes the Sun Village arc and then we get back to the normal story, but with a twist no one will see coming.
> 
> NS: I mean…that doesn’t really say much. Yeah, no one will see it coming, because it’s original stuff…
> 
> Preview: As the Sun Village falls under attack, Ash, Misty and Drew meet an old foe, while Team Natsu, Friedrich and Flare fight to save the denizens of the village. What surprises are in store? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!
> 
> Next time: Challengers Approach! Showdown in the Giant Village!
> 
> With that said,
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOSH


	25. Challengers Approach! Sun Village Under Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THe Riders race back to the Sun Village to protect the frozen citizens! Can they do it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH  
> UO: Well now talk about a cliffy. Let’s keep up the momentum.  
> Natsu: Awesome! (Explosion) Grey did it!  
> Grey: You asshole!  
> Friedrich: STAY OUT OF MY LAB!  
> UO: Oh my god.  
> Drew: *pats his shoulder*  
> Misty: What happened now?  
> UO: I don’t care, DISCLAIMER!
> 
> Lucy: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem doesn’t own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider or Pokemon or any other references. No money is exchanged
> 
> UO: Also, some of you were talking about the Sun Village arc being too early. We got plans that involve this arc being out of the way and this was only way to realistically have the events in this chapter

**OSPREY….SWOOOSH**

**UO: And here we go with the big fights! Actor Check!** **  
*Sees studio in a wreck*  
UO: I don't even know why I bother.  
Natsu: Oh man, someone beat me to it.  
UO: *tilts head* This wasn't you’re doing?  
Natsu: No, Ash said something about taking on someone in this chapter.  
UO: GOD DAMN IT!  
Drew: Disclaimer?  
UO: YES**

**Drew: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem doesn't own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider or Pokemon or any other references. No money is exchanged**

**UO: START THE SHOW**

"Speech"  
Text  
 _"Thoughts and Flashbacks"_ _  
Inner to outer  
_ **Dopant/Rider/Super form** **  
Skill/Technique/Magic**

Chapter 25: Challengers Approach! Sun Village Under attack!

The group of ten rushed through the woods, all worried about the village itself. As they reached the edge of woods, Drew told everyone to take cover behind a tree.

"Why are you stopping us!?" Natsu growled.

"We go in there without a plan, we're gonna get overwhelmed. Look at the smoke clouds. How many do you see?" Drew asked.

Lucy looked into the sky and although hard to tell, there were three distinct smoke trails. "I see three, one looks like it's in the center of town, one outside, and one looks close to where we came in."

"Then we're gonna need three teams," Drew suggested. "Friedrich, can you hold your own?"

He snorted. "Yes. Easily."

"Alright, you take Flare and get to the center of town," Drew ordered, pointing at the whiter smokestack. Friedrich nodded as Flare scooted close. "Erza, take your team, head over to where we started." Getting nods from the mages, he pointed to himself. "Ash, Misty and I will head outside of town. Let's move people!"

"Right!" Everyone called out and separated.

With The Guardians

Drew, Ash and Misty raced to the other side of town. The outlying areas were farmlands coated with snow and ice, multiple rows of vegetables and fruits awaiting the next harvest. They spotted several troopers standing around, laughing, cutting down vegetable stalks and setting rows of fruit trees alight. "Power's not gonna be my friend here, gotta go to DPS," Drew muttered reaching into his back pocket.

"Osceola and Renegade gonna ride again?" Ash asked amused.

"You know it!" Drew answered, pulling out a pair of matching dark red M1911's with garnet and gold micarta grips. Grinning, he pulled both triggers, instantly splitting open the heads of the two closest mooks, catching the other’s attentions.

Misty, meanwhile, waved her hand over the ground and pulled some of the ice to create a large wave of water. She swung her arms and commanded to crash down on the first wave of advancing troops, sweeping them away. Ash leaped behind her and swung his sword, lightning infused Bullet Seeds firing from its wake. Landing in the middle of the group, his eyes glowed white, he vanished in a blur.

" **Quick Attack!"**

He reappeared in front of the small group and resheathed his sword with a grin. The soldiers hissed in pain as multiple slashes appeared across their chests, before they then turned to dark dust. Misty meanwhile leaped into the air and fired off multiple Swift stars from her trident. The stars exploded around the group, causing them to yell in agony.

"Easy on the fruit!" Ash called out.

"Trying to, there's way too many!" Misty replied, landing next to her boyfriend.

Off to the side, Drew was having a field day weaving through his group and popping off several shots into his opponents. Tiring of his guns, and being more close range than he realized, he holstered his two guns and brought out Leonid. He took a wide swing and cleared out some room. He grinned and ignited his left arm. "How about we turn up the heat? **Lion's Smash!"** He slammed his fists into the ground, the impact causing the flames to erupt and spread in multiple directions. Then the flames quickly merged together consuming those he had missed. He was taking great care to keep property damage to a minimum, stopping the fires from reaching the walls.

As he cleared the group, he started to notice this particular group was not putting up much of a fight as previous fights, from the lack of effort in the strikes to the wide misses. Either this group was weaker than they were, which was possible, or someone was deliberately telling them to not fight. He cut through another group and caught up to Ash and Misty.

"You guys doing alright?" Drew asked.

"Yeah, these guys are too easy!" Ash boasted.

"That's what's worrying me," Drew mumbled. Just as he said that, the surviving troopers paused and began to stand at attention.

"Knew it, someone else is commanding them," Drew sighed.

"Question is, who?"

A few moments later, they heard laughter. "Who indeed, Red!" In an instant, all three tensed.

"I know that voice…Paul! Where are you!?" Ash snapped.

The crowd in front of them parted to reveal a very familiar visage, at least to the three Guardians. The man approaching had dark purple hair, tinged red and black. He was dressed in a black and red leather duster with spikes trailing down his arms. His face bore a large scar, splitting his skin under his right eye.

"Been a long time, losers!" Paul cackled.

"Only loser I see is you. What the heck did you do to yourself?" Misty asked disgusted

Paul waved his arm. "A little training, a little injection of Dark energy, now I feel like a General!

"General as a relative term, right now I see you as more a Major," Drew countered.

Paul growled. "I wouldn't be talking! You want to save this town, your gonna go through our little army of ours!

Drew smirked. "You know three on 1 is a little unfair," He turned to Ash and Misty. "Don't let me rain on your reunion." He launched a stream of fire to clear out a group in front of town. "See ya, loser!" he saluted Paul.

"I'll make you eat those words!" Paul snapped. He pulled out his belt out. It was similar in design to Ash and Misty's, only it had the image of a large flame. He held up a dark red card, showing a Charizard, and inserted it into the buckle. As the trail of cards shot out and wrapped around his waist, he raised his hand in front of him and clenched a fist. "Henshin!" he growled.

**EVOLVE**

Although his belt called out the same phrase as the Aura Riders', it did so in a much darker, ominous tone. A dark red shield formed in front of the young man and drifted back towards him, enveloping him in an aura of dark energy. With a pulse, the deep red force blasted away, revealing a dark, almost burnt orange figure, with black flame designs spreading up and down his torso. His boots were a crimson red with similar black flames around the heel and ankles. His gloves were the opposite his boots, being a black with red flames connecting into the arms. His helmet was stylized after a Charizard's head, with two orange horns sticking up in the back, blue black eyes, a red faceplate and sharp fangs near where the mouth would be.

"Kamen Rider…Dante," the new Rider hissed, summoning a dark red lance with a split head and a black grip.

Ash and Misty responded by inserting their cards and go into their poses. "Henshin!"

**EVOLVE**

Even the shields sprang forth and enveloped the two, Dante wasted no time charging them. Both Guardians summoned their weapons and parried the blow sending a small shock wave through the field.

Meanwhile, Drew was racing through town, figuring out where to go. _Natsu's team should be fine with what they got. Friedrich enough said. Great…I'm bored._

As if to answer his prayers, a large hulking figure dropped down in front of him. He towered over Drew, almost nine feet at his full height, with a hulking frame. He had black short cropped hair, black tired looking eyes and a bandanna over his mouth.

"So….you _are_ one of the Riders. It appears that blood bitch was right about them."

"You're associated with Yuzan," observed Drew, grabbing Leonid's hilt.

"No…I am with the Guild Succubus Eye, a guild associated with Tartaros of the Balam Alliance."

"Is that supposed to…mean anything?" asked the boy slowly, reaching behind him to grab his phone.

"They are the premier Dark Guilds in Fiore! We will crush all the light that oppose us. I am Doriate, a demon of the book of Zeref!"

 _There's that Zeref guy again. What is he, like some sort of Satan figure? More importantly, demons exist? God damn this world is more messed up than ours…and that's saying something. Hopefully I can get some answers._ Drew pressed the Taurus button.

**STANDBY: TAURUS**

"HENSHIN!"

**COMPLETE**

Zodiac's bulkier form appeared, and he pulled out his axe. "When I defeat you, I'm gonna make sure you tell me everything!"

The Demon laughed. "I would like to see you try!" He roared charging at the Rider.

With Friedrich and Flare

Friedrich took a deep breath, coolly eyeing the swarm of troopers that greeted him and his companion. The city square was jam packed with the armored, faceless minions, all with their various axes, knives and short swords drawn.

Amid the sea of dark armor and sleek weapons, from the center of the square rose a large, ornate fountain, though it was coated in a thick layer of ice like everything else. A massive dish-shaped object sat atop it. "That's…where the Sacred Flame burned," murmured Flare, her fingers curling against his sleeve.

He nodded slowly, surveying the massed forces. "Looks like they know that. My guess is, they don't want it relit. Drew didn't manage it last time, but…you said that your magic is empowered by the Sacred Flame, right?"

The redhead nodded, gazing forlornly at the empty brazier. "Yes…the Flame gave its power to me. It shared its warmth, when everyone else overlooked me."

She flinched as Friedrich tugged his hand from her grip, only for him to squeeze her shoulder. "If it gave you its power, then I have an idea. I'll clear the way for you, and you use your magic to call out to the Sacred Flame. If it's you, then it might just respond and reignite."

Flare nodded slowly, blushing as he smiled encouragingly at her. Friedrich then stepped forward and held up his hand, ring flashing. "Oi! Meatshields!"

Instantly the troopers all focused on him, tensing up.

Friedrich grinned, crossing his arms in front of him with his fingers splayed out straight. "Don't get too comfy over there! We've come along to fix the heating!" A wave of gray passed over his fingers. "Now, who's first!?"

Instead of answering, three smaller Troopers charged at the traveler, their weapons raised high in the air.

He flung out his arms, and there was a whistling sound before the three soldiers toppled to the ground, riddled with dozens of tiny blades. A layer of sharp, gleaming metal scales coated Friedrich's forearms, just barely visible under his sleeves, but pointed outwards. **"Iron Dragon's Flak Scales!"** he barked.

Seeing their companions falling before their eyes, a much larger group charged forward, intent on cutting down the upstart who'd barged into their midst…

Only for them to realize that he was already leaping towards them, arms clasped over his head. **"Metal Make: Hammer!"** He swung his arms, a massive mallet of black iron materializing out of the air and mimicking his swing. Quite a few of them manage to stop short or leap back, but the ones at the front were less lucky. There was a nasty crunch as several troopers exploded into a shower of mechanical parts.

Seeing their companions wiped out, the next group was more cautious in approaching Friedrich. Instead, they turned their sights on Flare who looked like a deer in the headlights.

" **Metal Make: Harpoon Fan!"**

Several wickedly barbed spikes and hooks shot out on a set of long, thick chains, spearing through the first few front rows of Troopers. With a shout, Friedrich hoisted them into the air, flinging them away. "Eyes on me, asshats!" He held out one hand, conjuring an orange magic circle. "Let's see. **Explosion Magic.** And…" He held out the other, summoning a red one marked with a dragon's snarling face, **"Fire Dragon Slayer.** Let's see what happens when I combine them…"

He crossed his hands over each other, palms facing outward, causing the two magic circles to overlap. The untamed Dragon slayer magic greedily consumed the explosion magic, the latter increasing the intensity of the fire magic

"Well what do you know, I just made a new Dragon Slayer magic." Friedrich closed his eyes and breathed in, his eyes glowing and sparkling orange. **"Blasting Dragon's…!** **"**

Sensing that something dangerous was about to come crashing down on them, the troopers slammed on the brakes and scrambled over each other to get out of the way. Friedrich grinned, Flare quickly moving behind him.

" **ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!"**

A wall of pure concussive force SMASHED through the ranks of cyborgs, utterly eviscerating those in the direct line of attack. Those who weren't immediately pulverized by the initial blast were still tossed about like ragdolls, the shockwave shaking the buildings as they rebounded, doing even more damage. The narrow explosion tore through the troopers, forcibly carving open a path through the crowd all the way down the street until it reached the frozen fountain. The thick ice at the center of town shook as the blast struck it, a large chunk at the front cracking and shattering away.

Friedrich reached back and grabbed Flare's hand, a blue circle appearing beneath their feet. "Now go! **Command V!"**

The redheaded girl gasped as she felt her legs tingle with power. In an instant, as she took a step, she disappeared with a yelp, the sonic boom knocking some troopers down. She raced past the dead and melting troopers. Before she knew it, she was leaping up onto the dark, frosted brazier that held the Eternal Flame. She knelt down, hands touching the ice, while her hair came to life, swirling and twining around the ice in a crimson double helix.

Even as her hair ignited, a blue forcefield rose up around the fountain, sealing her off from the troopers. Friedrich stood at the base of the fountain, his ring glowing as he glared at the army. "You won't touch a hair on her head!"

" **Then how about I take a chunk of your flesh!?"** roared a loud voice. Friedrich glared up as a large figure landed between the two of them with a thud, crushing some trooper corpses underfoot. As it stood up, the traveler took in its appearance. It was a large cat, judging by its eyes and the shape of its snarling face. The spots, however, told Friedrich that it was a jaguar. He was standing six feet tall, with bulging biceps, powerful legs and long, deadly-sharp claws. Whoever had this was clearly either very strong or was taking a lot of power from the memory.

"So, this is the third Gaea Memory you had in store?" asked the man, cracking his knuckles, "It's about time. I'm a bit of a completionist, so I've been wanting to go three for three today."

" **You're the one that beat my Guild mates!?"** The dopant screamed.

"Hmm…No. Only one was my doing, the other was Ash and Misty. I took out that cocky hothead with the Ember memory." For emphasis, he withdrew the Memory in question, clicking the button.

**EMBER**

" **Grrr….You know how much money those costs? We were hoping to steal the treasure in that damn temple to cover it. Probably set us for life!"**

"Probably would have, yeah," agreed Friedrich, smirking, "Unfortunately for you, we're badasses, and that temple was actually meant for one of us. Your friend in there was just a MINIBOSS."

" **Miniboss?! I'll show you Miniboss! Or my name isn't Jaguar Crush!"**

Friedrich shook his head. "Please. Even your friends had better naming sense than that."

" **GRRR, FUCK YOU!"** The Jaguar roared and charged him.

"Bring it on Pussycat!" Friedrich taunted, multicolored magic circles flaring all around him.

With Team Natsu

All four of the Riders had transformed and were clearing on the soldiers at decent clip. Pleiades had transformed into her Sagittarius Armor, her arrows finding their marks. Seeing Natsu battle several of the goons she turned and poured energy into the bow. Arrow after arrow streaked through the air, piercing both sound barrier and helmets with deadly finality and uncanny speed. The Metal Guardian leaped and spun around troopers and past attacks, letting loose arrows so fast that it was impossible to see her drawing them. As the arrows rained, Draco bisected two of the survivors causing to spark and blow up. He then slammed his axe down, channeling his earth magic into the ground. **"Axe Dragon's Earth Crush!"** The earth rumbled as a large claw raised out of the earth and crashed into a group of panic soldiers.

Meanwhile, Aquilla had been raising hell with her rifle, firing off shots rapidly and nailing trooper after trooper straight in the forehead. She flung her shield, using her wind magic to send it into one before letting it bounce around in an improved dance of metal and oil.

"These lessons Friedrich taught us are starting to bear fruit. But they aren't going down as fast as I want them too. Perhaps I need to change my armor." She reached down and pulled out a black object, giving it a flick and unfolding it into a black serrated knife.

"Changing Wings! Requip! Black Wing!" She shouted inserting the knife into her bracelet and grinding it through.

**BLACK WING! TAKE FLIGHT!**

Several spectral swords appeared and struck through the Rider, causing her bronze armor to shatter. Replacing and reforming over her body was a midnight-black armor. Her green eye lenses faded to sky blue, while her helmet darkened and gained a silver eagle beaked tiara. The rest of the armor was black, form-fitting latex, her breasts covered in armor on the top half, legs were encased in black and silver thigh-high boots. Her shoulders were protected by two large shield plates with small metallic crosses. Sprouting from her back were two silvery bat wings, formed of many overlapping, blade-like sheets of metal.

" **Kamen Rider Aquilla: Black Wing Mode!"** she shouted. She raised her arm and out of a magic circle, a short sword from her Heaven's wing armor appeared in her right hand. Twirling Milo in its spear form, she rushed back in, her armor's power coursing through the spear as well. She whirled and weaved and spun, slashing and stabbing through soldier after soldier.

Lupus fired off multiple shots, his ice raining down on the battle below. He kept an eye on Pleiades as she switched out her armors to her Virgo armor. "Guess we need some more juice. Let's see what Neptune gave me," he said pulling out a ring with a wolf howling into the air. He turned the hand author before slipping the ring onto his left hand.

**HOWL! NOW!**

A loud piercing howl echoed through the village. While everyone could hear the wolves' cry, Draco, Pleiades and Aquilla began to glow blue, increasing their strength threefold.

"HAH! This power is incredible, stripper!" Draco cheered, slamming his feet into the ground and causing several pillars of stone to erupt upwards all around him, knocking several soldiers into the air.

As they continued to clear the group, a much larger soldier stomped its way through the crowd; a towering, hulking humanoid with ashen grey skin, mechanical arms and legs. Dragging behind him was a large two-edged axe. His slow lumbering walk was emphasized by the sparks and the steamed earth emerging from the dredged-up earth. He paused and lifted it up. "TITAN! CRUSH MAGES!" The three mages only had a split second to brace themselves before the axe crashed down. The shockwave rocked them, making the earth buckle and launching them into the air, flailing helplessly before landed hard on their backs.

"What the hell!?" Natsu roared scrambling to his feet. One look at the giant and he grinned igniting his fists. "Finally, a challenge!"

"Draco!" Aquilla called out. "Don't rush in!"

"Tch…Fine! Lupus, keep up the pressure!"

Titan roared, the sound actually damaging their armors and hurting their eardrums. Whatever this…thing was, it was insanely strong, even for them.

With Zodiac

Diorate skidded back from a giant blow. Zodiac didn't let up as he drop kicked into the demon's chest and knocked him to the floor. Leaping back, he began to twirl the axe his hand. **"Berserker's Axe!"** He let it loose, sending a wheel of flame towards his opponent. The flames scorched the front of the demon's chest before flipping into the air and bringing it back down on top of the demon's head.

"GAHHH!" The demon yelled, the axe cutting into his scalp and causing it to bleed. "You piece of shit!"

"Don't the player, hate the game," Zodiac taunted as he transformed back into Leo form.

The demon's eyebrows narrowed. "You think this is a game. Well then…let me change the rules. Allow me to show you the power of my Curse!" He removed his bandana, revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth, before taking a deep breath and letting out a dark purple mist. It spread across the ground, slowly creeping into the air and enveloping Zodiac.

"You think hiding yourself will do you any good?" asked the Rider, raising his sword. Then he noticed something wrong. Leonid, his most trust weapon, one whose weight he'd had six years of getting used to…suddenly felt like lead in his hands. "Leonid?" he asked. Then he glanced down and saw that the ground was getting closer while Diorate seemed to get…bigger? "No…you bastard! What did you do to me!?" he demanded, his voice getting squeakier as he shrank.

Doriate laughed. "Say hello to my Curse, the Law of Retrogression. Simply put, you little shit, you're a kid again. Now I get to crush you. Heh, I wonder how much they'll pay for your head!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" Zodiac cried out, pulling out a white cylinder and pulling it out a metal pin. He tossed it at the demon's feet, turned on his heel and ran for it. The cylinder exploded in a dazzling display of light and sound.

The sensory overload made the demon roar out in pain, clutching his head. "D-Damn YOU LITTLE SHIT! Fuck the bounty, YOU'RE DEAD!" he shouted, chasing after the shrunken boy.

Friedrich vs Jaguar Crush

Friedrich had to admit, this fight was not starting off so hot.

His gun bucked in his hand, a chain tremendous retorts echoing across the deserted square as he moved to track the Dopant. However, the muscle-bound, warped feline had leaped away with a blur, the frozen street beneath him cracking from the force.

"Okay, so you're fast," muttered the man under his breath, letting the weapon dissolve and reform in his hand. **"Command V!"**

This time, as the monstrous beast leaped around the area, spring boarding off of buildings, Friedrich's shots began to graze him. The Dopant grunted in surprise as sparks burst from his black and gold flesh, even as he streaked between two buildings. Twisting himself, he smashed feet first into a corner and blasted off, unsheathing his claws as he dived for the man himself. **"If dodging's no good, then I'll just smash you!"**

"Geez, with all of that speed, you'd be smashing more than buildings if it weren't for your hide!"

" **Gahahaha, you think so?! This form can regenerate faster than you can hurt me!"**

That made Friedrich grimace. "A Regenerator…fuck." He glanced back at Flare, still kneeling at the frozen flame, her hair wrapped around it, before glaring back at the beast and slamming his hands together. **"Metal Make!"**

" **It's useless!"** bellowed the Jaguar, swinging wildly.

" **Box!"**

Just as the beast threw his punch, a massive, dark iron cube faded into existence, slamming shut around the two of them. Flare jumped, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes as a loud *BANG!* echoed from inside, the side bulging slightly. She bit her lip, looking between the box and the flame for a moment, before returning to her duty of reviving the flame.

" **Grrr…You think a metal box will stop me!?"** sneered Jaguar Crush, glaring into the absolute darkness. An aura of blue briefly lit up the inside of the cube, his only warning before a comparatively small fist cracked across his jaw, making him flinch and stumble. The walls clanged dully as he fell against them, the window-less space suddenly pressing in from all sides.

"As a matter of fact," drawled Friedrich, "I do." Blue and silver layered magic circles flared up. **"Command V: Iron Dragon's Lightning Boxing!"**

Jaguar grunted in pain as several metallic fists shot out of the dark and smashed against the massive cat. The force of each blow propelled him into the wall, bouncing him off it over and over, jarring his head and leaving him stumbling, snarling with frustration.

A left hook. A powerful straight to the solar plexus. An uppercut that smashed his skull into the low ceiling, leaving him reeling, before another hard straight plowed straight into his nose. Jaguar stumbled and fell to his knees, his breath raspy as his wounds rapidly faded away. **"You asshole…you…think you're so tough?!"**

"Yeah, I do!" roared the man, slugging away at the monster, "I'm tougher than some jackass who's willing to ice over a village for some goddamn treasure!"

*WHAM!*

Friedrich grunted in surprise, immediately bracing his feet as his punch suddenly stopped dead, a vice grip clamping down on his wrist.

" **So what? It's not like any of those freaky giants were using it. Once we find it, we'll be set for life."**

"The temple's cleared out, and the right person has it," Friedrich retorted, even as he tugged at his trapped arm.

A low, rumbling growl reverberated throughout the pitch-black box, and a wave of hot, foul-smelling breath rolled over his face.

" **Then your heads will be well worth the compensation!"** The Dopant chuckled suddenly. **"Well…your friends' heads."** His mouth opened wide, fangs longer than the human's fingers stretching open to engulf his skull…

Friedrich exhaled sharply, firing a bolt of flame directly into Jaguar Crush's gaping maw and down his throat. The monster recoiled, howling with pain and releasing his hand to clutch at his face.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" asked the man, taking a step back, "Burns are the worst. I'm kinda glad there weren't all that many pyrokinetics back on Earth Bet." Taking a breath, he took a stance and traced a circle with his hands, his fingers leaving a thin stream of fire. The circle of flames began to swirl the moment its ends connected. "Of course…sometimes you just gotta set something on _fire._ **Command V!"** The circle began to spin faster, flames turning blue, and a ball of blue fire welled up in the darkness, lighting up Friedrich's face, his mouth open. **"Fire Dragon's Nova Blast!"**

And then the Dopant's world was rocked by a brilliant blue wave of raw heat and pain. It roiled around the inside of the iron box like water, incinerating the beast and whipping around Friedrich the roaring flames, the man cracked his knuckles, sparks popping, an orange magic circle flaring up around his wrist. **"Blasting Dragon's Bullet Knuckle!"**

In the confined space, the retort that blasted out as his fingertips smashed into Jaguar's chest was like a cannon blast. **"GHAaagh!"** gasped the beast, his head slamming into the back wall.

A second fist drilled into his solar plexus, the impact _exploding_ even further. Distantly, the Dopant felt the metal behind him dent. The barrage continued into an almost indiscernible blur. With each hit, the metal cracked and warped from the heat. Finally, hurling his weight behind one last blow and with a shout, Friedrich let fly his magic without restraint, smashing the monster clean through the wall to tumble out into the street.

"Heh…" chuckled the man, stepping out through the hole, "God _damn_ was that satisfying. But, right now it's time for me to take what I _really_ want."

The scorched dopant coughed up blood and struggled to lift his head. **"W-What are you! Y-You're a monster!"**

Friedrich shrugged. "Eye of the beholder and all that jazz. Now then," he stalked towards the downed beast, "Where're you keeping your Memory? You can tell me, or I can find out the hard way." He cracked his knuckles, orange magic circles opening around his hands. "That is to say, I test out just how much a Dopant can _really_ take from a non-Rider. My hypothesis, by the way, is that it'll take a while."

The Dopant whimpered as the man approached with a sinister grin.

Dante vs Aura and Triton five minutes prior

**SHADOW BALL**

Dante put up his hand and swirled it, several dark orbs coalescing in the air above him, orbiting, before he hurled them forward, the projectiles swerving through the air in shadowy streaks. Aura cartwheeled off to the side, a couple of orbs barely breezing past, while Triton spun her trident, not even flinching as several shadow balls bounced off and careened away, before catching the shaft and stabbing out, spearing three more on the tines. With a flick, she tossed them up into the air, spun around and slapped them back towards the approaching Dante. The Dark Rider deflected the shots while scanning another.

**X-SCISSOR**

The split head of Dante's lance glowed before he leaped at Aura, throwing his weight into a heavy downward stab with a shout. The Guardian raised Raikou and struck back, simultaneously twisting so that the lance, as it was knocked off course, grazed past him.

"I can see you improved, Dante," Aura praised, even as he swung down at his arm.

"Better than you, loser," retorted Dante, dashing away and swinging his own weapon in response

Backstepping easily out of the way, Aura grinned and took his right hand off Raikou. "Perhaps I should show you how I trained." He charged up his arm with electricity, causing it to glow yellow, before transferring the power to his fist and adding aura to the palm.

" **Thunder HAMMER!"** Before Dante could respond, the Guardian's fist drilled into his stomach, causing him to wheeze in pain as he flew back by the force of the blow. Even when he found purchase and planted his feet, he still skidded back a foot or so.

"Combining attacks, bet you never thought of that before," Aura commented. "Or perhaps you did but didn't think it was worth your time." He glanced upward. "Oh yeah, you’re not the biggest fan of that... you can say we learned these from a good friend and based on something you thought was stupid."

"Those dumb Coordinators? Grr...Pokemon are made for fighting, not showing off."

"Say what you will, but you can't deny the results. Also...your forgetting someone."

" **SNOWPIERCER!"** From behind Dante, Triton had combined Aurora Beam with Swift, transforming them into a barrage of icicles that caught the Dark Rider of guard as they struck his back.

Dante stumbled, grunting as several sharp points pierced the outer armor partially with bursts of sparks, before he dashed away, trying to keep his balance as the razor-like spikes caught at his legs. _Damn it! They really have gotten stronger. I need to regroup._

Before the Guardians could continue the onslaught, a large explosion rocked the ground. They turned to see a large mushroom rising from the center of town.

"What the heck was that?" Aura asked.

"Looks like that might be in the center of town. Isn't that where Friedrich was?" Triton asked in curiosity.

Seeing that the two Guardians were distracted, Dante struck the ground, black smoke flowing from the bottom of the handle and covering him. The two Riders turned away to avoid inhaling it. This allowed Dante to stagger away and towards where the mushroom cloud was.

"Damn him. Triton let's go!" Aura shouted running after him as the smoke cleared, the Water Guardian right behind him.

Meanwhile

Friedrich stood over Jaguar Crush, breathing hard. "Okay...Nothing? Man, you must've really jammed that thing in there!" It moaned in pain as its wounds steamed and slowly closed. "Well, I broke your ribs and snapped your arms. Where the heck is your Memory?"

The monster snarled, lashing out only for a blast of air to smash its clawed hand back into the ground. "Hm…keeping that jaw awful tight," noted the man, smirking, "If it were me, I'd have tried to bite me when you got close. You're a big cat after all." Pulling out his knife, he grabbed the jaw and jammed the blade into his mouth. **"Blasting Dragon's Shell Buster."**

There was a bang and a crack as an explosion blasted from the blade, forcing the Jaguar's jaws open and making him gurgle out a scream as it dislocated. "Hey, I don't like this any more than you do, bub. But you just tried to kill me and froze an entire village of people solid. You're getting off light." Reaching in, Friedrich seized the monster's tongue, and with a sizzle of Explosion Magic, detonated it, disintegrating it into sparks, and pulled back, a new Gaea Memory clenched in his fist. He clicked the button - **JAGUAR** \- and watched as the Dopant flashed, morphing back into Drake, the treasure hunter flinching as he regained his human form, his jaw and limbs repaired. He began to sit up, but Friedrich's knife leapt back into his hand, morphing into a pistol. "Don't."

The treasure hunter froze, staring up at him with wide eyes, and remained where he was. Snorting, Friedrich turned away and made for the fountain, which was still shrouded in its large force field bubble. "How's it going, Flare?" he called up to the redhead.

Flare moved to answer, but out of the corner of her eye she saw something speeding towards the man. "Look ou-!"

Friedrich's breath whooshed out his lungs as something large and heavy _smashed_ into him from the side, lifting him off his feet. The force of the blow sent him flying across the square, until he crashed into a wall with a cry of pain, bricks giving way and collapsing on top of him.

"Friedrich!" Flare screamed, inadvertently standing up.

Dante's armor crackled as the aftereffects of the attack kicked in. "Heh...good luck getting up from that. Giga Impact is a full powered strike on par with Hyper Beam. Unfortunately, it has the same drawback." He looked up to see Flare looking at him in terror. "I'll deal with you in a bit." Striding over to the downed fighter, he smirked as the man struggled upright. "This is the difference, between a real Rider and one of those knock offs that call themselves Guardians."

"Joke's on you, I'm not even that!" groaned Friedrich. Sharp, shooting pains splintered along his left arm and side. "Damn it, I'm left-handed! Do you know how annoying it is to do something with your non-dominant hand?" Gritting his teeth, he picked his way through the rubble, glaring at Dante. "So, you're another one of those dark Riders, I'm guessing. What, did Yuzan not want a repeat of last time?"

"That bitch!? She's still recovering from the beatdown she got from some bastard that could beat her blood bending. Based on her description, I assumed you would be tougher."

Friedrich winced as his weapon leaped back into his hand. "Yeah, don't I wish." _Speaking of, Parasite, you've been pretty quiet lately._

_ Hookwolf. _

_Oooh, good one! Don't mind if I do!_ He grinned as metal began to move from within his body, countless interlocking blades sliding out of his skin, flesh folding away as his injured arm transformed.

"Wha-?!" Before Dante could do more than flinch in surprise, Friedrich leaped across the space between them and swung, claw-like hooks raking across his armor and helmet with a grinding and sparks.

Dante yelled in pain as Friedrich whirled around, more curved blades and saws springing from his clothing as he threw himself into the Rider, digging in deep. As more sparks flew, Dante silently cursed his own hubris for using Giga Impact on someone appeared weak. One last slash finally knocked him to the ground,

"That was with my bad arm, AND after I kicked your Dopant's ass," Friedrich breathed.

Dante staggered to his feet, snarling. "Consider yourself lucky that I was still recovering from that last attack. But now…" The armor finally stopped sparkling. "Your luck's run out.

However, before he could move, the other man threw out his arm, launching his clawed hand towards the Rider on a length of chain. The claws snapped shut around him, making him curse, before Friedrich hauled his arm back, dragging the Rider towards him, arms pinned, while his chest opened up to reveal yet another set of wicked blades, poised like pincers. "Just lemme get a few more in!" he barked, drawing back his free fist, **"Iron Dragon's…!"**

**IRON DEFENSE**

" **SNAPPING CLAW!"**

The two attacks struck the armored young man head on, a brutal iron punch snapping his head back, even as the pincers slammed shut around him, mashing him up against a series of sawblades. The pincers grinded against the glowing armor as if it were cutting through iron itself. Eventually the blades stopped, their edges chipped from their futile cutting.

"Heh, good luck getting through my Iron Defense. I will say, you're putting up a much better fight. But…!" The air about him began to ripple, heat rolling off him in waves. While Friedrich himself remained unaffected due to his copied Dragon Slayer magic, the blades emerging from his body began to glow, the steel softening against the intense temperature. With a flex, Dante snapped the blades and lashed out with a palm strike, knocking Friedrich back with a grunt. Then he reared back and sent Aura energy into his arm, forming a large gavel over his fist. **"HAMMER ARM!"**

Friedrich wheezed in shocked pain as a heavy, brutal punch crashed into his chest cavity, doubling him over even as he was lifted up, his ribs cracking further. As Dante whirled around, heaving the man, he hurled him away, sending him tumbling limply through the air. He landed and rolled further along before stopping in front of Flare, coughing up blood.

"Friedrich!" she screamed, rushing down the steps to comfort him.

The man groaned, even as the hooks and blades retracted into his broken arm. "I didn't realize a Rider was this strong...damn it, I really underestimated the others." His eyes clouded over in pain. "Fuck…even I can't get up like this." _Parasite! Aegis!_

…

_Useless-ass bug!_

"You see how much power a Rider of my caliber can bring? What can you hope to do?"

Friedrich tched. "You...gah...think you're so tough?" Internally, however, his mind raced about a mile a minute, trying to come up with something, anything that could get him out of this, but the pain in his ribs was such that he could barely even lift his head. _…I should apologize to Drew for him not bringing his armor out in our training session. If...this Rider could do this much damage, then I seriously caught Yuzan off guard when we faced her._

Dante laughed. "Look at you. I can't believe you defeated that blood bitch and put her in the infirmary. All I see, is a wannabe." He unhooked his lance from his back and swung it ominously. "Now I believe Inferno will finish you off. Any last words?"

 _Really? Dante's Inferno?_ thought Friedrich with a deadpan. "Yeah…how pretentious can you get?"

That stopped the Rider's cackling. "...Die already," he snapped, thrusting forward. The lance blurred through the air. and Friedrich cursed, shakily throwing out a hand in a half-hearted attempt to block, only for the weapon to suddenly stop dead.

"What the…" Dante muttered. He shook his hand, but for some reason, his lance just wouldn't move properly. Thick red strands of hair wrapped around the conical weapon, restraining it and struggling to pull it from his grip. Following its trail with his eyes, the Rider looked over his shoulder to see Flare standing behind him, her feet planted, eyes wild.

"Don't…don't you dare hurt him!" she screamed.

Before Dante could react, he was pulled upward, cursing as he almost lost his grip on his weapon. Throwing her head back, Flare lifted him high up into the air, spun him around and tossed him away from the altar, crashing to the ground with a loud crash.

Friedrich's eyebrows rose, a pained but impressed huff leaving his lips, as Flare's magic whipped about above her head, her entire body glowing a bright red.

Dante groaned as he sat back up. "First those Guardians, then this punk and now an under-leveled bitch. This was not how the fight was supposed to go!"

"Go figure," grumbled the other man, even as Flare ran over to him, falling to her knees at his side, "Hey Flare. That was pretty good."

Flare smiled and blushed at the praise. "Thank you. But I don't know if I can beat him. Not without some serious help." She looked around nervously for an edge. She looked back at the empty cauldron in worry, knowing that if she failed, the flame would be gone. Then her eyes widened. "Maybe...Friedrich, you said that you can absorb and copy anything you touch right?"

He grimaced. "Only copy. I can do magic pretty easily, but I'm too fucked up to do anything with it right now." Turning his head, he frowned as Dante climbed to his feet, looking relatively unscathed. "You know, I envy the Dragon Slayers. They could eat their element and get a power boost. Shame I can't eat explosions, my weapon's not for eating, and we don't have…any flames…"

Wordlessly, Flare held out her cupped hands, a lock of hair spiraling between them. She closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath, and a small flame ignited in the air above her hands "Th-then…I'll give you this. This should do for a Flame, right?"

Friedrich stilled, his eyes fixing on the scarlet ball of flame. "Flare...I can't ask you for that. It's yours."

"I know...that's why I'm doing it. If this village falls, you should be able to protect the Eternal Flame. You couldn't do worse than me. I called out so much, while you protected me, but I just…it wouldn't come out!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Even now, I can't do anything to save my village! It…it has to be you! So please, let me help you win!"

Slowly, painfully, he reached up with his good hand to pat her on the head. "C'mon…don't put yourself down like that. If you cry, it's gonna make me want to too." Then his hand drifted lower, cupping the Eternal Flame and lifting it gently from her hands. "But if you're going to believe in me this much…take my ring."

Flare blinked. "What?"

"My ring." He wiggled the finger that had it. "Take it and use its magic to guard us. This might not be quick."

She glanced down and hesitantly slipped the ring off, blushing slightly as she put it on. "What do I do?"

"Use your will, just...buy me some time," Friedrich grunted. He raised the crimson flame to his mouth and tipped his hand, gently breathing it in.

"You think you're all that, bitch!?" Dante roared, finally stumbling back into view, his glare apparent even behind his mask. Then he noticed the magic in her hand. "You...you still have the Eternal Flame in you. If I kill you, this town will be destroyed."

"I-I'd like to see you try!" Flare challenged. She clambered to her feet, legs trembling, but glaring firmly. The ring on her finger flashed brightly, a force field surrounding her body. Her hair responded in kind looking ready to tear the Rider in front of her apart.

Meanwhile, Friedrich finished breathing in the gift Flare had given him. He coughed as the flames flew down his throat, uncomfortable without actually hurting his throat or lungs.

Suddenly, he was gone from the frozen city, standing in a dark, mostly barren landscape. A dark, dull crystalline substance spread out as far as the eye could see, spires and towers rising from its surface here and there. Above him burned a sun that failed to hide the night sky around it, illuminated by countless other stars. "It's been a while, you all," he greeted idly.

[Agreement.]

A pulse of wordless meanings and impressions flashed into his head from the sun, the manifestation of his magical power.

He snorted, even as he reached down to rub the five-eyed patch of shadows latched onto his side; the Parasite.

" **Well now…who are you?"** rumbled a new voice.

Friedrich turned around and tilted his head all the way back. In front of him was a large dragon, which towered over him. Its whole form was wreathed in flames, a dark, skeletal outline just visible underneath as it leered down at him. "Um...I guess you're the spirit of the Eternal Flame I took?"

" **That's young one, I am Atlas Flame the guardian. I gave a portion of my flames to the giants and to protect them. I ask you again...who are you?"**

"You can say I'm a traveler," he replied, shrugging, "The name's Friedrich Holmgardt. Our guild, Fairy Tail, is trying to save your village. I…have ability to copy and enhance magic. A girl who was blessed with your Flame gave it to me, so that I might try and defeat the person who's trying to destroy everything."

" **So, it seems...I felt something wrong with my flames. If you will let me, I wanna take a look at your memories."**

Friedrich shrugged, gesturing at the hard, flat ground. The dark, opaque surface suddenly cleared, images of his memories shining through. "Go ahead."

Atlas Flame gazed into the polished surface carefully. While he wanted to look at what led to him getting the Eternal Flame, he was curious about what else the young man had in store, as this was the first mortal, he'd talked to several hundred years. Thus, he decided to go further into the man's memories. What he saw surprised him; he saw an unassuming young boy, growing up in a world quite unlike this one. Then that boy was flung across the multiverse, into the body of a mysterious man, in a world even more fraught with corruption than the world of Atlas's own era. Monsters that defied belief, both in form but also the actions of other humans…

While he gazed beneath the ground, Friedrich glanced around himself idly, only to give a double take. Sprouting from the hard crystal was a large, leafy tree, with a multitude of fruit hanging from its boughs. "Wait, what? When the hell did this get here? What is this?"

The sun flickered and thrummed, transmitting new information. Apparently, from the moment Friedrich had crossed over from Earth Bet into this world, a new power had taken root in his already crowded soul, represented by that tree.

[Evolution.]

"And here I thought having _seven_ powers was cheating in the extreme," laughed the man, walking towards the tree.

As he approached, a light shone from one of the branches, swelling larger and weighing it down. He couldn't quite identify it, but something told him that it was a fruit. Flames rolled up its surface, the same color as Atlas Flame, hinting as to its purpose.

[Destination.]

"Different pathways, huh?" asked Friedrich, looking around at all the differently-colored fruits hanging above him, "Oh, I can just tell this'll be fun."

Reaching up, he plucked the fruit from its branch, the flames licking harmlessly around his fingers.

" **Wait,"** said Atlas, looking up from the images in the ground, **"Tell me, Friedrich Holmgardt…why do you seek so much power to begin with?"**

He regarded the blazing dragon with a sidelong look. "...I wouldn't say it's some noble, just reason. But, for as long as I can remember, I've always thought that being able to do extraordinary things is…well, just the coolest thing ever. And even besides that, I'm the kinda guy that likes to seize every opportunity I can to get what I want." He shrugged. "I guess you wouldn't want to hear that from the guy who's inherited your Flame."

The dragon laughed. **"GYAHAHAHA! You remind me of Igneel, the old Dragon king! So, you just want power for power's sake. What about the girl you're protecting?"**

"Well, just lemme eat this fruit and I'll go save her," snarked the man.

" **Fair enough."**

He bit down.

Outside the mindscape

Flare flinched as another attack slammed into her shield, gritting her teeth. She had to hand to it Friedrich, this ring was extremely versatile haven taken several blows.

"Why won't you go down!?" Dante roared, **"FLASH CANNON!"** Out of the tip of Inferno, a large silver-grey ball expanded and fired. The ball exploded in front of Flare and while the shield took the blow, the force shoved her back, sending her skidding across the ground. She panted heavily, sweat dripping from her face.

"Heh, I knew you couldn't last forever. I'll end you, and then your boy-toy. **EXTREMESPEED!"**

Flare braced herself, even as the Rider streaked towards her. Her shield shattered like glass as his lance smashed through it, sending her flying back towards the unresponsive Friedrich with a scream. Dante twirled his lance, his Aura flaring wildly in anger, not helped by the defiant look of the girl in front of her. "You really are pissing me off. I was gonna just kill you, but now, I'm gonna make sure you've got some lovely scars before I do."

**THUNDER WAVE**

Just as Flare moved to retreat, quickly conjuring another barrier, she screamed as Dante fired a pulse of electricity at her, which passed straight through her shield and knocked her to the ground, spasming uncontrollably. "There, now you can't escape." He strolled forward relaxedly, taking his time as she struggled, wheezing on the ground. "That's a real nice look for you. Now where to start…"

Before he could attack, his body stopped dead, limbs locked in place no matter how hard he tried to move. "Wh...at…?"

"J-j-just made it…!" mumbled Flare through numb lips, smiling shakily at the enemy. "F…Friedrich told me that…my magic is strong! It took a while to get you without your noticing, but I did it!"

Dante grunted, struggling to take a step forward. As he snarled under his helmet, glaring at the young girl, something red glimmered across his visor, giving him pause. "Threads?"

"C… **Crimson Hair…Spider Snare!"** Flare rose to her feet, pointing at him triumphantly. "Look around you! I-I've got my hair strung up all over the place, a-and anchored to the buildings!"

Dante growled and tried to free himself, only entangling himself further. Flare giggled, the trembling in her body lessening as the stress of the battle ebbed away. "Oh, that's cute…you know, you're in the same spot I was in." An unnaturally wide grin spread across her young face, her red eyes widening even further, and the Rider found a small chill running up his spine. "Heh…eheheheheh…I wonder if Mr. Friedrich would find it funny if I turned the tables on you?"

"You think so, bitch!? You forgot to disarm me!" He tilted his lance to point directly at her, making her flinch and charged up his Aura, a ball of fire gathering between the split halves of the tip. "Start wondering how he'll like your charred corpse instead! **FIRE BLAST!"**

Flare froze, her giddiness dissolving into raw terror. Should she make another shield? But that would release Dante from her trap! But she'd would be safe from the attack. The more she agonized, the bigger the blast became.

Behind her, Friedrich suddenly gasped, inhaling deeply.

As the Rider released his attack, blasting forth a massive ball of flames, the attack suddenly destabilized and veered off course, barely missing the young redhead and streaking into Friedrich's mouth, whereupon it vanished.

A moment passed, before he cracked open an eye, blinking blearily at the sky and pressing a hand to his mouth. "...The hell'd I just eat…?" he muttered blearily, "Tasted like spicy cheetos."

"What," deadpanned Dante.

"Never mind." Slowly, the man dragged himself up into a sitting position, raising his formerly broken left arm and flexing it experimentally. "Well, would you look at that." He stood up, groaning and stretching. "Good job holding down the fort, Flare."

The young girl only gave a strangled, "Ah…"

"What the hell!? How could you just suck up my Fire Blast?"

Friedrich guffawed. "Well, _someone_ didn't do their homework before coming here! See, I've got a little something called Dragon Slayer magic. Let’s me eat any element that I work with, as well as change my body to produce it at will."

"Wait...there are people that actually eat other elements?" Dante asked in surprise.

Friedrich deadpanned. "I know of at least seven and, well, I can say I'm number eight. But even then, I'm kinda special. Iron Dragon Slayer, Blasting Dragon Slayer, and Fire…no…" He smirked, rolling his neck, "I've reached a new level with _that,_ at least." The air around him rippled, vapor rising from the icy ground. **"Dragonforce…"**

Flare flinched as the man suddenly _erupted_ into flames, coat and all, fire completely obscuring his face and hands.

" **BLAZING DRAGON!"**

A shockwave of heat rolled off of him, washing over a large part of the melted all the ice around him, revealing flattened earth and stone in a large circle around him. Steam billowed up around the three of them, obscuring Dante's vision. He cursed, sweeping his lance to try and clear the blinding steam.

The sound of pounding footsteps made him tense up, readying Inferno to stab whoever came close. Even so, when the flaming Friedrich came leaping out of the cloud from above, he froze in surprise.

Friedrich's coat billowed around him, blue flames making it look the devil had possessed him, and with a roar, threw a punch down at him with all of his weight and speed behind it.

It smashed into the Rider's shoulder, the armor sparking and cracking as the impact itself exploded with yet more flames, making him cry out from the pain of the heat. Even as the man landed, he flowed into a low crouch, spinning and shifting his weight to swing a powerful kick into Dante's side. Once, twice, three times he swirled, banners of flame whirling around him as he spun around, further obscuring the Rider's vision and leaving him vulnerable to each subsequent attack. His chest plate dented severely, making him gasp shortly as it seared hotly against him, his under suit only mostly protecting him from the burn. With one more spin, he launched a kick into the Riders chin, lifting him off his feet and sending him rocketing upwards. Dante screamed in pain as he flew into the air before gravity reasserted its hold on him and began plummeting back to earth.

Friedrich smirked as he summoned a rapier. **"Now then…"** He swung, a wave of blackness tinting the steel darkly as it whooshed through the air, before raising it and running it perpendicularly over his forearm. As the darkened blade passed through the flames, it began to glow, before igniting itself, burning a vivid green. **"Blazing Dragon's…** **"** As Dante flailed about as he fell, Friedrich pulled back, rapier level with the side of his head and poised over his forearm **"Heavy…!"** At the last second, the Rider righted himself, aiming his lance down at the burning man. **"STINGER!"**

"DIE!" howled Dante, charging up a Flash Cannon in his lance and firing. However, Friedrich stamped his foot and thrust up, piercing through the flash and continuing on. With a deft flick, the deceptively slender blade knocked the lance aside, drew back his arm again and launched yet another spearing stab. The blazing blade traced an arrow of light through the air towards Dante's visor. The Rider's heart pounded as he screamed, helpless to do anything but watch as the tip drew closer and closer to his eye…

Only for a twitch to send it veering off course, followed by his shout of fear turning to agony as a white-hot line of pain ripped from his jaw down his chest, ripping through his armor.

The rapier flared as it struck true, firing a thin, but brilliant bolt of plasma into the air, before shattering with a crack. It was this sight that greeted Aura and Triton as they watched Dante skewered before crashing into the ground. What ice remained was instantly vaporized, the resulting steam blinding them momentarily. Covering their eyes, they could only wait for the steam to clear to see the results. When it did a few moments later, they saw Friedrich slowly walking towards them, Dante's smoking body lying prone behind him.

"Wow…" Aura said in amazement.

"That...is brutal," Triton agreed.

" **Glad you two approve, now I'm just gonna scream cause the adrenaline is wearing off in a minute."**

"Friedrich...what the heck is all of this?" Aura asked, indicating the man's flaming appearance.

" **Oh, this...just a little som** ething I picked up thanks to Flare," he replied, letting the fire die down, "By the way, I want to apologize."

"For what? Destroying the town?" Triton quipped.

"No," Friedrich deadpanned. "Your Rider armors are way tougher than I realized. Nearly lost my arm to this guy 'cause he blindsided me." Before he could continue, a low grunt caught his attention. "You've gotta be shitting me, he's still not down!?" Indeed, Dante was slowly beginning to stand up, his armor torn away, his helmet was missing its left half and part of his chest exposed to the air. Aura and Triton quickly summoned their weapons and pointed at Dante. Before they could attack, a much brighter light appeared off to their left.

"What else could go wrong with you losers?" Dante growled before coughing up some blood.

Aura looked on as the light faded. "I wonder if Zodiac's doing okay?"

Rewind 15 minutes

Diorate snarled as he whipped his arms around. "Where are you little fucker!?" He swiped at another building, cracking the ground and walls as he searched for the shrunken boy.

In an alleyway, Zodiac watched him tear up the town. He had changed forms while on the run; gone were the dark red colors of Leo, replaced by a shiny bronze color, with stronger armor on his left shoulder and right leg, none at all on the opposite. Affixed to his bare shoulder was a round, metallic plate, engraved with various designs and bearing a glowing blue orb, mirrored by a larger plate on his other, more heavily armored shoulder. A larger, red orb hovered over the bigger plate. This was Zodiac Libra form.

During his training on Earth and in Fiore, his training had yielded two different results. First because of his friends skills in flying or mobility, he had moved away from the supportive aspect of this form. As a result, he tried to focus on what else he could attack with which thanks to his insatiable curiosity, resulted in the second finding, electromagnetism, its universal brother. Further training had presented him with the orbs orbiting around him, which were the armor's weapons. Under normal conditions, if he used one side enough, he could charge the other before being forced to switch. However, it also allowed him to create constructs of his other weapons and create fire-based spells, making it one of two forms that were magic based,

 _Well, never thought I'd have to use my brain today!_ he thought, glancing over his shoulder. He was greeted by the sight of a second Zodiac, clad in a different set of armor. The clone wore a faded topaz and black armor, along with a specialized glove. On his wrist was a long strap that extended to his finger, attached to which was a longbow, about half of his height. While not as powerful as Gabby's, the bow could still do serious damage; the strap had cutouts for his thumb and fingers to provide extra grip. The corresponding shoulder was covered in large, yellow sleeve that cut across his chest, with a large spaulder on top with a large arrow pointing behind him. The clone was a result of Zodiac Gemini Form; with the Twins constellation, he could create a copy of himself, albeit with slightly lesser strength. Further research revealed that the clone could operate independently, even using an alternate form such as this one. Thus, while he was currently in Libra, his clone was in Zodiac's long-range form, Sagittarius.

"Alright try to distract him from up top. Get his attention!" The clone nodded and climbed the pipes to get onto the roof. A few minutes of climbing later, the clone was overlooking the carnage that Diorate was causing. He held up his bow before pulling back the string.

 _How do Gabby and those archers in the Olympics make it look so easy? This isn't master's best form, especially with us shrunk like this,_ thought the clone, grimacing as he charged up a fire arrow. **"Eagle Shot!"** He fired off the bolt, with it transforming into a blazing eagle as it streaked through the air. Diorate heard the cry and looked up sharply, before the eagle sliced his chest and leaving burning flesh in its wake. causing him severe pain.

"DAMN YOU LITTLE SHIT!" He roared. He looked up to see Zodiac running across the rooftops and flung out his arm. **"DARK MOON SHOT!"** An orb of purple magic radiated from his hand and shot towards the roofs.

Despite the shot size, C-Zodiac dodged the blast by flipping over it, pulling back the string. "Heh, how about some **Piercing Rain!"** Releasing the bowstring, he fired off several fiery arrows, which streaked through the air and tore through the demon's shoulders, inflicting more damage and causing internal burns.

"GET DOWN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT! **CHAINS OF HADES!"** Two black chains shot out from underneath the skin of his wrists towards the clone. Before the clone could escape, the metal chains wrapped around his legs and pulled him to the ground. "Got you, bastard!"

Zodiac grunted as he tried to break free the chains, which considering his current size was almost impossible. "You think you can destroy me?"

"Not only can but did, punk!" He shouted tightening the chains. Despite his lungs being constricted, Zodiac tried to laugh.

"Ever heard of clone magic?" 'Zodiac' spoke. To the demon's shock, the Rider vanished into magical energy, the excessive energy racing through the chains and shocking him.

"What the-?!" he screamed looking around in a panic.

"UP HERE!" Zodiac screamed from behind the demon, glowing red axe in his hands as he flipped through the air. **"CULLING BLADE!"**

Diorate roared in pain as the axe dug through his spine, creating massive burns in its wake despite not penetrating. Zodiac flipped over him and spun around swiping at his at his chest creating a large gash that caused the demon's blood to spill out.

"GAHHHH!" He yelled in pain, holding his chest. "What the hell was that?"

"Like it? This is the power of my Libra armor and what you experienced before was my Gemini armor mixed with Sagittarius. Gemini lets me copy myself and have it operate independently. Sagittarius is my archer form, while not a crack shot like another of our friends, I can hold my own with it. Libra is the power of balance. Basically, I have two forces that oppose each other on either side. As I use one side, I can charge up the other, increasing its power for later."

"How...do you have so much power?"

"When you're fighting a war, you can't be stagnant in your evolution," Zodiac squeaked, "And even if I'm a kid…I've been training since I was 8 years old, only recently have I begun to adapt. I can tell you right now...you're not surviving today to do the same."

"You kill me? HAH! What a load of tripe! I'll kill you here and now!"

"Then why give yourself a handicap...couldn't be beat me at my strongest so you turned me into my precious adorable self?" Zodiac mocked.

"Shut up!" Diorate growled.

"I mean, I heard of injuring your opponent, but to turn him into a kid, geez…you must need every advantage you've got."

"Shut UP!"

"You know...now that I think about, I can see this shrinking as a good thing-OOOMPH!" Diorate roared in madness as he rushed forward and punched the Rider into a nearby wall, cracking it. In the process, Leonid was sent sailing off to the side.

Zodiac groaned as his armor collapsed revealing his small form. "Great...Friedrich's gonna kill me for talking like that and not finishing him off. Grrk!" Any other grumblings were cut off as Diorate grabbed his throat and lifted him up.

"You'll be dead before your friends find you," the demon snarled opening his mouth wide, showing his razor-sharp teeth. Drew gasped and struggled in his grip. As he flailed, his hand hit one of his M1911's. Thinking quickly, he grabbed it, pressed it against the demon's throat and pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

"GAHHH!" screamed Diorate screamed, tossing Drew away and grabbed the wound. The deaged warrior bounced and rolled closer to Leonid. He took a deep breath, "Ow ow ow," he groaned, pain flaring in his legs. "Okay...now I remember when I was this age, my muscles didn't like this either." He looked at the bleeding demon. "What's it gonna take to take this guy down," he grumbled. Glancing behind him, he saw Leonid several feet behind him. Knowing that his legs wouldn't respond, he dragged himself towards his sword, hoping that it might provide him some protection.

Diorate's wound slowly closed over, the bullet falling out of his jaw as it crunched back into place. He snarled as he turned around to see Drew crawling towards his sword. "Like Hell I'm gonna let you get your weapon back!" he yelled, charging after the downed rider.

 _Almost there, God if you're out there, give me strength!_ Drew pleaded as he stretched out his hand to the hilt.

"DIE!" The demon roared rearing back his fist. Above him, something in the sky raced towards him at supersonic speeds.

*CRASH*

The impact through him back and onto his butt. "What the…"

Drew who also felt the impact turned his whole body around to see what happened and gasped in surprise at sight. It was the sheath of an extremely wide sword but had no hilt.

The demon recovered quickly and grinned while sauntering over to it. "A sheathe? All that light show for a sword sheath? And no sword either. You must be suicidal." He stepped over it and reached down to throw it away. "Here I was worried….FUCCKKKKKKK!" As he grabbed hold of the sheathe, an intense heat emanated from the leather sheath and burned his hands. He may have only held it for two seconds, but to him it felt like he was holding the sun. He quickly tossed it towards Drew, with it landing in front of his face. As he saw it, a memory resurfaced in his mind, from his training with Tsuki.

_Flashback three years ago, (Drew Age 11)_

_Tsuki watched as Drew swung Leonid at a dummy, hacking through the fake human. The young boy was panting in exertion, having been at this for two hours now. As Drew resheathed Leonid, Tsuki approached with a smile. "You're doing great, you and Leonid are completely in sync with each other."_

" _Four years together, I better be in sync, otherwise my shoulder would be torn off," he breathed._

_Tsuki hummed. "Perhaps you will be strong enough for its next stage soon."_

" _Next stage? I thought I got one weapon," Drew asked confused._

_Instead of answering, she raised her hand. In a flash of light, a long leather sheath appeared in her hands. "What I have here is part of your future inheritance. Much like Leonid, it's semi-sentient, so you need to be in balance with each other."_

" _How do I unlock it?" asked Drew_

" _When the sword sees you as ready and you've made the Zodiac armor your own. Once you have proven that, you will be recognized as the next heir. Only you can give permission to hold the sheathe._

" _Aren't I already the next heir? Leonid's the proof, right?"_

" _No...Leonid is designed to test the wielder if he's worthy of the burden of becoming Kamen Rider Zodiac. Regulus chooses when he's ready to assume the full power of the Fire Guardian. Until then, Leonid will continue to serve you well."_

_End Flashback_

Drew used Leonid to hoist himself up. "Regulus...it's time, isn't it? How do I unlock you?" A glance down at his blade gave him the answer. "I see...Leonid is the prince. To become the heir, it needs to grow. It needs to...evolve." He walked over tenderly and raised Leonid to his face. "If you're ready, let's do this." He raised it above his head, which thanks to his current size nearly toppled him. With a loud cry he planted Leonid in the sheathe.

*BOOOMM*

A blinding light erupted from the point where Drew planted his sword. The light blinded Diorate, making him grab his eyes in pain. After a few moments of blindness, he cracked open his eyes to see his opponent. The first thing he noticed was his opponent had dispelled his Retrogression magic and was back to his original height. The second thing he noticed was he back in his Kamen Rider form, though he now had a longer cape and a more regal appearance. The final thing he noticed was that the sword he'd had was missing, replaced with a much larger sheathe on his back.

Zodiac reached back and grabbed the hilt, reaching into a special slot in the side of the pommel. Like unlocking a chest, the pommel suddenly unfolded, hooking onto the scabbard like a latch. Pulling it out slowly for dramatics, a much longer sword than Leonid slid out, almost as tall as Zodiac himself, enough so that when he finally swung it out, it had to slide through a slot in the side of the sheath. "The True Sword of the Fire Guardian," Zodiac intoned as he swung the large blade single handedly. "Regulus...Nimbea!" He brought down in front of him, a shockwave cracking the ice beneath him. The blade had drastically changed, the steel darkening to a shining pitch black. Unknown to either side, a shadow appeared behind the Rider as he set his stance, almost as if guiding the sword.

Now full of his usual confidence, Zodiac grinned. "Round 2, bastard, let's rock!" He yelled charging forward.

Back in Town

Titan roared as Aura and Draco latched onto his arms and tried to propel him to the ground, only for the giant to reach around, grabbed and tossed them aside like rag dolls, not even feeling their weight. Multiple gunshots impacted his shoulder, which _did_ catch his attention, however. He turned and glared at Aquilla and Lupus, who were both firing their respective rifles at him. He stampeded towards the two his axe swinging above his head. Aquilla with her wings was able to get out of the way, however Lupus couldn't. Quickly transforming Tundra Claw back into his polearm, he barely caught the axe on the hilt, throwing up the dirt around them, grunting as he struggled against oversized blade. He could feel his heels digging into the frozen ground, slowly being driven back, but nonetheless he resisted.

The stalemate persisted, despite the serious size disparity, as the others recovered. Triton and Aura took in the situation, glanced at each other worriedly and, as one, quickly scanned in their evolution cards.

**AMA**

**ADEPT**

Their glowing died down, Aura quickly slotted in his cards and activated them.

**CHARIZARD**

**SNORLAX**

Aura quickly bulked up and unfolded a large pair of wings, already charging towards the giant. Meanwhile, Triton had activated Aqua Jet and followed right behind. They struck the giant in inside, actually dealing some damage and forced him back, though it still stood tall.

"Hehehe, Titan here is not gonna fall to anything you guys have! Our mad scientist has designed this giant to fight against anything you currently have!" Dante taunted, despite the pain in his chest. "...And you didn't bother making sure that it wouldn't just break down?" asked Friedrich skeptically.

"Of course. Though I wish we could have deployed it sooner. Look at how they're being tossed around."

The older man gave the wounded Rider an unimpressed look. Dante was slumped against a lamppost, clutching at his burned, slashed-open side. "Hate to break it to you, but Grey just got himself a new powerup. Speaking of…" He put a hand to the side of his mouth and called out, "OI! LUPUS! IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE, STEP IT UP!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?"

"OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU JUST GET LIKE AN HOUR AGO!?"

Still struggling to hold back the massive axe, Lupus hung his head and groaned. "I feel like Natsu…!"

"OI!" Draco growled.

Ignoring his Guardian, the wolf-themed Rider pulled out his new, forest green colored, wolf-shaped ring.

"God that thing is an eye-sore," grumbled Friedrich, grimacing at the bulky thing, "Looks like a lump of plastic…"

Lupus slipped it on and flipped his hand author, before putting the ring on right and dropping it over his waist.

**FRONTIER! WINDS, BLOW! WOLVES, HOWL! LUPUS, RISE! TO THE FRONT OF THE PACK!**

A cacophony of howls echoed through the town as a wind kicked up, swirling around him. Dante watched as several wolves appeared out nowhere and raced towards Lupus. For his part, the Rider looked confident as the pack raced towards their master. One by one they passed through him, his armor changing as each wolf did so. The blue segments on his gloves and boots faded, frosting over, while patches of ice formed around the edges, obscuring the grays of his armor for a moment. Then, with the howling reaching a crescendo that shook the street and made everyone else flinch back, a whirlwind spiraled around him in a spray of snow as he threw out his arms, howling himself.

The frost coating his body cracked and flaked away, revealing a new armor underneath. Where there had once been pale blue was now a brilliant white, and a set of claws adorned his fingertips, as well as digging into the ground from his boots. The gray sections flaked away as well, revealing harsher, more jagged lines wrought from pure silver, particularly in his helmet. As the last wolf merged with his helmet, the wolf ears sharpened, the edges forming jagged serrations.

" **Kamen Rider Lupus: Frontier Form!"**

Titan snarled and rushed at Lupus. The Ice rider grinned and charged forward, ice magic in his wake. Once he was close, he leaped up and slashed upwards, gauging a deep gash through the giant's chest, before landing and kicking it in the back. To everyone's shock, the titan gasped in pain and began having trouble moving. Those in front of the Dopant were startled to notice that, as blood and oil sprayed from the long slash, another, equally deep wound had been cloven into the giant's flesh alongside it. This other wound was slowly freezing over, as if a spectral dagger had sliced into the giant.

"What the? Stripper only hit him once!" Draco pointed out.

"Final forms grant a humongous power spike, but the actual abilities they gain are different for each Rider," explained Triton.

Aura closed his eyes and let his power flow out. Concentrating on Lupus, he saw that whenever he moved, a faint trail of snow would follow just behind him in his shape. A second such echo was forming as he watched, slightly fainter than the first. "I see. His magic is creating afterimages in the snow. Essentially, ice clones that are really hard to see and follow his actions perfectly. The more magic he puts out, the more he creates."

"Like a pack of wolves," Pleiades concluded. "A wolf pack for a wolf Rider But he needs help!" She quickly grabbed her Cancer key and placed it into her belt and twisted it.

**SUMMON: CRAB!**

Switching into her more aquatic form, she grabbed the sword attached and, pressing a button in the base of the handle, caused it to unfold and lengthen behind her. She rushed in, Draco and Aura flanking her, while Aquilla rained down bolts from the air.

The Metal Guardian ducked under the wild swing and sliced at the knees, continuing the strategy of slowing the beast down. The Dopant roared as electricity erupted from its joints. Lupus immediately followed up with more machine gun fire, this time with two illusions firing into its back.

Dante gritted his teeth behind his mask. "What is that giant doing? KILL HIM! Why are they doing damage now?!"

"Heh, looks like someone's adding clones to the mix," Friedrich pointed out, smirking, "I'd give it about...five more minutes and I think your titan will be dead. Less if Zodiac shows up."

Friedrich's words froze Dante. He hadn't seen the Fire Guardian since separating from his fellow Guardians. The machine had been created to counter him specifically as well, but the fact that they were turning this fight around without him was starting to scare him.

Said Giant was now taking serious damage to his limbs, but he still refused to go down despite the constant barrage of attacks.

"TITAN! CRUSH! PUNY RIDERS!" He roared, his scream temporarily stunning some of them. As he reared back to swing, a loud scream echoed through the town. Before he could react, Diorate came soaring out of nowhere and crashed into him. "GUH!" Everyone, even Dante and Friedrich, turned in the direction that he'd come flying in from to see Zodiac racing towards them, carrying a large black sword on his shoulder.

"Damn, didn't think I got the distance on that," Zodiac hummed. He glanced to the side and waved to his friends. "Yo! Check out my new blade! Ain't it cool. I just got it and holy cow. Leonid was one thing, but Regulus here really brings out the Viscount form!"

The Mages were confused as was Friedrich, but Aura and Triton realized what it meant. "That's Regulus!?" she asked. "You finally woke him up!?"

"That blade looks awesome! What's it do?" Aura asked in excitement.

"I'll show you. **Standby Change: Aries!"** He whipped the sword back into the sheath. A dial on the sheath rotated around until it reached the Aries symbol. His armor glowed and shifted around. His shoulders, knees and joints gained spiked pads while his chest armor turned dark grey almost silver with red streaks throughout. Out of the sheath, came a much different lance than previously wielded.

The lance was much more flattened, becoming more of a triangular blade than a typical lance, with a zig-zagging pattern dividing it down the middle. A long, red bolt of cloth trailed off of one corner, while the handle was black and red, extending up to half the length of his arm. Taking his stance, he rushed forward and jabbed the lance into the ground, as if it were a pole vault, before sending magic into his legs. He rocketed into the giant and stabbed him in the shoulder, the momentum finally causing the giant to fall onto his back.

Dante growled and snapped his fingers creating a portal. "Forget this, you’re on your own!" He shouted, leaping through it before Friedrich could stop him.

Zodiac leaped back and landed in front of his friends. Glancing to the side, he saw Lupus had a much different look. "Awesome look, Lupus. That your final?"

"Yeah, it's been awesome, but," He watched as the titan and Diorate recovered. "It's hard enough to deal with the giant, but now the demon you were fighting is in the mix."

Zodiac chuckled. "You worried about that demon? Please, once I got through his magic and got my power up, he's been a pushover. We can win with just the two of us."

This got the mages to gasp in shock. "Are you serious? It's taken all seven of us just to wound this thing!" Pleiades screamed.

"Are you suicidal?" Aquilla concurred. A hand on both of their shoulders caught their attention. They turned to see Triton looking at them confidently.

"If Zodiac thinks he can win without us, then trust him. Trust me, this isn't the worst odds he's faced."

In front of them, Zodiac swung his lance forwards and began to charge his magic. "Are you ready to Overlay?"

Lupus looked at Zodiac and then nodded unfolding his lance and doing the same. In their minds, their two emblems began to send energy towards each other merging as if they were one pack and pride. Behind them, a large red lion and silver wolf appeared behind them.

"LET'S GO! OVERLAY!" the two Rider shouted. The lion and wolf both roared and howled respectfully.

(Begin Fairy Tail Main Theme)

Diorate instinctively shielded his eyes in pain. "What the hell is with the light?!" Before he could get an answer, Zodiac was already back on him, swiping at him with the lance. A large gash appeared in its wake, first cauterizing it and then freezing it in place. To Diorate's shock the wound wasn't disappearing.

"No! My wound...it's stopped healing over!" gasped Diorate as Zodiac hacked at him at his arm.

"Regeneration only works to a point. You can either cause more damage than the regen can keep up with or make sure it never kicks in the first place. Freezing kind of helps with the latter!"

Meanwhile, Lupus was skating around the titan, firing off multiple shots from his rifle. Meanwhile his clones were alternating between icicle spears and fiery bolts. The wounds from the fire shots were beginning to burn through and hit the electric wires inside the giant's body. Titan roared and reared his axe back. Before he could hit the Rider, however Lupus was pulled out of the way by a large hook. The chains pulled him towards Diorate where he quickly turned his weapon into its guandao and swiped at his head. The demon cried out in pain, especially since the spirits also followed and dug their weapons even deeper into the first one. Lupus landed next to Zodiac; whose armor had changed. Gone were the spiked pads and grey armor; now he was sporting sapphire blue with netting around his waist His gloves and boots took on a darker and more rubberized appearance, while his helmet gained two fins on his head where his ears were.

"Like the chains? Apparently, my Pisces form is no longer knives. Now I got this hook chain kind of like Argo save its way faster to move around. And I can be like a fisherman!" Zodiac gushed. He looked at their two opponents as he reached to put his hook sword back in the sheathe. **"Armor Change: Leo!"**

The dial on the back shifted towards the Leo symbol, causing the armor to glow and faded back into Leo's Grey and red. Glancing at their opponents, who were struggling to stand, he smirked as he raised his sword to his shoulder. "Time to end this! Get your Finale Ring ready!" He ordered Lupus, reaching down to his belt and grabbed his transform phone pressing the Leo button.

**STANDBY FINISH!**

He popped the phone chip out and placed it into the base of the hilt.

**LEO!**

Meanwhile, Grey pulled out a silver ring which had multiple wolf heads on and slipped it on, before placing it on the Hand Author.

**FINAL HUNT! TEAR THEM TO SHREDS!**

Four ice clones suddenly dashed out of Lupus's body, pure white and formed of frost. They raced towards the giant before splitting away and leaping into the air. With a wave of their weapons, a pillar of ice erupted from the ground, the first two duplicates spring boarding off of them to launch themselves at the demon, feet first. They struck his chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Two more clones leaped past the giant, summoning two more spires that they then rebounded off of, diving at him for another round of Rider Kicks. The combined force knocked the demon towards the real one whose weapon was glowing a bright blue.

" **Frontier ALPHA SLASH!"** He twirled it around and hacked through the flying giant. Titan landed and struggled to get up. Before he had time to scream, ice quickly spread from the cut, and in mere seconds he was frozen solid "Hunt successful!" Lupus shouted as the giant shattered into i

Meanwhile, Zodiac launched himself towards the giant and slashed at the demon's waist bisecting him into two burning halves. Them twirling around, he kicked the top half up into the air and leaped after it. Doing a front flip, his sword erupted into white hot flames. **"LEO JUDGEMENT BREAKER!"** He began to spin around and slice into the remainder of the corpse before crashing the rest of it down into the ground. The impact vaporized what was left of the demon. Out of the smoke, Zodiac slowly stood up and returned the sword back into his sheath. "Bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Zodiac and Lupus powered down and walked back to their friends. "Great job, Grey."

"Thanks, now we should be able to finish this mission."

"Indeed," Erza spoke up having powered down with everyone else. "But we have no idea how to do so."

"So, we're back to square one, great," Ash grumbled.

Grey humphed and turned to Natsu. "You see that, flamebrain? look who's stronger!

"Tch, we softened him for you, droopy eyes!"

"What was that?"

*CRASH*

"Don't even start," Misty grumbled. "Anyway Grey, congrats on the new form. Natsu you'll get yours...eventually."

"Now the question is...how do we get the flame restarted?" Ash asked.

"That...seems like the 64,000-dollar question," Drew realized.

"Well, while I was fighting Dante, I used Fire Dragon Slayer magic to absorb some of Flare's Eternal Flame," began Friedrich, "And I…encountered its spirit. In fact, I managed to make its power my own. If I were to use it, I could probably thaw out the original, especially since my flames are hot enough to melt the ice here."

"And you picked this up how?" Drew asked rubbing his eyes.

Friedrich squinted at him. "I just said, didn't I?"

"I meant the freaking specifics! How did you get the magic?"

"Well, the ice melted pretty easily when I was fighting," he explained, shrugging, "And as I said, Flare let me absorb some of her flame. Also…I might have unlocked another power."

"This is gonna be a recurring thing isn't it?"

"Hey, this is new to me too! Back on Earth Bet I only had that initial set; I wasn't expecting to ever get another power that wasn't copied."

"Well excuse me for being skeptical!"

"You're not excused. You may take several large steps back."

"E-Excuse me," Flare spoke up.

"Yes?" Drew asked.

"C-can we restart the flame now please?" she asked, her eyes turning big and her lip quivering.

Drew smirked. "I don't know, can we, lover boy?" He asked Friedrich.

"I don't know, can we, lover boy," the traveler mocked right back at him, "Give me a minute." He strolled up to the brazier and jumped up to kneel in it. "Alright… **Blazing Dragonforce!"** With a shout, he burst into flames, pressing his burning hands to the chunk of ice where the original flame had been. Almost instantly, the brazier ignited as if a phoenix had awakened within it, which in the current context was appropriate. As the flames shot higher into the sky, the ice began to melt, then evaporate, rapidly filling the village with steam. All throughout the town, the giants shattered their melting prisons, pumping their arms into the air and roaring with triumph as the spell broke. As more were freed, the cheers intensified into a roar as celebrations broke out throughout the village. Many were at least twice the height of the group, with bare chests and shaggy bears. Some even looked like they were in the middle of drinking.

Friedrich slowly pulled away and took a deep breath, wiping at his flaming brow "That...was a lot more energy than I thought. But it looks like it worked."

One the giants approached the group and knelt down. "You did all this laddie?" He asked Friedrich in a weirdly Scottish tone.

He shrugged, before glancing at Flare and throwing an arm around her shoulder, making her squeak. "I brought it back with Flare. Without her, I couldn't even have begun to do it. Everyone else took care of the monsters in the town."

The giant turned to Flare; bushy eyebrows arched. "You saved the town lassie? That's mighty brave of ya. I knew the Eternal Flame got a right owner."

She stiffened, staring up at the massive men standing around them. "You…believed in me?"

"Of course! The Flame chooses those who're worthy. An' speaking of…I can't help but notice you're lookin' rather similar to that Flame, lad."

"I…did say that Flare lent it to me, didn't I?" asked Friedrich drily.

"Hahaha!" The lead giant laughed. "Our deity must take a great shine to ya laddie. If he thinks you're good to use it, by all means! Just remember where ya got it!"

He bowed his head. "Don't you worry. I won't forget an encounter like that in a hurry."

"Alrighty then, well hopefully no one else will bother you," Drew said smiling. "Erza, we got a way to get Warren?"

The red headed knight nodded and summoned a magic circle. "Warrod, this is Erza."

" _Ah Erza. I take your mission was successful?"_

"Yes, we're ready to come back."

" _me a few moments."_

Flare approached Friedrich. "You're leaving already?"

He gave her a smile, even as he finally dispersed his flames. "Yeah, sorry. We got called in to figure out what was going on with your village. Now that it's back on its feet, we're gonna head back to our guild."

She bit her lip, casting her eyes downward. "O-oh. Okay…" Her hands twisted together for a moment, making her blink as she found something on her finger. "Ah, um, y-you'll be wanting your ring back-"

"Nah, keep it," he cut her off.

Flare stiffened, looking back up at him, her red eyes widening. "What? You- you want me to-?"

"Sure. I've got options to spare, so why not spare one for you? Pro tip, the ring's got a shield mode and a 'destruction' mode. Just twist the cap for a bit, you'll figure it out."

"B-but, it's yours!"

Friedrich shrugged. "And now it's yours." His smile softened as he reached out and patted her on the head, making her tremble. "Let's meet again someday. Maybe come find me at Fairy Tail once you're ready to take on the world outside this village."

The redhead gave an inarticulate squeak, her face flooding red, a shaky, wobbly, giddy grin stretching across her face.

"Take care of yourself, Flare." He saluted before hopping onto the rising tree. It swelled and rose into the air, carrying him and the others away.

Flare waved as the trees twisted and grew into a mighty oak, before stretching out into the distance, before looking down at her ring. "L-let's…meet again someday…" she murmured.

That Night, Warrod's Secret Spring

After the mages had reported that their mission was successful, Warrod had rewarded them with a map to his personal hot spring and a room for the night. Ash and Misty were already in the spring, watching the moon from a more secluded spot, cuddled up together.

"You don't get many nights like this back home," Ash commented, gazing up at the moon, lying back against a rock.

Misty raised her head from where she had been resting. The look on her face was one of utter bliss, brought about by the warm water lapping at her exposed model body, combined with her boyfriend's strong embrace. "And we don't get many nights alone. I love it when we're alone like this," she whispered leaning in for a kiss. If anyone knew the redhead, they would be shocked at how calm she was acting.

Ash hummed. "So apparently Paul's got a few upgrades. Guess we need to step up."

"Right, but I'm glad everything worked out," Misty replied. "We just need to get stronger." She breathed out and then laid out on her back, her face the only thing above water, what little sound being drowned out. "Some days, I just feel like floating away, not a care in the world."

"Like a mermaid?" Ash asked knowingly. "I told you, you would make an amazing one."

A few moments of quiet passed before Ash felt someone approach. He looked up to see Lucy with a towel wrapped around her voluptuous body. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" She squeaked.

"Nah, Misty's just enjoying the water," Ash said. Said redhead raised her hand and waved. The blonde took that as a sign to ease herself into the water, careful not to disturb the moment. "I can slide over."

Misty raised her head and giggled. "Lucy, if we got defensive over others interrupting our time, we would have probably destroyed a few stores. Just let the serenity embrace you."

Lucy blinked her eyes in surprised at how relaxed the redhead sounded. "It's like she's a different person."

"In the water, she may as well be a different girl. You should see her swim, it's like she's already a part of it."

"Interesting," Erza's voice caught their attention as she slid in and pulled Lucy closer to her. "You two look so natural like that.

Raising her body back up and stretching herself out, Misty nodded. "When you've been travelling and dating for two years, you get so used to the little quirks your partners have. Quite honestly, we've been mistaken for a couple so many times, it just never felt weird when we did start."

Before Erza could respond, Natsu's cheer rang out through the spring before he leaped in. The big splash would have knocked them back, had Misty not lazily raised her hand to block the wave.

"Man, this spring is great!" Natsu cheered whipping his head back.

Lucy sputtered. "Natsu!" she shrieked. The dragon slayer smirked and swam closer to the celestial mage. He nuzzled her nose, getting her to giggle and then kiss him.

Erza smiled at the two and brought both closer, kissing both of them on the head. "You two did wonderful today."

"Not as much as Grey. He got his new form and everything," Lucy pointed out

Erza chuckled and reached lower down the blonde's body. "Nonsense, you helped cripple it and then did great against the soldiers," She squeezed Lucy's ass, making her gasp. This was all she needed to reach down and kiss her. Lucy didn't even protest even pushing back.

Natsu watched this with a smile and glanced over to Ash and Misty. "Guess this is normal for ya."

"More than you know," Ash beamed bringing Misty closer. Natsu nodded and crawled over to wrap around Lucy's stomach, the blonde pleased at the attention both of her lovers gave her.

In the locker room, Drew and Friedrich were changing out of their clothes. "Hey," Friedrich began.

"Hm?"

"I wanna…" he gritted his teeth, "Apologize."

"For what?" Drew asked curiously.

"Remember when I made light of you not using your armor against me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well...I learned you did that for a really good reason."

"Paul wrecked you, didn't he?" Drew asked knowingly. "Riders from what we've noticed tend to be way stronger than normal humans. Even if your superpowered beyond belief, they will still deal big damage. Reason why I think you got lucky with Yuzan focusing on Tori, Max and Brock."

"I see, and yet you decided to not go with your armors...why?"

"It was a spar that wasn't going to be full ou. Our armors are designed to protect us from serious damage. And I had a feeling you weren't going to kill us, so I said don't activate the armors. Plus a few of us literally just got them so most of their abilities would have been...scaled down."

"I see…" Friedrich hummed.

"I don't do anything half measured. You kinda have to with these guys," Drew replied. "Changing topics, what was going on with you and Flare?"

The older man snorted. "Nothing for now. But I mean…you could tell that she was pretty lonely, right? She was surprised by the giants having faith in her. And did you see how she just… _lit up_ when I complimented her? That girl hasn't had a lot to be happy about, I think. So, I figured, why not?"

"You liked her but she's too young," Drew elaborated.

Friedrich gave him a particularly disgusted side-eye. "Can we _not_ go there?"

"Sorry."

Friedrich grinned and pulled something from Drew's jeans. "Speaking of girls, why do you have a girl's picture that isn't Gabby or Tori?" he asked, picking up a card.

Drew looked at it and panicked. "Easy with the card!" he yelped, swiping it from him, "This card can summon the very person who gave us these belts, Tsukihime. It's a onetime use."

"Tsukihime?" asked Friedrich.

"You know that whole Kingdom story? She was the last Princess, supposedly. If you think a Guardian has power, she says summoning her right now will be like Goku going Super Saiyan. Though I think she might be underselling it."

"Underselling a Super Saiyan…good lord that's a lot of power. Point taken, last resort." Nodding, Friedrich folded up his coat and deposited it in a cubby, removing a golden pin and placing it on top. Drew made to follow but noticed the pin. Watching Friedrich leave, he hung behind and carefully picked it up to examine. His eyes filled with recognition as he saw a familiar sigil: a planted golden sword, with a wedge crossed over the blade, carved with a series of birds.

 _What…the hell…Why does Friedrich have this?_ He asked to himself, _Something isn't adding up with him. More importantly, is he really working with us?_

"Drew you coming?" Friedrich asked coming back in. He abruptly stopped as Leonid was pointed at his neck. "Ack! Wh-hey! What's going on?"

"Explain. This!" Drew demanded tossing the pin at him.

Blinking, Friedrich caught it, glancing down at it. He raised his eyebrow for a moment. "Is there…something about this that needs explaining?" he asked, "Also, put that thing away, jeez!"

"This little thing is the emblem of the force that paid Phantom Lord to attack us and try to kidnap Lucy. For all we know, this is part of the main army. I want to know, who in the hell are you!?" The mere fact that Drew was cursing was enough to know he was not fooling around.

Friedrich squinted at him. "I told you who I am. I'm a guy from Earth who wound up on another Earth, in the body of a different person. That pin was on him from the beginning. Sure, I ran into a man who had something similar, but he never explained crap. Did you just…forget what I told you when we first met?" His mouth twisted. "That's...pretty aggravating."

"Then...perhaps Tsuki and the Generals weren't the only immortals," Drew said finally lowering his sword. "Which means...we might have a much bigger problem. For the record, this reaction was for not telling us the full story."

Friedrich glared. "I _did_ tell you the full story. How was I supposed to know that some pin that I happen to have, which was almost _never_ significant on Earth Bet, by the way, would be a crucial detail? Don't go blaming me for keeping quiet about shit I didn't realize was important!"

"I'm sorry okay! If you were in my position and I found out we had a potential double agent, I think your reaction would be wiping them out."

"Well, actually my first reaction would be to gather as much intel as I can to ascertain whether or not they _are_ one, confront them if necessary, and then detain them," deadpanned the man, "Standard Master/Stranger Protocols."

"Well I can't exactly do that with our current resources. You told me that you were a hero back on Bet, and right now that's the reason I'm believing you. However, if I know anything about possession, sooner or later, the spirit of whoever you used to be is gonna come back."

He shrugged. "Hasn't happened in ten years, but anything's possible when magic's involved, I suppose." Then he blinked. "Oh, speaking of sooner or later and things that I forgot: my powers tend to bud off pretty freely."

"What do you mean...bud off...like pollen?"

"Mmmore like they grow and split off little fragments, which will seek out the people I hang around the most often, giving them powers that are tangentially related to my own. I don't even know what my new Evolution Power is gonna grant. But yeah, it's gonna happen eventually. Dunno when, or what the results will be, but if you start getting powers that you didn't have before...you know who to thank."

"Right...so more evolution...alright," Drew sighed. Then he smacked his cheeks. "Alright, less angst more relaxing. Let's not let our pals have all the fun."

Friedrich nodded. "Finally! Never got to try a hot spring before. First time for anything, eh?" The two walked out of the locker room and into a much more relaxed atmosphere. Grey was off to the side, trying to cool off from the spring but he looked much less likely to start anything. Ash and Misty were laying against each other, almost sleeping as Misty nuzzled into him. Erza was leaning against a rock, holding Lucy and Natsu to her breasts and Happy was snoozed on the blonde's chest.

"Fairy Tail is something," Warrod's aged voice spoke walking up behind them. "Finding one's family, whether through love or through friendship...that was the dream that Mavis Vermillion, our first master, had. I am glad that it continues through this wonderful generation." He slipped in and sighed, the two boys quickly following suit. "A song seems appropriate but considering how everyone is, I think the serenity is enough. Please enjoy your stay; Master Makarov knows you're here.

Friedrich hummed and observed the couple and trio. As he watched them, something twisted in his gut, which had nothing to do with his powers. He gave a sigh, biting his lip and crossing his arms, registering the empty waters around him.

No one noticed, not even Warrod, when the green halves of his eyes glowed and spread, overtaking the blue of his irises just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END of Chapter
> 
> UO: Long enough for ya? Well this set up a lot of things going forward, especially that pin Friedrich had. And his Evolution? Well….NS? Care to explain why we went that route?
> 
> NSG: Originally, I was just gonna have Friedrich be a part of his own fic, in the Worm-verse. The body he inhabited would remain a mystery to him, but eventually he would learn that in that universe at least, it belonged to a Villain.
> 
> UO: Then when we were discussing his involvement, we eventually decided that the body he inhabited was even more important than just a mere assassin; thus we decided to bring him into this crossover. As a result, the Riders are gonna get some insane powers. When they show up, we'll delve more into it.
> 
> NSG: There's also the fact that, despite being a great deal older than them, Friedrich desires kinship with the Riders, but is unsure of how to show it. A decade spent in a more serious, colder world has left him unable to pursue such friendships.
> 
> UO: That's an aspect we'll explore as well as more development. Anyway,
> 
> Preview: Fairy Tail is conscripted for a fight against one of the strongest Dark Guilds on record. But something lurks deep in the minds of one of their own, frustrations slowly building until they boil over. How will Fairy Tail take them down? Find out.
> 
> Next time: Guild War: Fairy Tail vs Oracion Seis
> 
> UO: Go check out NSG's stuff here and across various other sites. Also review kindly and check out Writer's United and Soulembrace2010's Shattered Realms Discord.
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOOSH


	26. Gathering of Guilds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Allies causes Fairy Tail to run into one of the Balam Alliance! How will theyy fight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH
> 
> UO: Well the Holidays are done. Let's start with the Death! It's time for the arc that will change the entire direction of the story.  
> Lucy: It's still Christmas.  
> Natsu: All that mushy stuff! Blagh!  
> Drew: Anyone see Ash and the others?  
> Grey: Something about celebrating a little more R rated.  
> Friedrich: …Damn it, why does the eternal teenager get more ass than I do…?
> 
> UO: Disclaimer before I lose it!
> 
> Erza: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem doesn't own Pokémon, Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider and other references. Osprey owns the plot, NSG owns Friedrich.
> 
> UO: SOMEONE GET THOSE FOUR OUT HERE!  
> Drew: Ash buddy? *Peaks in and sees the girls getting dressed before getting blasted across the room* You know…considering how little they dress in; they shouldn't get so prissy.

"Dialogue"  
Text  
 _Thoughts, Dreams and Flashbacks Radio._ __  
 **Attacks**  
 **Dopant/Powered up state/Communications**

Chapter 27: The Gathering of Guilds

September 4th X784

" ** _Leviathan spotted. C-14."_**

_Cursing, he threw himself into the air, streaking towards the indicated area. The rain distorted his view through his helmet, but he could at least fly between the buildings._

" ** _Trig down, C-14. Redux down, C-14. Antelope down, C-14."_**

_His HUD flickered and flashed, scanning for the three Heroes that Dragon had called out, flickering through infrared and ultraviolet to find and tag them. Antelope in particular had been knocked into the flooded streets, a piece of debris pinning him down. The others were already being retrieved._

_He dived for him, keeping an eye on the tracking._

" ** _Grid deceased, C-14."_**

_A snarl of frustration left his gritted teeth even as he broke through the surface, reaching the debris and smacking it away. Grabbing Antelope, he shot up and away, sending a message._ **_"Retrieved Antelope. He's taken on water, legs are damaged."_ **

" ** _Antelope retrieved. Miss Militia down, C-2. Alabaster down, C-2. Jaunt down, C-2."_**

_He could barely think over the rain hammering his armor. A downed teleporter would be a disaster. Flaring his suit's impulse thrusters, he took off for C-2._

" ** _Wave-"_**

_However, through all the rain, he couldn't see the massive wall of water that careened in out of nowhere and smashed into him. He was borne aloft, smashing into and through the side of a building. He tumbled along an empty office space, the current leaving him unable to tell down from up. Then he smashed out the window on the other side and fell out into space._

_As he twisted, trying to readjust and take flight, he saw_ **_it._ ** _That thirty foot, gangly, almost reptilian frame, with long arms. Four glowing green eyes glared at him from a mouthless face, three on the left, one on the right._

_He thrust out his hand, power flowing and shaping itself, even as he sent an emergency broadcast._ **_"HE'S HERE! C-6! LEVIA-!"_ **

_That whip-like tail_ smashed _into him from the side, slamming him back into the side of the building and knocking the wind from his lungs. Then_ ** _it_** _was gone, leaving behind that damn water echo, whose own tail smacked him down into the flooded street, before collapsing. A deluge of water poured down onto him, pressing him into the cracked asphalt and_ holding _him there. He couldn't move, couldn't get up._

" ** _Haberdasher, deceased C-4. Uber deceased, C-4. Kaiser deceased, C-4. Armsmaster down, C-4. Aegis deceased, C-4. Vista down, C-4."_**

_As the water seemed to compress around him, keeping him pinned to the street, his blood turned cold as he heard:_ **_"Pinnacle down, C-4."_ **

Waking World: Four Days after Sun Village

Friedrich gasped as his mismatched blue and green eyes flew open. He was covered in icy sweat, trembling as the memory of that day stayed with him. Shaking, he raised a hand to his brow, covering his eyes as he rolled onto his back. "Shit…shit shit shit…why'd I have to remember that?"

"Remember what?" Drew asked, standing just outside the room, "Geez man, I haven't seen ya this jumpy ever. What got you spooked?"

"Nothing, just…" He took a deep breath, crawling out of bed with a grimace. "Just remembering the Endbringers. First time I ever faced Leviathan, actually. A bunch of Capes…a lot of heroes got seriously hurt or killed."

"Maybe your anxiety over the last couple of days brought it back. Freed wasn't exactly nice about your failures."

Flashback

_Drew watched in curiosity as Friedrich pored over one of his lab's tables, in conversation with Levy and Freed. "So back home, we've got this thing called programming," he said, scrawling line after line of text on a piece of paper, "Basically, we got these devices that are capable of calculating and performing all sorts of tasks. But in order for it to do anything, ya gotta write down things so that it will understand what you're asking it. For instance," he slapped the paper, causing the lines he'd written down to flash, followed by the sheet spasming and folding in on itself, forming into a small dagger. "See that? I didn't even have to do any complex casting. Just had to define the instructions and let the spell figure out for itself how to act."_

_Levy looked on in wonder while Freed scoffed. "You think a piece of paper will convince us that your magic is better than our runes?"_

" _No, I'm showing you how you can improve your runes, by using examples of my world's technology as a basis. Now, let's see if we can create something that makes a trap." The two mages looked on in curiosity as he drew out another sheet of paper and began sketching yet more lines of words. As he wrote, some of the lines began to fade out and the paper began to spark. "Ah, no no no!" yelped Friedrich as the lines began to bleed. He reached out, trying to save it, only for the ink to catch fire, making him grit his teeth._

" _Some technology, if it burns out like that," Freed scoffed._

" _The potency of the spell probably requires a more stable medium to work with. Maybe wood or dirt instead of paper," muttered the other man to himself, "For that matter, the arrangement of the writing might need to be specialized or structured in some way. Maybe an array to insulate the medium? Hm…"_

" _You do realize, most people would be using it without major problems and then people like you complain over the stupidest things," Drew defended. The green hair mage rolled his eyes, turned and walked away._

_Levy smiled. "I think you had something there, don't let Freed discourage you."_

" _Ah, it's fine. Not the first-time people have tried talking down to Tinkers. But if he wants to get better, then this is definitely a way to do it."_

_Drew sighed. "You know Edison and Einstein didn't do it right the first time and Bell had his detractors. I'm sure it'll work next time."_

" _Yeah yeah…"_

" _How about next time you let me try it out and I'll try to market it. What you need is a proper pitch."_

_Friedrich snorted bitterly. "The only pitch a guy like that will hear is the sound of perfection. And since that doesn't exist…"_

" _We need to lower his expectations. He was a bastard through and through. Still feel like Laxus is influencing him." Drew sighed and walked away._

_Friedrich groaned and decided to take a break. Walking over to Mira, he asked the barmaid for a drink. "So, where's everyone?"_

" _Um…I think Misty and May are home according to Dawn. Our monthly friend hit them hard this time. Max and Brock are on a quick mission, Ash and Anabel just got back actually. Dawn's got a waitress job at 8 Island in town._

_Friedrich nodded and looked around the guild. He understood that Fairy Tail was a family but getting a good look around, he realized how out of place he was. Looking to his left, he saw Lucy cuddling into Natsu while trying to teach him something useful. Judging by the way he was paying attention; the dragon slayer was listening intently. Off to the right, Anabel was moving like a sinuous dancer, her boyfriend strumming his guitar in rhythm. He had to admit, the empath's moves were amazing, definitely something she could incorporate into her fighting style. But at the same time, seeing the two couples made that ugly feeling in his heart rear its ugly head again. A hot, disgruntled sigh huffed from his nose and he stared gloomily his drink, briefly wishing for something besides water._

End Flashback

"What are you thinking about?" Drew asked.

"Just…different stuff," Friedrich answered distantly, shaking himself out of a stupor.

The Fire Guardian frowned. He knew the traveler was hiding something but decided to drop it. "Alright, Makarov sent us a message, we got a meeting to discuss a big mission. He wants all S-Class Mages, the Guardians and you to be there."

Friedrich blinked. "Right, let me get dressed." He quickly dressed and joined Ash, Max and Brock. They then headed towards the guild, making a slight detour towards the girl's apartment. As they approached, they could see the girls waiting outside with their travel bags, which made Friedrich's heart clench in jealousy. Ash walked up to Misty and kissed her lightly. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Better, my cramps have almost stopped, should be good to go. Should have seen May devour her food yesterday."

"Shut it! You know my thing was way worse than normal!" May growled.

Max covered his ears. "NOT LISTENING!" he screamed, running ahead of them.

Brock and Drew laughed as the younger boy ran ahead. Misty turned to Ash. "Did you get the same message from Makarov?"

"Yeah, we did, whatever he needs is gonna be huge. Especially if he wants us and Fried," Drew confirmed. Turning to the traveler, he grinned. "I think we can handle it right?"

Friedrich returned the grin, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Right, don't worry about me. Otherwise, who's gonna bail you out!"

"Oh, please that was one time!" Drew grumbled as they approached the guild. Makarov saw them approached and nodded. "Good of you all to join us. Drew, Ash, Misty, Friedrich, come this way, the others are already here. The rest of you stay put."

The Guardians and Friedrich nodded heading into the back room. Entering, they heard Natsu moan. "I should be out fighting stripper!"

Erza lightly bopped him on the head which meant his face went into the desk. "No Natsu, you're a Guardian, so that means you should be here to listen this."

"Although it seems like most of your team's here anyway," Misty pointed out sitting at another table next to Ash.

"Luck of the draw I guess," Ash agreed. "Still for all of us to get called must be really big."

"It is," Makarov hummed walking to the front where Mira was standing next to a projector. "I have received word that the Balam Alliance, specifically the Oracion Seis guild are making moves in an effort to crush the legal guilds here in Fiore."

"What is this alliance?" Lucy asked.

"The Balam Alliance is group of three extremely powerful Dark Guilds and their allies. Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros."

"I think you should add one more to that," Drew chimed in. "Friedrich mentioned that right before he met us, he ran into a guild, Naked Mummy. They said they worked with another guild, Miracle Eye. They are an anti-magic guild. I have a gut feeling they aligned with the group as well."

"An Anti-magic guild?" Makarov asked the traveler.

Friedrich nodded. "Yeah, Naked Mummy were mumbling about a group that bullied this town for their beliefs in magical power.

"If they had access to the Memories, chances are Yuzan's forces are behind them as well. This issue is much bigger than you thought," Misty realized.

"What does Nirvana do that makes it so powerful?" Lucy picked up.

"Nirvana is a weapon said to be able to destroy entire towns by taking the magic of the users and essentially turning them back at them," Mira explained. "Though the exact mechanism has been lost for over 400 years."

"With the Magic Council disbanded thanks to what happened with Jellal, it’s up to the legal guilds to put a stop to them," Ash concluded having heard from Dawn when she worked at 8 Island the previous day and meeting a former council member."

"Indeed, which is why I am sending the Riders, Team Natsu and Friedrich to meet with Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter to combat and end this threat. You all should leave as soon as possible. Dismissed," Makarov ordered. "The fate of Fiore rests in your hands

"Isn't it already in our hands," Friedrich mumbled as they left the room. As they entered the guild those who weren't in the meeting looked up to see them with their game faces on.

"Guys, we need to grab our gear. We're heading out!" Drew commanded, which got his friends to quickly pack up and follow them out the door. "Grey, Gajeel go get your stuff. Lucy do you need to grab anything?"

Friedrich watched Drew order his friends around and check with Erza and Mira about different things. He had to hand it to him, he commanded very well. More guilt ate away at him before they all left the guild.

On the road, the group passed the time talking about different things like their training and different stories from their homes.

"So, Ash here decides to attack said Rhydon, a Ground type which is immune to electricity with Pikachu by attacking its horn. Somehow that beat him," Misty explained the story of one of Ash's gym battles.

"Was that before or after the volcano went off?" Drew asked knowingly.

"Okay, not my proudest moment, I still won in the end," Ash grumbled.

"You clearly made up for it," Dawn giggled.

"Well what about your first capture? Oh, wait you nearly whacked me with a poke ball," Ash countered making the Lolita puff up her cheeks.

As the Aura Riders traded barbs back and forth with the other mages listening intently, Lucy asked Mira an important question. "So, who or what is Oracion Seis?"

The white-haired mage hummed. "It's a very powerful guild, even though they only have six members. And if they _are_ with Yuzan, then they probably also have Gaea Memories, which makes them even more dangerous."

Lucy looked down at her whip gloomily. "So, there's a chance we're gonna have to fight a lot. I hope the rest of my re-negotiations pan out."

"How did that go?"

"Virgo and Cancer were understanding. Taurus and Sagittarius were good and Loke tried to flirt but he helped with everyone else. Aquarius…"

"Not that good?"

"No, she nearly drowned me even though I was trying to give her more time. Next time I talk to her, Misty is gonna be with me."

"Is it that bad?" Mira asked.

"It's worse because she's one of my mom's old spirits. I can't exactly break the contract unless I have a good reason."

Friedrich frowned. "What, her being an unreasonably caustic bitch isn't enough?"

"Hey just because she's a bitch doesn't mean she's not my spirit!" Lucy snapped.

"From the sound of it, she doesn't seem to think so," he pointed out, "She probably finds you wanting compared to your mother."

"Well, get her in line or I will get involved," Misty told her. "I already warned her during your home invasion. Even I know when to be a bitch and when to be nice girl."

Lucy sighed. "Your right."

Friedrich watched the girls move on from the topic of Lucy's spirits and sighed, grumbling, "And of course my point is glossed over. Whatever."

"Did you have any teammates some back in Earth Bet?" Drew asked.

"Eh…never for very long," said Friedrich gloomily, "The Protectorate were too stifling and professional, the Wards were too young, and New Wave had a whole bunch of basket-cases. Couldn't really get in contact with any of the other independent Heroes; I'm not good at wrangling people socially. Only person I ever teamed up with consistently was my niece, once my powers budded into her, and then I encouraged her to join the Wards. She got along better than I did, I think."

Drew hummed. "That dream you had; it was your niece that got hurt."

"Just one of many," replied the older man grimly, "She lived, though. Came back from it. Got the therapy she needed. That's more than most of the Capes who showed up could say."

"How bad was it truly?" the Guardian asked.

Friedrich didn't answer for a moment, keeping his eyes on the road. "…When we all gathered," he said finally, "All the Heroes and Villains who decided to fight, Legend gave us a speech. He told us that most of us would almost certainly die, and if the casualties were in the thousands, that would be a good day. And you know what? He was absolutely right."

Drew sighed and looked to the sky. "There's an old adage from World War 2. There are no atheists in foxholes."

"What does that mean?"

"It means when your lives are threatened, it doesn't matter what your creed is. Your priority is survival. It's a shame that it took near ELE's to get people to work together."

"Well, against an Endbringer, your goal is survival, making sure the shelters are alright, and maybe distracting the thing if your powers can hit hard enough."

Drew paused and looked at Friedrich. "You sure you're alright? You've been off all day."

Friedrich glanced away, thus leaving the younger boy unable to see the flash of green in his eyes. "I… _feel_ off. I dunno. Maybe if we get to fight it'll help. Ten years on the job is good for learning to appreciate some action."

Before he could continue, Erza spoke up. "We're here!" Everyone looked up to see a large manor in front of them. It was a two-story building with a purple facade. At the top was a large glass heart with a dome on top of it with metallic hearts as surrounding it."

"You sure this is the place?" May asked.

"This isn't the Blue Pegasus guild hall if that's what you’re asking," Erza replied. "This is Master Bob's place. I'm sure they're waiting inside."

They followed the redhead into the manor. Beyond the front doors, which had opened to greet them, the foyer was utterly massive, with pink walls, marble floors and an ornate chandelier hanging over the room. In front of them was a staircase that led up a wide mezzanine, supported by several stone pillars. They watched as around the hall, a group of three young men danced to a music lacrima. The tallest was very dark, almost tan, with black hair and matching eyes. His attire consisted of a black dress jacket with a green undershirt and matching pants, a confident, cocky gleam in his eyes. The brunette had a black blazer over a pink shirt. The smallest was blond, had blue eyes and was dressed in a yellow polo shirt, blue striped tie and khakis.

"Did we enter a Backstreet Boys concert?" Max asked.

"So, where's the fourth guy in this barbershop quartet?" added Friedrich.

The three singers caught sight of the group and made a beeline for the girls, especially May, Lucy and Misty.

"Hello ladies, how lovely to meet you," the three echoed.

"My name is Ren Akatsuki and I must say your fiery red hair is exquisite," the tan boy said to Misty, bowing and taking the Water Mage's hand. The red head turned red in anger as the mage started to hit on her.

"I am the quite single Hibiki Lates and it's an honor to meet such a fine lady such as yourself," the brunette spoke huskily towards Lucy who looked uncomfortable with the attention.

"And I am Eve Torres, a pleasure," The blonde said kneeling in front of May.

"How kind of you, but I suggest you might want to take a step back," May giggled.

Before Eve could ask, Leonid appeared in between him and May. Next to him, Natsu growled as he stepped in front of Lucy and Ash was nudging Ren back with Raikou.

"How about backing off. Most of these ladies are taken," Drew said with a frown. "And some don't like the attention."

The three mages all raised their hands in surrender, backing away quickly. "We're sorry," Hibiki began.

"Had we known these ladies were taken," Eve continued.

"We would have backed off. We're gentlemen not womanizers!"

Drew smiled and sheathed his sword. "No worries." With the scare tactics over with, everyone began to greet each other. Without the flirtations, the three boys were nice to talk to, something their jobs as waiters helped them with.

Before it got too much further, a deep voice called out. "Ah, I see that Fairy Tail has arrived, though I did not anticipate this many people." Everyone turned to see two people approaching the hall. Most recognized Guild Master Bob, in his flamboyant blue outfit, but the man in the white tuxedo beside him was new. He had a surprisingly stout body, with sharp dress sense, but a disproportionately large head, with chiseled, handsome features that feel wildly out of place.

The group watched as the Trimens bowed in front of the man. "Greetings, Master Ichiya!"

"At ease boys, I take it you've made Fairy Tail comfortable. Yes, my name is Ichiya, a pleasure to meet you all." He took a sniff of the air. "My word, your scents are exquisite." He went around sniffing the girls, creeping most of them out and freaking out Dawn and Tori. When he stopped at Erza he smirked. "Why hello Erza dear!"

*POW*

Erza punched the man into the wall, though he looked physically unharmed despite the damage to the walls. May turned to Erza. "Bad history?"

"He just doesn't know when to quit."

May hummed and then took a sniff of the air. "Is that perfume?"

"Why yes, it is!" Ichiya said. "My own personal fragrance."

At that, the Aura Riders and Gabby and Tori paled and turned to Drew, whose nose looked like a certain reindeer. He tilted his head back in preparation for a sneeze.

"HE'S GONNA BLOW!" Ash screamed and those that knew him ducked as Drew let out a big sneeze.

Allergies + Perfume + Fire ability = One big explosion.

The manor's halls were scorched with black soot on the walls and carpet and those who were standing had their hair sticking up from burns. Drew at least looked apologetic. "Sorry," he groaned, his nose stuffed up.

"And that's why you carry nasal spray and your inhaler," Tori explained, walking over to his bag.

"What the hell was that?" Friedrich asked, grimacing at the singed edges of his coat.

"Allergies," Ash explained.

"Allergies cause all of this? What the heck are you allergic too?"

"Just normal stuff, pollen, dust, perfume gives me issues and some animal dander. At least it doesn't kill me like yours does Ash!"

Before the Aura Guardian could answer, Grey and Natsu started arguing and dragged Hibiki into it as he. Meanwhile Brock was holding back Max, as he wanted Hibiki's head for hitting on May using his meanwhile had to contend with Misty's anger as her trident was getting close to between his legs.

"Great, it's like we never left," Ash grumbled as Gajeel was dragged into Natsu's argument. "This can't get any worse.

Drew looked up from his medicine to see the entrance and groaned. "You had to say it." In the entrance, to their surprise, stood Lyon Vastia and Sherry Blendy, though their appearance had changed. Sherry's hair was out of her pigtails and down to her mid-back, the girl herself wearing a pink strapless dress. Lyon's arrogance had disappeared, but his cocky demeanor remained, dressed in a red shirt, white jacket and grey pants.

Grey happened to see the two walking in and growled. "Lyon! What are you doing here you bastard?"

"Well Grey, not like it's any of your business, but I joined a guild. You're looking at the newest members of Lamia Scale," the white-haired mage boasted.

"Must be pretty desperate to get a mage that tried to end the world on their side."

Lyon flinched, gritting his teeth, but before he could retort, an elder voice cleared his throat. "That is enough Lyon, Sherry." Both Lamia Scale mages turned to see a very tall oriental man. He was dressed as if he was an Egyptian priest with a dark full body cloak. Despite his intimidating size, he had a jovial smile. "It seems our friends have arrived."

Drew saw the man and approached him with his hand out. "You're from Lamia Scale, I take it. I'm Drew, a pleasure to meet you.

"Don't be so cordial!" Sherry snapped. "This is Jura Neekis, he has power rivaling the Wizard Saints!"

Jura chuckled. "Oh, I'm not that strong. I'm just a simple Earth Mage. Although I will say, despite your appearance, you hold great power yourself," he replied taking the offered hand.

"Glad to have you guys aboard, is that everyone?" Drew asked.

"No," Ichiya replied. "We are still missing Cait Shelter's representative."

"Sending one mage? That seems a little arrogant of them," Ash replied.

"Whoever they send must be a really strong mage," Friedrich agreed, giving a knowing smirk.

"I wonder what type of magic they would use?"

Before they could continue, they heard the sound of someone running into the room and tripping with a yelp. "OW!" They all looked at the entrance to see a young blue haired girl lying spread-eagled on the floor, flat on her face. She was dressed in a sleeveless yellow and blue dress with blue slip on shoes. The young girl slowly picked herself and wiped herself off. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized bashfully. “I-I'm Wendy Marvel from Cait Shelter. It's nice to meet you!"

Drew was about to say something but then noticed the Aura girls were quivering in anticipation. Friedrich likewise noticed this and snorted. "I mean, if they weren't gonna, I would."

The fire Guardian just grabbed him out of the way as they leaped up and glomped her. "SO CUTE!" they squealed.

"Look at these eyes they just melt your heart!" Misty gushed.

"You are kidding me; her hair is like the sky look how wavy it is!" May praised.

"She's like the little sister I wanted!" Dawn squealed, her eyes sparkling.

Wendy blushed at the attention and squeaked as she was gently picked up. "Sorry about that," Anabel assured her, "They think you're cute, and well they just wanted to meet you." The other three apologized and quickly introduced themselves.

"So, Wendy was it?" Natsu asked. "Aren't you kinda young to be here?"

"Hey! I'm her age and you don't have an issue with me?" Max exclaimed.

"Even so, she doesn't look like she could fight well," Grey grumbled. The Trimens and Lyon also began to voice their concerns, causing to the young girl to blush and shake in nervousness.

"Enough!" Misty snapped. "She may not look it, but unlike most of you knuckleheads, she can hold her own. With the power she's giving off, I'd say she's a healer."

Ichiya hummed. "Sensing magic without an aid, that is a useful ability. Do you all know it?" He asked the Aura mages.

"Most of our team knows how to an extent," May explained. "Anabel and Ash are very powerful in sensing and using Aura, which is the basis of our magic but most of us are really good at it. Sensing it is one of the first things we use."

"More importantly, Ms. Marvel, is it true that you have healing magic?" Jura asked.

Wendy ducked her head at the inquisitive gazes, clearly unused to the attention. "I…I know my magic isn't that strong, but I can provide healing magic," she confirmed shyly.

"But why did you come alone?" Sherry asked

"She's not alone, Ms. Wears Too Much makeup," a stern female voice called out. Everyone turned back to the entrance to see…a white cat dressed in a yellow dress, pink skirt and a bow on her tail.

"Who's the cat?" Grey asked.

"Whoa, she's like Happy!" Natsu pointed out.

"It talks?" Lucy asked, amazed at seeing another talking cat.

Sherry, however, only grumbled. "What does she know? I'm not gaudy…"

"THAT'S YOUR BEEF!?"

Wendy glanced behind her and recognized the newcomer. "Oh Carla, you followed me?"

Carla scoffed. "Of course, child, your far too young to be going alone."

"Pretty Kitty," The Trimens echoed.

*POW* *SLAP* *CRASH*

"What is _wrong_ with these three?" Gabby groaned, sitting on Eve, who was sporting a black eye.

"Gabby come on, I don't wanna work BEFORE we fight," Tori complained as she started healing them.

Carla glanced to the side to see Happy shaking. Then the blue cat's eyes turned to hearts as his body shook in excitement. For her part, the white furred cat looked away in disgust.

Happy was stunned into silence as his body shivered in horror. He raced towards Lucy and pawed at her leg. "Lucy, I'll give you my fish if you tell that vision I haven't been neutered yet.

The blonde in her tan cargo skirt growled. "You keep looking up my skirt, you will be!" Then a light bulb went off in her head. _Ooh this is a perfect chance to return the favor you annoying tomcat._

She giggled as Happy pushed his paws together. _"You LOOOOVE her!"_ She said rolling her tongue.

"THAT'S MY SCHTICK! GET YOUR OWN!" Happy screamed.

Wendy looked away shyly. "I know I'm not what you expected. But I'm really good at healing spells. Please let me help you."

Dawn turned to rest of the group. "We already have two mages with healing magic. A third one means we can split up our teams more efficiently." She patted Wendy on her head, getting a smile from the younger girl.

"She's right. Tactically being able to go in with full strength and parties that _don't argue,"_ here Drew glared at Grey and Lyon, "Would let us complete our objective without casualties, we hope. So, give her a chance alright?"

After some grumbling, they all agreed to allow Wendy to come with them. "Excellent, when I return, we shall discuss our mission," Ichiya announced leaving the room.

"So, what kind of plan are we talking here? I mean, Oracion Seis can't be that easy," Ash asked.

"To understand what Oracion Seis is after, you need to understand what they are after," Ren began seriously. "The magic weapon Nirvana."

"Nirvana? Doesn't sound like we're dealing with a music band," said Drew, "What kind of power are we talking here.

"This is no laughing matter," Hibiki chastised. "Over 400 years ago, Nirvana was a dark, destructive spell used to destroy multiple towns and cities. Only thanks to the elders of the era was Nirvana able to be defeated. Here let me use my magic and show you." The brunette waved his hands and a large magic screen appeared in front of it. Friedrich started forward, his mismatched eyes fixating on the magic with unmistakable fascination. "This is my Archive magic. Any information, magical or otherwise, can be compressed and turned into data, which I can freely access. Our library is among the largest non-royal archives."

"Sounds like our internet," Max praised.

"Wait, wait, hang on a sec," interrupted Friedrich, raising his hand, "Are you guys seriously just glossing over the fact that this guy has the f-" he glanced at Wendy, "-freaking _internet_ as magic? And he can just transfer information at will? Really?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds like he could put it on a phone and break it out as necessary," Gabby realized.

"What is this internet?" Hibiki asked curiously.

Friedrich scratched the back of his head. "Basically, it's what you can do, but everywhere, and people don't need magic to access it, so pretty much anyone can. Although, it can't download knowledge directly into their heads."

"It's been a game changer since it was introduced a decade prior to the public. How far advanced is it in the future?" Tori asked.

"I mean, people keep coming up with more convenient software and sites," he said, shrugging, "People have gotten more comfortable with socializing over the web. And we can access it from our phones."

"We're getting off topic, where is this Nirvana?" Brock asked

"Out into the Worth Woodland," Ichiya chimed in. "The Nirvana spell is sealed deep into the forest. It's dark magic saps the life of any natural life around it.

"Any idea who we're dealing with?" Brock asked.

"The Oracion Seis are a group of extremely powerful mages," Hibiki explained, pulling up a set of six images. The first picture was of a red-haired man, with tan skin and a scar over his right eye. "This is Cobra; his magic seems to deal with poison, and he's been seen with a large snake, who is said to be extremely venomous." Taking a moment to let everyone study the picture, he nodded and then made a swiping motion, switching to a goggled blond man. "Next we have Racer. It appears he has some sort of Speed magic."

"Sounds like a perfect opponent for you Ash," May whispered to her boyfriend.

"I mean, I can do that too…" muttered Friedrich, crossing his arms.

"Then we have Hoteye." Hibiki pulled up a picture of a tall, tan blocky looking man. "He's said to kill anyone for any price."

"You know he reminds me of someone, though I can't remember," Natsu grumbled.

"I think Wally is his brother, you know one of Erza's old friends," Misty agreed.

"Wally…" Erza mumbled worriedly. "I wonder how they're doing?"

"Now we have Angel," The next picture was the only woman there. Long white hair framed an ovular face, her indigo eyes narrowed with cruel amusement. "She has magic that can supposedly peer into your heart."

"Huh…you know, there was a mage that I ran into before I met Tori, Brock and Max," commented Friedrich, leaning in for a closer look, "Looks an awful lot like her, but a bit less full of herself."

"What kind of magic did she use?" asked Drew curiosity.

"Celestial Spirit magic, I think."

He nodded, frowning. "…Would it stand to reason that if they are sisters, they could also share magic?" he asked Friedrich. Glancing to his right, he noticed Ichiya slowly backing away for some reason.

"I guess? I mean, I've always been more focused on the mechanics of magic, not how it's tied to genetics…"

Lucy gasped in horror, holding her hands to her mouth. "Oh no! Those poor spirits! We need to save them!"

"We will, we' just got to find her," Mira assured her.

Hibiki gave them a small nod, and then pulled up the last two pictures. "The last two are Midnight and Brain, the guild master. Make no mistake. Despite the guild's small size, each of Oracion Seis' members are said to be able to destroy an entire guild by themselves."

"And let's not forget that they probably have Gaea Memories," Brock pointed out, "If they're dangerous without them, imagine their power with them."

"Indeed, thus our plan is simple. We find Nirvana and then use our Guild's most powerful weapon. Our airship, Christina, has enough firepower to take it down."

Alright! Let's go kick some ass!" Natsu roared rushing out the door.

The rest of the alliance left to follow the Dragon Slayer, save for Ichiya, Jura, May and Dawn.

"Can I ask what you two are doing here?" Jura asked.

"We shouldn't be going alone, even with Natsu rushing ahead like that," Dawn explained.

"Random question Ichiya, why did you bring Lyon and Sherry into your guild?" May asked.

"Well, they seemed like redeemable people and considering their power it stands they would bring Blue Pegasus to power," Ichiya asked.

"Got another question for you…Where's the real Ichiya?" Dawn asked, her happy demeanor suddenly gone, and her weapon drawn. Before Ichiya could respond, May's own sword was at his throat.

"What's the meaning of this?!" demanded Jura, raising his hands defensively and frowning at the two girls.

"Did you forget, Jura? Lyon and Sherry are in your guild!" May got the older man to narrow his eyes at Ichiya who was beginning to sweat. "Where's the real one?" He demanded.

"Tied up and knocked out in the bathroom," a feminine voice called out. The three mages turned to see Angel strutting through the door carelessly, a scowl on her otherwise pretty face. "How did you know he was a fake?" At this, 'Ichiya" dissolved and with a puff of smoke, transformed into a pair of tiny, blue, doll-like creatures, which floated around the mage, giggling delightedly.

"Well, seems like _you_ didn't do all of your homework," May said.

_Flashback 15 minutes_

_As Ichiya came back in, Drew took a whiff, and motioned to Tori. "Ichiya ditched the perfume," he muttered._

" _That's good, you won't be wheezing…wait a minute, you can't get rid of that much perfume in that amount of time!" Tori whispered._

_He walked over to Anabel and leaned in next to her ear. "Scan Ichiya for me, will ya?"_

_Intrigued Anabel closed her eyes and sent out a pulse. She silently gasped and whispered back. "That's not Ichiya; his Aura is multicolored, and my eyes don't see the perfumes he's using. In fact, it feels like Lucy's magic."_

_Drew hummed and looked up to see Hibiki bring up a female mage. "She's got the ability to peer into your heart._

" _Speaking of siblings, I ran into another mage before I met Tori, Brock and Max. She looks like that girl's sister," Friedrich mused_.

" _What kind of magic did she use?" asked Drew curiosity._

" _Celestial Spirit magic, I think."_

_Drew noticed Ichiya flinch slightly. He made his way over to Dawn and May while Hibiki finished his explanation. When Natsu charged out of the room May and Dawn stayed behind with Jura and Ichiya._

End Flashback

Just as the Lolita finished her explanation, something rang in Dawn's pocket. She reached in and pulled out a walkie talkie. "Go for Dawn."

" _Are Ichiya and Jura alright?"_ asked Drew.

"Their fine, but I think our plans are compromised."

Before Drew could respond, one of the doll-like spirits suddenly zipped over, grabbed the radio and flew it to Angel. "They won't be alright for long."

" _You must be the Oracion Seis mage Angel. You know, I bet you'd sound very nice without that stick up your butt. I believe my friend here asked a question, where's Ichiya?"_

Angel smirked. "He's a little tied up. But now we have your friends as hostages!

Drew raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder. Out from under his and Ash's cloaks appeared May and Dawn, looking very smug. "Strange, I'm looking at them right now. Say hello, ladies.

"Hello!" Dawn waved.

"Hey there, hope our illusions kept you company," May giggled.

Angel looked up to see the two people in front of her smiled and flashed her peace signs before vanishing. Meanwhile Jura had used the time to dash away with Ichiya having found him locked up in the bathroom.

" _So much for that leverage,"_ Drew mocked.

Angel growled and pressed the call button. "You listen here, and you listen good. Nirvana is the key to your destruction. No amount of allies will prevent its activation. We have powers beyond your minds."

" _We know about your powers already. The question is, do you think it will be enough?"_

"We have an army, entire guilds at our disposal! Your little Christina is nothing but a gnat!'

" _Well gnats still carry disease lady."_

"What kind of mage are you? You should be cowering in fear from our name alone!" She snapped.

" _Let's just say we have the right to be confident."_

"You will die! And I will make sure you’re the first one!"

" _Yippie Ki yay, Bitch!"_ Drew said ending the call. Angel roared and crushed the radio.

Drew hummed as the static cut through the line. "Well Hans Gruber she ain't."

"What did she mean by army?" Wendy asked.

"My guess, allied guilds and Troopers supplied by Yuzan," Friedrich hummed, "You know those radios are expensive."

"I'll make a new one later, right now we need to prepare for an attack. Their ambush was snuffed out." As they said this, an explosion suddenly shook the ground, making everyone tense up. Looking up, they saw that their ace in the hole take several hits and begin to crash.

"Looks like we got company," Ash said as everyone tensed around them. As the ground grew darker, multiple squadrons of robotic troopers appeared around them.

Jura hummed. "We are considerably outnumbered. These soldiers have given even S ranked mages a hard time."

Drew, however, was already drawing up a battle plan. "Tori, Dawn get those shields up! Gabby, Anabel, Grey keep them guarded! Max, Erza, Mira we need air support! Brock be ready on the Earth magic! May, Lucy back us Up! Misty, Ash, Natsu! You're with me, We're gonna break through!

"Alright! I'm fired up!"

"Heh! Bet I can destroy more than you flame brain taunted.

"Wanna bet?" Ash asked.

Eve couldn't help but gasp. "How can you be so nonchalant? These things take guilds to take down a squadron, this looks like an army."

Misty shrugged and twirled Lugia. "We've faced worse and we came out fine. Now, you gonna help us or be a coward."

The Trimens scoffed at the accusation and began to charge up their magics. Drew glanced behind him to Gabby. "Wanna start us off?"

The Hunter nodded and notched a light arrow. Pulling it tight she briefly aimed at the charging group. **"Pillar Rain!** “Instead of firing forward, she aimed down at the ground and fired. The arrow struck the earth for an instant, several streaks of light branching off from the point of impact through the ground, before the whole thing vanished. Then, the ground glowed in various spots beneath the charging group, before suddenly bursting, sending several of them flying into the air, disintegrating as they went. From those spots erupted a series of massive stone pillars, rising several feet in the air.

Brock, taking advantage of the pillars, leaped up and landed atop one of them, lifting his hand high. **"Tremor Force!"** He smashed his fist down into the pillar, sending a burst of Earth Aura through it. The ground split around him and cracked across the ground, catching another line of soldiers and causing them to fall into the fissures. Raising his arm out, the rocks formed around his arm giving him protection against further attacks.

Erza and Mira instantly transformed into their Heaven's Wheel and Satan Soul forms respectively before taking flight. The red head flew high into the air and raised her shield, before flinging it downward. It bounced around, bashing several heads in as it ricocheted back and forth through the mass of troopers. Mira came in from the side and charged up a series of purplish black orbs in her hands. **"SHADOW STORM!"** Multiple spheres of darkness fired from her hands, the orbs crashing between the stunned groups. There was a brief pause before they blew up in a chain of explosions.

"You're really back, Mab," Erza praised catching her shield.

"Been a while Titania, did you really forget who could beat you every time," the Dark mage teased.

"Please, you couldn't beat me then and you can't beat me now!"

"We'll see," Mira giggled, using her tail to nip the redhead's nose before flying away. Erza blushed then growled and flew after her.

Max sighed. "Am I the only one that gets grossed out by the flirting," He said walking on the air. Looking down, he spun his arms creating a large disk of air in front of him. "Now then, I believe this little invasion could use tornado. Or maybe just a **Maelstrom Slicer!** " He slashed his sais, creating several circles of air and launched them at near supersonic speed, spinning like buzz saws. They cut through them like butter, leaving no visible would but the sparks from the damage ignited the leaking oil. He quickly raced landed and twirled his staff around. The air around him was then sucked into his arms. **"Pressure Crash!** " He slapped the ground, unleashing waves of high-density air. The waves raced towards the group before crashing into them, crushing the armors as the wave passed through them. The young boy grinned as he watched them topple over in each other and explode before he flew away.

" **THUNDER PULSE!"** Ash called out, firing off several spheres of Electrical energy. Each ball struck a soldier before burst and causing the splash damage to hit others in a lone causing the soldiers collapse in a shower of sparks and explosions. Through the fire, several more charged in, with Ash countering the strike with ease, though the number attacking him forced him to back up a bit. "Hey Mist? I know you're busy, but can you give me a hand?"

Misty for her part had just disarmed one of her attackers and fired a Water Pulse into his head, blasting it off its shoulder. "Do I have to fish you out of everything?" she grumbled. She twirled Lugia to catch an overhead axe slash behind her, before twisting around and sweeping her opponent's legs out from under it and stabbing it in the chest. Another, larger one tried to strike at her shoulder with a large broadsword, only for the water she carried in her pouch to react and catch the weapon, inches from her hair. "Excuse me, no one said you can touch the hair!" She raised her arm to the soldier's face which looked like it had made a mistake. **"AQUA STAR!"** A stream of blue stars flew out of her hands, crashing into the soldier before she spin around and firing more into the crowd around them, making it rain. She then raised her hands to quickly remove the water while drying the ground, slowly raising it and condensing it, trapping a whole group in it. She smirked as she closed her hands. **" Trench Crush!"** She got a satisfying explosion of sparks, water and oil as the water crushed the group into pieces. As she praised herself internally, several more tried to sneak up behind her, only for the ground to open up to reveal a large vine and wrap around them.

"Got your back!" May called out. She raised her arm and flicked her wrist; the vine responded by rearing back and tossing its cargo into a group to the right. She kicked the ground, summoning several flowers and spun to face a group trying to flank her friends. "How about taste of my garden. **"PETAL GATLING!"** The flowers unfolded themselves before firing their petals off like machine guns. The charging group was mowed down as the unusual weapons sliced into them.

"Drew's history lessons may seem a bit detailed but a machine gun vs a charging army equals lots of dead bodies," May hummed. She waved her hands back getting the flowers and vines to stand up. "Now... **Nature's Wrath!"** She thrust her hands forward, the buds and vines racing into the ground. The wild growth raced towards the group, crushing the pack underfoot. She giggled and danced away to help the others.

"HA!" Drew yelled, punching out a flame at an attacking soldier. He and Friedrich were proving to be a great tag team as the traveler flung nails at their heads, sending them cracking through the air at supersonic speeds. "This is getting fun! Been a while since we had a large group like this! Oracion must be paying a pretty penny for these!" Swinging, Drew sliced another one's head off. "You doing alright, bro?"

Friedrich weaved in and out of the Troopers, slipping past their guards to deliver quick, sharp blows with his fists and elbows, tripping them up by tangling legs and throwing them into each other. Green light flashed around him as his weapon flickered rapidly from one form to the next. First, a saber, which twirled and glinted in his hands as he deftly sliced through weak points in their armor and stabbed through faces. Even as a trooper charged at him from behind, Friedrich swung his hand around, not looking as his weapon dissolved from the inside of another soldier's face and reformed in the outstretched hand as a hand-cannon. He fired slowly, sending the enemy stumbling back with three bullet holes in its chest, keeping his gaze on the greater numbers in front of him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright, if you say so!" Drew replied. He turned to the young girl and her cat behind the two. "What about you two?"

Wendy looked up from where she had kept her head down. "I'm f-fine, it's very loud!"

"Wendy, just keep your head down, dear! If we don't find a way out of here, we're in trouble!" Carla said worried.

"Hey Carla, what magic does she use?" Friedrich asked.

"Um...I use a lot of healing magic. I can also make some of your attacks stronger…" Wendy explained.

"Nice an enchanter!" Friedrich hummed blowing another soldier's head off.

"What about attacks?" Drew asked blocking an axe cross.

"Um...I can use D-Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Wait! You’re a dragon slayer like Gajeel and Natsu?" Drew asked surprised. "What element are you?"

"My D-dragon was Grandeeney. She was t-the Sky Dragon."

"...Sky means Wind!" Drew said his eyes lighting up. "Friedrich, mind taking over for a minute?" The Fire Guardian knelt down to her level. "I think we can get out of here with your help. If you can use a Dragon Roar, you can power our flames and we can waste these guys!"

Wendy looked at the Fire Guardian and nodded.

"Alright Friedrich you got a fire ability in that library of yours?" Drew asked the traveler.

He gave him a look. "Not only do I have several, but I JUST got Dragon Slayer Magic from Sun Village, remem-?"

"HOLD IT!" Natsu's loud voice cut in.

Drew groaned. "Natsu, get back on your side of the formation, we're about to break out of this siege!"

"I heard we have a new Dragon Slayer! If anyone's gonna help her blow stuff up, it's a _real_ dragon slayer!"

Friedrich stiffened, scowling and opening his mouth to deliver a blistering retort, but…

"Natsu shut up and get back on your side! You're supposed to be with Lucy and Gajeel!"

Even as they spoke, Lucy had summoned Sagittarius to form her star dress and was racing towards where Tori and Dawn were patching everyone up. Hibiki was coordinating the mages to try and shore up their defenses. From the looks of things, many of them were starting to get a tired.

"No way, you needed fire, we got it right here!" The male dragon slayer exclaimed, pounding his chest.

"And I say we have it handled here!" Drew growled. Before Natsu could respond, a larger soldier appeared swinging its axe to cut off their heads. It was quickly stopped as two cuts appeared in its chest and then its neck before it fell apart. The boys looked to see Anabel catching her chakrams before back flipping away.

Drew sighed. "Alright how about all three of us decide launch our attacks and Wendy can power them up with her own will that satisfy both of you!" He asked Friedrich and Natsu. Both of them reluctantly nodded which got Drew to smile sarcastically. "Great! Wendy, you ready to go?"

The blue haired girl nodded before looking in front of her. Meanwhile Drew clenched his fists, summoning two orbs of fire before clapping them together, Natsu gathered up his magic building up power and Friedrich closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.

"Wendy on the count of three I want you to unleash your attack. 1...2...3! **LION'S INFERNO CANNON!"**

" **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"**

" **...Hoooo…!"**

Wendy took a deep breath, the air around her being sucked in. **" Sky Dragon's ROARRR!"**

The young girl's bellow unleashed a large, swirling, horizontal tornado from her mouth. At the same time, the three boys all unleashed their fire attacks, which quickly merged together into a pillar of flame. Then the tornado that emanated from the young dragon slayer entered the mix turning the combined attacks into a wild tornado. The swirling flames sped forward, ensnaring and lifting the screaming soldiers, sending them flying in a wave. The twister then raced over the ranks in a tide of searing heat, melting and burning anything, it picked up. When the whirling air mass faded, there was scorched earth everywhere in front of them.

May pouted at the damage. "You could avoid some of the trees, you know."

"You know how tornadoes are. Hibiki where are we heading?" Drew asked the Archive mage.

"We're heading into the woods, to the Northeast!"

"Roger, let's go people!" Drew ordered with everyone following him.

On top of a hill, Angel stomped her foot as the remains of their army burned away. "DAMN THAT COCKY SHIT! Does he know how much money we threw into this army?"

Hoteye looked at a book he had is hand and clenched his fist. "Over 60 Million Jewels. That's not including the price we paid for these Gaea Memories!"

"We need to stop them before they get to Nirvana Master Brian what do we do?" Asked Racer.

The older man grinned. "Use the Gaea Memories! These mages surely don't have the power to overcome them. Hoteye see to it they learn who they are dealing with. The rest of you rally our allies, we have some bugs to squash.

Hoteye nodded, pulled a brick red Memory from his pocket and clicked it.

**FIST**

Down below, the Allied forces were making good time through the woods. Ren had something to say, however. "Those things back there, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you fought them before?"

"Too often if you ask me," Drew mumbled. Glancing up he saw Mira and Erza flying above. "We need more eyes, Max can you go help them?"

"Probably a good idea if me and Gabby go into the trees too," May offered as walked to a tree and ordered it lower its branch before climbing up. Gabby ran up a nearby tree and followed her fellow brunette.

"I am surprised at the amount of coordination you all have," Jura pondered.

"When you fight as often as us, teamwork is key," Drew replied. "Friedrich, you think you can create a radar to help them?

"Might be tough with the trees, let's see what I can do," Friedrich mumbled. Before he could, a loud scream made them stop. Erza came crashing down right in front of them, her Heaven's wheel armor breaking and returning to her Heart Kruz outfit. Natsu raced over to her and turned her over, gasping at what he saw. Her right arm was beginning to blacken into a deformed mess, almost as if it was rusting away. "Dawn! Get over here!

The lolita ran over and saw the arm, almost gagging at the sight. "Oh no! Poison! Hang on, Erza!"

"Let me help!" Wendy told her rushing to her side. "I can stabilize her arm and help purge the poison!

"You just heal her; I've got a spell that can take care of that! What the heck happened up there?" she muttered.

"Dopant…Came…out of nowhere…!" gasped Erza, her eyes wandering sightless, sweating profusely and shaking.

"Mira, Max , you gotta land now!" Ash called out as the two mages dodged a draconian looking dopant.

" **So...You can be weakened,"** A deep voice announced. They all turned to see a large creature stomping towards them. It towered over them, brick red and seemingly carved from stone, with hands about as large as their torsos, attached to abnormally long, segmented, muscular arms. Two more sets of these arms crossed over its torso, protecting its barrel chest, and face was a nightmarish mask of teeth and angry eyes.

" **Indeed, even the great Erza can brought down,"** warbled a robotic voice. Gliding through the air was a huge, radiantly glowing purple serpent. The serpent was easily ten to 12 feet long and another slimmer dragon was wrapped around its neck. **"Great Buddha will you need assistance?"**

" **No Venom Rey, I can kill them all,"** grunted the giant dopant.

Drew tched and looked at Friedrich. "You want him?"

"Thought you never ask," the traveler said lowly, grinning.

"Are you insane?" Ichiya exclaimed. "He's the strongest member outside the guild master!"

"Friedrich's faced worse odds, I trust him. If we don't leave now, we will be surrounded, and I don't know if we have the energy to break out again!" Drew snapped. "Split into groups and move!"

" **You're not going anywhere!"** Great Buddha shouted rearing back to launch his fist at the healers. Only for it to be deflected by Friedrich leaping in and kicking it away.

"Yeah no," he rebutted, taking a stance and staring down the Dopant, "If you wanna pass, then you gotta pay a toll: that Gaea Memory."

"Go get'em, Fried!" May cheered as she helped Erza onto Anabel's shoulders before racing into the woods. To help facilitate their escape, Brock used Smokescreen while Drew and Misty through up a steam shield.

" **Find the girl!"** Buddha ordered Rey. The snake hissed and flicked its tongue. With a flash of light, it streaked into the smoke, leaving behind a hole and the smell of something bitter. **"As for you…"** The massive, muscular Dopant stalked towards Friedrich, cracking his knuckles. **"You'll find that you've made a great mistake."**

"Funny, I could say the same. I don't think you realize who you're facing," Friedrich taunted him, summoning more nails. Before his opponent could respond, he hurled them, magnetic rails turning them into flashing streaks of light with a sonic boom.

However, Great Buddha's massive arms blurred into motion, catching each and every nail between his thick fingers. **"It doesn't matter who I'm facing. I'm on a schedule, and it must be kept."**

"Hate to say it, but **your plans are gonna be cancelled!"** Friedrich shouted, his body igniting with Dragonforce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END of CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Great spot to end this and hopefully more action in the next chapter
> 
> Preview: As the Allied Forces get separated, the Oracion Seis make their move for Nirvana, but in their hubris, they may have brought more than doom to their foes
> 
> NS: So, those of you who read this might notice that Friedrich's presence is getting pretty prominent for a guy who was only recently introduced. Well, there's no real way to avoid this, but don't worry; he won't be completely overshadowing the rest of the cast, no matter how OP he gets. After all, he's powerful, but he's still not a Rider. More importantly, he himself is aware of this.
> 
> UO: We know what Gary Stu we’re making sure to keep it to a good level
> 
> NS: That being said, being OP is fun. :3


	27. Hidden In The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Fights break out, a dark force appears from within

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NS: Let’s get right into it, shall we?  
> UO: Everyone here? *Sees the set in disarray* Right...Disclaimer.
> 
> Misty: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem doesn't own Pokemon, Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider and other references. Osprey owns the plot, NSG owns Friedrich. Now if you’ll excuse me *Fall onto the floor unconscious*
> 
> UO:…You’re paying for this, NS.

"Dialogue"  
Text  
 _Thoughts, Dreams and Flashbacks Radio_  
 **Attacks  
Dopant/Powered up state/Communications**

Chapter 27: Hidden in the Dark

Drew raced through the woods, Natsu, Ren and Gabby following behind him, with Carla and Happy flying above. He looked over his shoulder, only to notice that someone was missing. “Whoa whoa, hold up!”

“Didn’t you say we needed to keep moving?” Ren asked.

“Yeah well, but I wanna know where everyone is. Carla, where’s Wendy?”

Carla humphed. “She’s...what in the world? Wendy? Where did you go, child?”

“Relax, she’s probably with the other groups.” Gabby tried to assure her, getting on the radio. “Hey can anyone tell me if they have Wendy with them?” A few moments later, however, her hopes were dashed.

 _“Not with us!”_ Misty said.

 _“Not here,”_ Mira explained worriedly.

 _“Sorry no Dice!”_ Max replied.

 _“She’s not with us either_ ,” Anabel responded feeling the same dread that had come over the rest.

Drew cursed. “Damn it...I think they were after Wendy! I remember them saying grab the girl!”

“How did they find us in the smokescreen and steam!?” Ren asked.

“Remember that snake Dopant? Snakes don’t need to see to find their prey. Their tongues can pick out particular scents and heat signatures in the air before bringing into their mouths,” Drew explained. “We couldn’t hide either and thus she got picked out. The question is why do they need her?”

Natsu turned to Carla. “Wendy’s a Dragon Slayer right? Do you think they wanted her for that?”

“No,” the cat said landing on the ground, “You said you were a dragon slayer too, correct? What happened to your dragon?”

“Igneel…my dragon and Gajeel’s dragon…they both disappeared the same day, July 7th X777. Same day Lucy’s mom died.”

“The same happened to Wendy’s Dragon Grandeeny. Poor child was separated from her mother at such a young age,” Carla explained.

Gabby knelt down and petted the cat. “We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

Natsu took a whiff of the air. “I think I got her scent! Come on!” He boasted with Grey Carla and Happy following.

Gabby began to follow but noticed Drew stopped. “What’s up?”

“Don’t you find it strange that their dragons disappeared the same day Layla died?” Drew asked her.

“Could be a coincidence,” Gabby provided, but then realized how dumb that sounded. “Right, no coincidences. Shame that we can’t just find them to solve this.”

“Or maybe we can ask Friedrich’s dragon. He picked up some sort of Dragon spirit on our last mission. So maybe he knows. But we’re not gonna do anything until this guild goes down!”

Gabby nodded and they quickly sped up to catch the dragon slayer.

Oracion Seis Headquarters

Adder flew through the cave entrance and landed where Oracion Seis was keeping their base. Its luminous coils were wrapped tightly around the squirming Wendy, blocking her mouth. **“Got the girl, boss!”** The Dopant spoke, dropping her on the floor and transforming back into a tanned, red-haired man in a white long coat. One of his eyes bore a large scar. He was soon joined by the remaining members.

“Good, just in time my child,” An elderly dark skinned man with strange markings on his face emerged from the dark.

“Master Brain, not to question you, but what do you need her for?” Racer asked.

“Simple my dear Racer, it’s part of the plan for Nirvana!” At this, everyone nodded in understanding. “But we must move quickly. Hoteye is dealing with someone powerful. Angel, Cobra, we need to find Nirvana now! Racer, go wake up our sleeping beauty!”

Racer grinned. “If _he_ needs to get involved then these Alliance members are assuredly doomed.”

“One more thing,” Brain added, holding them all up, “These alliance members know what they’re doing with our forces. Don’t get complacent with your Memories. Those Kamen Riders could be anywhere, and we don’t need our own powers messing with our heads!”

The three mages nodded and rushed out of the cave. Brain turned to Wendy, who looked scared out of her wits from her spot the floor. “W-What do you w-want with me?”

Brain chuckled. “My dear…there is someone we need to heal, for our ultimate goal.” He motioned her to follow. “Tell me, do you think your allies are coming for you? To save you?”

“I-I know they’re searching for me right now!”

Brain grinned. “Too bad, once we have what we came for, all of those guilds will soon come to blows with one another, allowing us to take over.”

“What...what do you mean?” asked Wendy frightened at the response.

“Surely your master told you this right? Nirvana’s power lies in the power of the heart. Where bad becomes good and good goes bad. Now, imagine being able to pick and choose who it affects. That is why it was sealed away. Friend turns to foe, countries turn on their kings. This power is exactly what our new benefactor needs.” He stopped in front of a large cross. “I believe my dear you know him?”

Wendy looked up and gasped. “J-J-Jellal?”

“Yes, the very same person that raised you. Saved from his near demise in the Tower of Heaven, perpetrated by those Fairy Tail mages whom you were with.”

“But...are you sure this is the Jellal I know?” Wendy asked, “He looked...different from this.”

“Interesting, but it doesn’t matter at the moment. What _is_ important is that he is the key to the alliance’s demise. You see, he was once on par with the Wizard Saints, and in fact it was I who gave him his magic, before I was exiled from the Fiore army. So, if you don’t want to be hurt, little girl, I suggest you do what I ask.”

Wendy bit her lip, scared at what else the cult leader could have in store. Brain saw the hesitation and summoned a bold of shadow magic and prepared to fire. “STOP!” Brian grinned and stepped back to let the young girl do her work. Internally, Wendy prayed for someone to come find her.

In the woods

Lucy paced around the small clearing she was in. She, Dawn, May, Erza and Hibiki had settled down after separating from everyone. “Damn it, where is everyone?”

“It seems they wanted to divide and conquer us all. Wherever they are, they are biding their time,” Hibiki mumbled, scanning his Archive Magic. “I’d be more worried about associated guilds. They could easily out number all our forces.”

“Considering the fire power we have, I don’t think we have to worry too much,” May pointed out. “I’m more concerned about Erza at the moment. Dawn, how’s she doing?”

Dawn looked up from the grimacing redhead. “I’ve stopped the spread at least. But her arm won’t go back to normal, too strong for what I have learned.”

“Heal Bell isn’t working?” May asked concerned.

“No, although I’ve been able to slow down the damage. We need something more powerful to purge it,” Dawn replied. “Hold on Wendy said she was a healer right, maybe she can do something.”

Before they could continue, Anabel landed in the clearing. “I just spotted an advance force looking for us, we need to either hide or move. Lucy, what’s the call?”

The blonde blinked. “Wait you want me to decide?”

“Lucy, you’re a Guardian. Eventually, you’re gonna be leading all of us into battle. You should learn to make your own decisions and try to help us.”

“But...I'm not as strong as Erza, or you guys for that matter,” Lucy said looking away.

“Well, we don’t need strength right now; we need your brain,” said May calmly, patting her shoulder. “If there is one problem all of us on our team have, we don’t have the durability of Erza or Natsu. Most of our fights were either fast moving or we started the ambush,” She then took the blonde’s hand into her own. “We can make our own moves, but we need someone to guide us to be a leader. We gave Natsu a chance, now it’s your turn.”

Hibiki smiled. “If you are a celestial mage, then I believe you have tremendous power. Whatever these things are, you held your own against them.”

Confidence bolstered, Lucy scanned the trees. “May, can you cloak us?”

“Yes, where do you want us?” The brunette asked.

“Erza, can you still hold your rifle up?”

The red head nodded and tried to stand up, only stumble and fall, knees buckling. Dawn helped her up and turned to Lucy. “I can brace her shots.”

“Alright, we need to get into the trees. No one would suspect an ambush from up there. May, can you pull off those illusions again?”

A few moments later, a squad of troopers marched through the clearing. Behind them, Angel shoved her way to the front with a scowl. “I thought I saw one of those Fairies run through here.”

“Ma’am, what do we do?” One of the lead troopers asked.

Before she could answer, she heard a rustling. “Alright, we got you cornered you Fairy Rats! Get out here!” She ordered her squad forward. Unbeknownst to her, her prey was hiding in the trees. May’s eyes glowed a dark green, making branches spring out of the ground. Another branch, Erza hefted up Akuo on Dawn’s shoulder, bracing her back against the bark. She trained her sights on Angel before adjusting her aim to the one to her right.

Lucy waited next to Anabel, her whip hovering above her. The empath had folded her chakrams into scimitars and held them in a reverse grip. The lead trooper stepped carefully through the brush before they heard a snap.

“What was that?” Angel asked as the group stilled. That momentary hesitation was enough for Lucy to signal Erza, who took a deep breath and pulled the trigger, the recoil bumping the gun stock into Dawn’s shoulder. The shot drilled into the target’s head making the others snap around to find their comrade disintegrating. Before they could do anything, Anabel dropped down bisected the target under her. At the same time, May launched two vines into two troopers on one side of Angel, while Lucy snapped her whip onto another two. They all landed in front of Angel who looked momentarily surprised but regained her composure. “DON’T JUST STAND THERE! KILL THEM!”

The troopers snapped to attention and raised their weapons. The girls were quick to leap back and rush the other way. Anabel cartwheeled in front of the shots and used her spinning chakra to deflect her the bullets back. She then quickly traced her hands creating two purple shields before turning and dashing into the woods.

Angel growled. “Damn them...Hm?” She paused and noticed that her two blobs were somewhere off to the left. “Oh...you know where that blonde is? Lead the way.”

Lucy had gotten separated from the others and was approaching the river. She slowed to a halt to catch her breath. “Lost her, but the others are gone...I hope they’re okay.” A rustling made her go on alert. She snapped Mutrasboshi tight. “Alright get out here!”

The rustling grew louder and to her surprise Grey appeared. “Lucy! Thank goodness you’re okay!”

However, Lucy frowned as the ice mage approached her. “What’s the matter Lucy? Aren’t you glad to see me?”

The blonde stared at the ice mage as she recalled something that Drew told everyone.

_ Flashback two hours ago _

_As they raced out of the manor, Ash turned to Drew. “So why did you ask May and Dawn to stay behind. I know Jura and Ichiya could handle themselves.”_

_“Yes, they can...if one of them wasn’t a fake,” Drew revealed making everyone pause and turn towards him_

_“Wait, our master was defeated?” Ren asked._

_“More like he was ambushed and someone took his place,” said Drew, “And I don’t think it will be the last one either. So, to all of the Fairy Tail members, if we get separated and meet up, ask for your belts.”_

_“But what about Dawn and May?” Max asked._

_Before he could answer, Drew pulled out a radio and turned it on. “Dawn, May, are you there?”_

“Go for Dawn!” _The girl’s voice came in._

_“How are Ichiya and Jura?”_

“They’re fine but I think our plans our compromised.”

 _Dawn’s voice was suddenly swapped for a more mature voice._ “They won’t be for long.”

_Drew grinned. “You must be the Oracion Seis Mage, Angel. Gotta say, I bet you’d sound nice without that stick in your butt._

_"We know about your powers already. The question is, do you think it will be enough?”_ Drew taunted.

"We have an army, entire guilds at our disposal! Your little Christina is nothing but a gnat!'

_"Well gnats still carry disease lady,” Drew said surprising the non Fairy Tail mages at his boldness._

_"What kind of mage are you? You should be cowering in fear from our name alone!" She snapped._

_"Let's just say we have the right to be confident,” He replied grinning at his friends._

_"You will die! And I will make sure your the first one!"_

_"Yippie Ki yay, Bitch!" Drew said ending the call._

End Flashback

“Nothing, Grey, I just want to make sure your belt’s okay,” Lucy asked.

“My what?” asked Grey, confused, only to bound together in Mutsuraboshi.

“Wrong Answer! Who are you?” she demanded. In response, Grey glowed and shrank into two blue blobs.

“These are Gemini,” Angel’s snide voice cut through the foliage. The white haired mage scowled. “How in the world did you know about his copying ability?”

“Having great sensors can do that,” Lucy shrugged, “That’s how we figured out you were a Celestial Spirit mage.”

Angel chuckled. “How nice. Well then, I suppose I should let you know something. These,” she held up her keys. Most of them were gold, indicating that they were Zodiac spirits. “Belonged to one other mage. I killed her to take them away.”

“Wait...would that mage’s name be Karen?” Lucy asked dreading the answer.

“So you know her name. I knew she had four Zodiac keys but I only got three. No matter, those keys of yours will make a great souvenir. Especially with this,” She held up a green and black Gaea memory and clicked it.

**ANGEL**

On her neck, a Living Connector appeared. She giggled as she jammed it into the connector, a golden light shining from her body as it warped and changed.

Locks of pure silver drifted through the air, vanishing into a green and gold helmet that covered her eyes. Her skin, embossed with gold piping, seemed to be made from glossy porcelain, and her limbs all ended with glowing green orbs for wrists and ankles. Her hands and feet, by contrast, were oddly blocky, formed from more gold with red circuits lining them.

 **“Like it?”** The dopant purred, hugging herself tightly and writhing sensually, **“I’ve always… _always_ dreamed to be angel and fly free. And now, as Tenshi Bliss, I will purge the impure from this world.” **To Lucy’s shock, she summoned a white serrated whip. She brought it back and flung it forward. The blonde leaped to the side, as the whip split the ground. She wasn’t so lucky on the landing as she fell to her knees, something Tenshi took advantage of and snapped her weapon forward again. A glow appeared behind Lucy and out of celestial realm came her faithful maid spirit

“Virgo!” the blonde exclaimed.

“Hime! We sensed some of our fellow Zodiac spirits and felt you needed our help. Hurry use my key and transform!” Virgo told her.

“Right!” Her master agreed climbing to one knee and pulling out her keychain. Finding Virgo’s, she thrust it to the side as she summoned her belt.

“HENSHIN!” She lodged the maid’s key into her belt, flipping it to her sign as Virgo broke into particles and merged with Lucy.

**SUMMON: MAIDEN**

Now in her armored black and white armored form, she sprang to her feet ready to fight.

**“I heard rumor that Fairy Tail had found a way to destroy our Gaea Memories. But you lack the power to destroy me.**

“If you think you can defeat all of us, you’re out of your damn mind!” Pleiades shouted ready to fight.

With Ash, Grey and Lyon

As speculated by Hibiki, the affiliated guilds tried to take advantage of the allies’ separation and tried to pick them off. The Naked Mummy guild saw the approaching mages from the trees and leaped down hoping to catch them off guard. Unfortunately, Ash was much quicker.

 **“BUBBLEBEAM!”** Ash shouted firing off a stream of bubbles, which struck the Naked mummy members and burst, blinding them and allowing Grey and Lyon to sweep in behind him and use their ice magic to knock them onto the ground unconscious save for two.

The lead one’s body shook. “You’re...You’re just like that wanderer that kicked our ass in Acalypa Town!”

“You faced Friedrich? No wonder you’re scared of us,” Ash grinned. “Pikachu Thunderbolt!”

“PikaCHUUUUUU!!” The yellow rodent leaped up and fired a large bolt of lightning zapping them both into unconsciousness.”

“Nice job buddy,” Ash said rubbing the yellow mouse’s fur.

“That mouse packs quite a punch, you say there’s more like him?” Grey asked.

“Yep, and this isn’t even his final form.”

“Wait what?” Grey asked.

“Many pokemon, Pikachu included, evolve into much different forms through different methods. Most through life experience, some using manual methods. Pikachu uses a special stone to do that and well, he doesn’t want to,” Ash explained. “It’s why our belts say ‘Evolve.’”

“Well we’re not getting answers from them,” Lyon mumbled. “You could have kept a few conscious.”

“Pika,” the electric mouse rubbed its head in embarrassment.

“To think we lost to you two,” Lyon mumbled.

“More Grey than me,” Ash pointed out. “By the way, how did you end up with...Lamia Scale?”

Lyon hummed. “I guess your guild master isn’t the only one willing to dole out second chances. To be fair, _we_ didn’t try to kill anyone. However, Jura found us in a local town one day and introduced us to the guildmaster, Ooba Babasaama. I told her we wanted to find a guild that help us get strong. I hope we chose well.”

Before Ash could comment, Pikachu’s ears perked up. “What’s up buddy?”

Pikachu’s ear twitched. “Pika…” the mouse’s cheeks sparked causing Ash to tense.

“What’s going on?” Grey asked.

“Shhh…” Ash shushed him as he listened to the surrounding area. A faint rumbling was heard that was quickly getting louder. The two ice mages also heard the rumbling before Ash pushed them out of the way. A large motorcycle sped past with several smaller bikes behind him.

 **“Hehehe,”** The lead biker guffawed, his mechanical voice grating on everyone’s voices. He appeared to be a giant yellow robot on a large motorcycle. His shoulders had 6 pistons pumping extremely rapidly. His chest was a chrome yellow grill that contained a blazing fire in it. His motorcycle was a golden Honda style bike.

“So you're one of the Oracion Seis,” Ash deduced. “Based on the form you got, your the one called Racer.”

**“That’s right! Racer’s the name, Speed’s my game. Although you can call me, Nitro Burner!**

Ash rolled his eyes. “You could’ve picked a better name than that. More importantly, PIKACHU!”

“Pika!” The mouse cheered glowing before shrinking down into a card.

“Grey you ready?”

“Heh let’s go!” Grey announced slipping on his rings before activating his belt.

“HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

**TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

Nitro grinned as the two Riders transformed. **“Ha! You think your pesky little armors can beat me? Tell you what! Let’s have a race here with my Death Grand Prix!”** As he said this, two bikes materialized in front of the Riders. **“Good luck Getting past my boys!”** He revved up his bike and took off, his croonies trailing right after him.

Aura looked at the bikes and hopped on the closest one. “Lupus, get on, you too Lyon!”

The two ice mages nodded. “I’ll drive you shoot!” Lyon told the Rider getting on the bike, Lupus holding onto his shoulder. After a bit of struggling on Lyon’s part to start the bike, they quickly reved up and speed after the racing Dopant.

Further into the woods.

Brock crushed a trooper’s skull with a large stone. “You know, Ichiya hyped this group up like they were some unstoppable juggernauts. But aside from Angel, we haven’t really seen a threat.” He casually ducked under a swipe from a trooper before decapitating it.

“Or we could have just gotten so good that these small fry are not even worth the effort,” Tori suggested with emphasis, kicking a troopers chest and breaking its armor. “That should be the last of this group, we should let Drew know.”

Brock got on the radio. “Brock here, our group’s done. What’s everyone’s status?”

 _“We might know where Wendy is. We have no idea who’s with who though,”_ said Drew.

“I got Tori and Max.”

_“...Good, glad to hear you’re alright. More worried about where Lucy’s group is. Chances are they got ambushed too.”_

“What about Friedrich?” Max asked.

_“Fried can handle himself. We need to link up somehow. Gods these woods make it hard to track everyone. If we flare, we just give ourselves away.”_

“And that’s why we have Pokemon. Brock release your Crobat and use its sonar to find them,” Gabby suggested. “Meanwhile I’m gonna need a bird eye’s view, so Max fly up as well.”

Max followed Crobat up and the bat pinged the surrounding area. With the elevated height, Max cast his aura out. To his surprise he felt several fights going on. “I think Lucy is fighting one of the Oracion Seis who has a Gaea memory. So is Ash and Grey!” He called back. Crobat tapped his shoulder and pointed to his left. “And I think Crobat found Drew.”

 _“Link up with us, we’ll decide where to go after that!”_ Drew ordered.

“Alright, come on!” Gabby said leading them into the woods. Max made to follow but noticed another flare up of energy.

“Max, what’s up?” Tori asked.

“Another big spike over where we split up. Gonna go see what that is!” he exclaimed, flying off into the sky.

“One of these days, Max is gonna get in trouble, running off like that. Fortunately, I don’t think a lot of our opponents have flying abilities. I think he’ll be fine,” Gabby sighed. “Let’s go.” The three took off to the West, looking for the rest of their friends.

Meanwhile

Great Buddha’s abnormally long, multi-jointed arms cranked up. **“You truly believe that you can defeat me as you are? Pay for your insolence!”**

“Do you take cash or credit?” snarked Friedrich in return, cracking his knuckles. **“Iron Dragon’s Scales!”** A wave of black metal passed over his hands and face, softening the blow. “You call that a hit? C’mon, I’ve been hit harder by nerf guns.”

 **“Grrr... MUD SHOWER!”** With surprising speed, the Dopant’s broad hands speared deep into the ground, which rippled and melted into mud, before heaving it upwards with a grunt. The earth burst upward, spraying globs of mud everywhere and raining down on the man.

 **“Command V!”** With that shout, Friedrich shot across the muddy ground, fists rocketing out. **“Iron Dragon’s Blasting Fist!”**

One of those long arms coiled and lashed out, an elbow intercepting his punch with a *BANG!* On impact, the area of stony flesh let out a flash and burst, taking out a chunk of the limb.

**“DAMN YOU! How are you doing this?”**

“Heh, well for starters, you’re not so tough at the moment.”

 **“It’s because I didn’t see your true power. Perhaps I’m not taking this seriously.”** As he said this, Buddha leaped into the air and lashed out with his main arms at extreme speeds at Friedrich.

The traveller threw his own fists right back at him, matching blow for blow, loud booms echoing through the woods as metal scales struck stone and exploded. The Dopant scowled as his opponent refused to give ground. **“Such insolence, how dare you match your superior like this!”**

Friedrich’s eyes flashed dangerously. “How dare I?” He threw a particularly vicious punch into the monster’s abdomen, a crack and *BANG* sending him skidding backwards. “How dare I fight _you?_ A dark-guildie who’s trying to use terror-tactics by taking control of an ancient superweapon?”

 **“This world needs to be purged of the light! And as we will the answer to the Dark’s prayers!”** The ground underneath Friedrich rippled and suddenly one of Buddha’s fists rose out of the mud and struck Friedrich in the face. The impact sent him flipping backwards, staggering as he landed on his feet, gritting his teeth.

“F-fuck…gonna be sore in the morning,” he mumbled, rubbing his jaw and trying to shake the ringing out of his ears, **“Command V! Mach Punch!”** He quickly closed the distance and launched an uppercut of his own into the dopants jaw. The dopant growled and fired off his remaining fists at the traveller, hoping to catch him off guard. Kicking off with a shockwave from the heel, Friedrich shot backwards, twisting in midair to let each massive arm graze past him, landing heavily. However, he quickly dismissed the Iron Scales spell he’d been using to coat himself as his feet sank slightly into the suddenly mucky ground. _Damn it. It’s not just brawn I gotta watch out for; this guy knows how to use his Memory power and his magic together._ His weapon flashed into his hand, taking the form of a CZ 75 pistol, though it lacked a clip. Simultaneously, he plunged his other hand into his coat and pulled out an orange Gaea Memory.

He slammed the Memory into his gun, causing lines to light up all over it with a bright orange. **EMBER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!** Flames coalesced in front of the barrel. “How about some firepower instead!” He pulled the trigger, and with a *boom* the fireball blasted forward, streaking through the air with searing heat, rapidly expanding, until finally it smashed into the surprised Dopant, knocking it back with a cry of pain, a great part of its stony skin glowing and melted.

**“What the hell was that?”**

“I might not be a gunslinger like Drew, but sometimes using a gun is more fun. Now for the follow up. **Blasting Dragon’s ROAR!”** Friedrich took a deep breath and shouted out, unleashing a large wave of explosive energy. The concussive blow knocked the giant Dopant back even further, smacking him against a large tree, the ground scorched and the air sizzling from the force.

“I hope that put him down...knowing my luck it didn’t,” Friedrich grumbled.

 **“Grrr…Dragon slaying magic? I was only aware of three Dragon Slayers opposing us,”** said the Buddha, slowly standing up, his body smoking and sparking.

Friedrich only shrugged. “Well, you know what they say. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But this is no imitation. This is all me!” He raised his gun and fired, sending another flaming bullet smacking off of the monster’s face leaving a scorch mark. Undeterred, he let his weapon dissolve for a moment, shifting his hands, before it reformed, transforming into the same sleek, metallic-feathered rifle that he’d used against the Albatross. “How ‘bout this? **Piercing Ember Shot!”**

A loud *BANG* echoed through the woods as the shot struck the Dopant in the chest, cracking his stony flesh and boring through it with searing heat. **“GAH! What the hell are you hitting me with?”**

“That’s a rather pointless question, isn’t it?” scoffed Friedrich. “I’d be more concerned that I’m gonna destroy your Memory.”

**“BRING IT YOU SON OF A BITCH!”**

There was a click from the gun. “Switching to Spread shot.”

 **“KALI CRUSHER!”** The dopant roared, rearing back. All six of his fists glowed and rocketed towards Friedrich.

** “Blazing Dragon’s Blast Shelling!” **

He pulled the bolt back and fired, a wide fan of flame bursting forth from the narrow muzzle and knocking the arms back, sending them flying backwards and leaving the dopant wide open as he stumbled.

 **“Blasting Dragon’s ROAR!”** Dropping the gun and raising his hands, Friedrich took a deep breath and let out a white hot explosion. The Dopant screamed as the concussive force consumed him, the shockwave knocking him a considerable distance away.

Friedrich panted. “Damn, that opening fight took more out of me than I thought.” Glancing at the flames, he tched. “Damn, can’t exactly get the Memory like this.” Reforming his pistol, he ejected the Ember Memory and pulled out Frost. “Let’s try this out…”

Before he could do so, the ground bubbled and another huge fist burst out from underneath him. Crying out in surprise, he crossed his arms, unable to do anything else as he was smashed up into the air.

**“You forget that I am an Assassin! Being able to kill in any situation comes with the territory!”**

Friedrich cursed and gathered his magic, dashing backwards in midair. He gritted his teeth as, even besides the throbbing in his arms, there was a gnawing, tugging feeling in his stomach, but he pushed it down and ignored it. He sent his magic into his legs and blasted away from the dopant, twisting to bound off of the trees. _Can’t trust the ground,_ he thought, remembering how he’d liquified it earlier.

 **“You’re mine now!”** Buddha declared. As Friedrich turned to try and retaliate, like sharks from the sea of trees, two fists emerged from the foliage and struck him, one across his cheek the other hitting his right shoulder

They quickly retreated and joined the others in the branches ready to strike back.

 _Damn it, they got me surrounded._ Friedrich groaned, trying to keep track of them.

Suddenly, the Dopant himself shot out of nowhere, a large hand lashing out to grab him. **“Surprise!”**

“SHIT!” yelped the man, leaping away again, this time upwards. He swung himself around a branch, kicking savagely at his opponent. **“Iron Dragon’s Cleaving Swing!”** he yelled, his foot morphing into a heavy blade. It collided with a crunch of stone on metal, knocking Great Buddha back a step. Then, gathering himself, he sprang off the branch, diving for the Dopant. **“Blasting Dragon’s-!”**

It hit him like a punch to the gut, time slowing to a crawl as he fell through the air. Instead of the power he’d long since grown used to wielding for his magic, there came a sudden, sickening sense of absence. “What…?” he gasped, his body moving sluggishly as he tried to make sense of what was missing.

 **“Finally ran out of magic, did you?”** Buddha laughed as one of his floating arms snagged him. **“Time to go for a ride!”** He winded up his arm and through him straight into the trees. Friedrich cried out as he broke through the trunks and crashed into a particularly strong Oak tree, the impact causing him to lose his breath.

“Son of a…bitch…!” he gasped, seeing spots. Buddha was on him a moment later, seizing him by his coat and whipping him back into the air.

 **“Not so cocky now!”** Buddha laughed as his fists fired back at Friedrich. The traveler couldn’t respond, coughing up blood and saliva as each stony punch smashed into his body, making him flop about like a ragdoll and keeping him helplessly up in the air. **“If this is all the great Alliance can do, then your friends will perish...but no one will find your body!”**

Finally, the Dopant grew bored enough to let the man slam to the ground. Friedrich lay there, gasping, trying to regain some sort of control of his limbs. He rolled over and weakly tried to push himself up, gritting his teeth with anger and humiliation. “You want my best…?” he growled, “I ain’t done yet…!”

However, even as he struggled to his knees, he stumbled and fell again, his eyes widening as the ground liquified, pulling him down like quicksand. **“Yes, you are,”** sneered Great Buddha, **“You will die here, alone, and no one your body. Fairy Tail won’t care. They’ll probably forget about you.”**

Friedrich’s mismatched eyes widened, the green halves flashing, but even as he tried to keep himself afloat, he sank down further and further into the ground. As his vision darkened, a sense of...helplessness began to creep into him. The darkness of being underground began to scare him, making his recent feelings of loneliness rise to the surface.

_‘Damn it...Is he right? I know they have more important things to worry about. But they could have asked me if I was alright. They could’ve listened… Drew at least tries...Fairy Tail wouldn’t abandon me. No, that’s just a bad fanfiction cliche. I can’t let this bastard kill me. I gotta do…something!_

He tried to move, to dig his away out of the liquified earth…only to find that it had solidified. The magic keeping the ground fluid had been removed, effectively burying him alive. _Shit...come on, what do I have that isn’t magic that can get me out of this?! Parasite? C’mon, gimme something! Janus? You done fixing yourself? Fuck…fuck!’_ He groaned internally as he flashed into his mindscape. Mainly to keep himself from losing his mind. As he tried to look for anything to help, he heard a cracking and grinding. Looking around, his eyes widened. “What is this…? How is it that there’s water here?” A huge furrow was carving its way through the flat, crystalline landscape, easily as deep as his waist and just as wide, and rushing water followed closely behind it. It stretched into infinity, yet it seem to begin right in front of him. He kneeled down and placed his hand in it. “Is this…another new power? Where do these keep coming from?” Even as he asked rhetorically, he gasped as his arm seemed to dissipate under the water. “This is…!”

However, even as he leaned over the river, he caught a brief glimpse of his reflection. It was distorted by the rushing water, but he was struck by just how brightly his eyes were glowing with green light…

Above ground, Buddha’s body glowed and shrank, returning to his human body and pocketing the Memory. “And thus man born of dirt shall be returned to his resting place.” He turned away ready to meet up with his guildmates when he paused. “Hm…” He turned back to where he had buried Friedrich. “Perhaps I should have finished him off.” Before he could form a spell, the ground began to shift underneath him. “What the…? The assassin leaped into the air to avoid a group of tendrils blasting out of the ground, rocks and roots following in its wake. “Is this…? How is he still alive?!”

A shadow fell over him, making him look around. His eyes widened as a massive wave of earth rocketed up, towering over him. “You’re a tough bastard, I’ll admit!” Hoteye scowled and pulled out his Memory. However, before he could press the button, another, smaller tendril suddenly lashed out and snagged it, ripping it from his hand. “What?!”

Hoteye quickly began gathering his magic, but-

 **“FOCUS PUNCH!”** Out of nowhere, Max flew in, his fist glowing brightly. Before the assassin could react, the fist smashed into his jaw, the impact causing a shockwave and shaking the ground. The force of the blow sent him in spiraling into the trees, breaking a few branches before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

As Max landed, the wave of earth slumped to the ground as well, before a humanoid shape melted out of it. Then the dirt sloughed away, revealing Friedrich. He stumbled forward, fell to his knees, panting, his eyes trying to focus as he recovered his sight. Then, with a groan, he curled up and vomited a torrent of mud.

“Are you alright?” Max asked. “That looked painful.”

“I’m out of magic, just discovered a new power, and merged with the dirt. How do you fuckin’ _think_ I feel?” Friedrich snarled, his fingers digging into the ground.

“This fight’s been going a while, I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t the only one. Though to be honest, you were using a lot of big power spells.” Max pointed.

Friedrich glared at the boy, who wisely shut up. “Where do we go now?”

Max closed his eyes. “I want to try to find Drew’s group. If you want another fight, they’ll be trying to find Wendy.”

“Right,” Friedrich agreed and followed the Wind Mage.

Cave Where Oracion Seis was based

Drew stood outside the cave, behind a large tree. “Natsu, you sure she’s in that cave?”

“Nose never lies Drew. She’s in there, no doubt,” Natsu grinned.

“We’re dealing with the guild master here, he’s bound to be powerful,” Ren noted. Before he could continue Gabby shushed them. Hiding in the bushes, they watched as a grey haired elderly tan man and Cobra walked out of the cave.

“Jellal is almost healed up, but these alliance members are being more of a nuisance than we anticipated,” Brain said.

“Perhaps Cubellos and I could go find them; these Memories should give us an edge.”

Before Brain could speak, his arm glowed. “It appears that one of your brothers has fallen. Go find Midnight! Now!”

Cobra nodded and took off on the dragon. Drew watched him go into the cave and grinned. “Thatta boy, Fried.”

“How do you know it was him?” Ren asked.

“Trust me, he wouldn’t mess up a fight like that. Right now, our job is to find Wendy and meet up,” He ordered moving closer to the entrance.

As Gabby landed, she frowned. “Wait,” she called out.

“What?” Ren asked annoyed.

“Natsu, don’t you feel that?” Gabby asked.

The dragon slayer frowned and knelt down putting his hand to the ground. “Yeah what’s going on?”

“Sounds like...fighting…?” Gabby asked.

A low rumble shook the ground. Then another louder rumble occured. Sounds of an explosion echoed through the cave. Before they could react, Brain was blasted out of the cave.

“What the heck!?” Drew asked, taking Leonid out. Watching the entrance to the cave, he noticed another shadow approaching.

“Tch,” Brain spat as he struggled to stand up. “If I knew you were this strong, I would have woken you up earlier, Jellal.”

“Wait, what!?” Natsu screamed.

“Who the heck is Jellal?” Gabby was already summoning her bow even as she asked.

“Remember that trip to Akane Loke gave us,” Drew asked. “Well long story short, Erza got kidnapped by this guy Jellal trying to summon this demon Zeref. We assumed he was killed when we destroyed his base, but apparently not.”

As he finished, the former warden of the Tower of Heaven landed in front of the cave entrance. Natsu pounded his fists. “I get another shot at him for making Erza cry!”

“Wait...something’s not right.” Drew said making him pause. “His eyes, they’re cloudy. It’s like he’s not fully there.”

Jellal growled and fired another spell at Brain. The Guild master growled. “Jellal, don’t you remember your teacher?”

The blue haired man hissed before racing off into the trees.

“Where the heck is he going?” Natsu groaned.

“Heh,” Brain chuckled. “He probably knows where Nirvana is. Cobra, track him down! As for you four…” He summoned a large disk of dark color, letting it grow in size.

“Get behind me!” Drew ordered slamming his sheathe down and popping open his shield. Brain was about to fire when his instincts kicked in and he leaped out of the way, just as an iron streak flashed past him with a crack.

“Once again I’m saving your ass, Drew,” Friedrich grunted, shuffling out of the trees. However, his quip was lacking its usual levity.

“Yeah well I hope your opponent didn’t give you a headache,” Drew shot back.

“He ran out of magic, so evidently he might have,” Max said landing next to him. only to be dropped by a karate chop to his head.

Brain tched. “I’ve got no time for this!” He growled out taking on a magical flyer.

Carla seeing that he was gone flew over into the cave and found Wendy, the two embracing in a tearful hug.

“We gotta go after them!” Natsu demanded.

“No, think about it, we need to take care of Nirvana who knows what Jellal is gonna do,” Ren demanded.

“We’ll beat him up like last time.”

“And then what?” Drew asked. “We just beat him again even with his memories gone so who knows what that’ll do.”

“Why would you consider beating a guy’s whose memories are messed up?” Friedrich asked.

“You don’t know what he did!” Natsu asked. “He nearly killed us.”

“And? If he doesn’t remember that, then you’re just attacking a guy who happens to look like him.”

“But he’s the same guy!”

The man shrugged. “Not from his perspective.”

“You wouldn’t understand Friedrich, you just showed up!” Natsu snapped. “He nearly killed us and Erza!”

 _“I_ wouldn’t understand?” Those green and blue eyes shot around to fix the pink-haired boy with a look so sharp that even he paused. “Sure. Maybe I don’t. Maybe I just understand his position better than yours.” He stepped forward, lip curling in a snarl. “Maybe I have experience with being wrongly persecuted for something I have no memory of ever doing. Who knows? It’s a matter of perspective. Just like you couldn’t possibly _understand_ what losing your memories can do to you!”

Before Natsu could respond, Drew held his shoulder. “Enough, both of you,” He said calmer than what the situation called for. “We’re not killing him, end of story. But unfortunately he’s still a criminal in the eyes of the Rune Knights. I propose we try to help him recover his memories. But right now we’re too scattered. Natsu, Gabby,” He turned to the Earth mages. “Track that Dragon Slayer. Wendy!” He called out to the younger girl. “We need a way to know where Erza is.”

“I got an idea,” Ren said pulling out his Lacrima. “Hibiki are you there?”

_“Loud and Clear!”_

“Can you tell us where Erza is?”

_“Got it, sending you the coordinates!”_

“Good, Ren take Wendy and Carla there,” Drew ordered. “Max back them up.”

“And me?” Friedrich asked crossing his arms.

“If you’ve got energy to spare, let’s take down that Guild Master. Maybe we can prevent Nirvana from waking up,” Drew said. With the plan in place, they split up, Friedricha and Drew picking up the pace to catch up with Jellal and Brain.

The amnesiac mage raced through the woods, seemingly guided by instinct. After a few moments, he came up on the Eisenwald guild recovering from their beat down.

“Huh?” Erigor grumbled. Before he could say anything, Jellal tore through Eisenwald’s ranks. He stopped his movement and in a flash, he had swapped his clothes with the guild master. Satisfied, he continued his chase into woods, with Brain in pursuit.

Not far behind them, Drew and Friedrich were racing to catch up. They saw the Eisenwald guild members laid out unconscious.

“Whoa, talk about curbstomp.” Friedrich said impressed.

“Jellal was extremely powerful when we face him,” Drew said as they kept running. “I was nearly about to call Tsuki to destroy it.”

“What changed?”

Drew smiled. “Erza got her gear, took him down and nearly saw her kill herself to bring down the tower. Not something we want to do again.” He then thought of something. “Friedrich, what would happen to a tribe normally if they wanted to seal something away?”

“Depending on the method, perhaps destroying themselves to seal it away or even making sure their lifeforce is the key to the seal why?”

“Isn’t it strange that Cait Shelter sent one person when its potentially one of the stronger light guilds there is?” Drew asked.

“...Yeah that is strange. I honestly think who we sent was overkill but with everything that’s happened, Cait Shelter could have pulled more weight. Not discounting Wendy at all.”

“Maybe...there’s more to that group than meets the eye,” Drew mused.

Ahead of them, Jellal reached a much darker part of the forest before stopping in front of a particular tree. Unlike the rest, this tree was at least twice as wide and about five times as tall as the surrounding trees. with multiple chains and runes surrounding it.

“This is...where it is,” Jellel said breathlessly. “I may not know who I am, but something tells me...I need to do this.” He placed his hands on it, causing it to the glow. The beam of light shot out into the sky. Everyone fighting had seen the light show. The Allied forces became concerned and Gabby radioed in. “What the heck is that?”

Drew saw the light show and responded. “Damn it! Nirvana’s waking up! Hibiki! I know there’s more to this your not telling us!”

A few moments passed before Dawn came on again. _“The Lacrima are down due to interference of Nirvana. According to Hibiki, it only works if your wavering between Light and Dark. It essentially causes you to flip alignments! I think they want to turn us against each other!_

“And why weren’t we told before? Warn everyone you can!” Drew ordered impatiently. Static greeted up and tched. “Damn it.” They reached where the light source was and saw Jellal standing in front of Nirvana.

The blue haired mage turned to regard the newcomers. “My memory...I keep seeing these flashes. These voices telling me what this is. But there is one name that keeps coming up. Erza. Who is this person? Who is she to me?”

Drew stared at the man who was once his opponent debating what to do. “Erza...was a very good friend of yours. Some very bad men decided to kidnap you both and brainwash you into turning into some sort of cult leader. You had kidnapped her for a ritual and I was part of the team to rescue her. You two fought each other and she won, destroying the place that kept you prisoner. We assumed you were dead. Though you were brainwashed, some of the things you did were wrong and possibly treasonous. If you surrender, I can try to get you a more lenient sentence.”

The blue haired mage shook his head. “No, I don’t deserve the mercy.” He cast a set of runes on Nirvana itself. The pillar was encased in a dark purple sphere. “This is my penance. **The Sphere of Self Destruction.”** Then to their shock a similar rune scheme appeared on his chest.

“Whoa okay, no, we’re not gonna let you blow yourself up!” Friedrich protested, holding up his hands.

“Jellal, I know you want to make amends. But blowing yourself up isn’t the answer. We can work something out.”

The former Saint smiled. “I appreciate it, but this is my duty. Please, tell Erza I’m sorry!”

“How very touching,” Brain mocked, approaching the mage. “You truly believe you’ll succeed with this?” He approached the mage and held up his hand. “You forget that I taught you the spell. I also know how to deactivate it.” He waved his hands in an intricate pattern and to Jellal’s surprise, the magic disappeared. “Your foolish gambit failed,” He said reaching up and backhanding the mage towards the two Allied members.

Drew pulled out Leonid and got in front of Jellal after checking him. “You’re not gonna get away with this!”

“Oh but I am! Once Nirvana is fully operational, none of the Legal guilds will stand a chance. Brother fighting brother, guild fighting guild! This...is the madness my new Goddess desires!”

Drew scowled. “Yuzan! I should have known she would want something like this!”

“Okay, so,” drawled Friedrich, staring at the glowing pillar of Nirvana’s core, “Real solid plan you got there, A+ for creativity. But you really shouldn’t have told us all this when we’re staring right at the power source.”

“Well that makes our plans a lot easier,” Drew grinned. “I got Brain, can you take care of Nirvana?”

Brain scowled. “You won’t be doing anything to stop Nirvana!” He pulled out a Gaea memory and pressed the button on it.

**THORN!**

“Oooh Even better! I got a type match” Drew grinned pulling out his phone and pressing the Leo Button.

**STANDBY: LEO**

“HENSHIN!” He yelled going into his stance and slamming the phone into his belt.

As the armor formed, the guild master grinned and jammed it into his neck. “Yuzan warned us about you Kamen Riders.” As the memory’s energy flooded into him, vines began to swarm around them, increasing his height. When the vines receded, the Dopant revealed was at least two feet taller than Drew and Friedrich, covered in bark as dark as night, blood red thorns scattered across its body. The interior of the dopant, just barely visible through long slits and holes in said bark, appeared hollow, with a dark energy emanating from the chest area. A dark, yellow scaled emblem was etched into his back, presumably the Guild logo.

**“And as Twilight Thorn, I will crush you all!”**

As the two stared each other down, Friedrich just kept his gaze locked on the core. “Hey, send some fire this way. I need a recharge.”

“How much?” Zodiac asked.

“Don’t care. Just fire.”

Zodiac casually summoned a fireball and tossed it over. “You should have paced yourself, bro.”

“Didn’t feel like it,” he retorted, biting into the flames like they were solid and swallowing it down, “It’d take someone special to make me fight in a way I don’t want to.”

“Well however you do it, I wanted this thing gone this morning!”

 **“LIke I’ll let you!”** Thorn roared. His arm formed into mini daggers and he fired the finger like protrusions at Friedrich, only for a wall of flames to cut him off.

“Uh uh, your fight’s with me, oak boy!”

 **“Grrr...I’ll destroy you as a reminder what we can do!!”** He snarled whipping his arm back at Zodiac who just blocked the blow with Leonid.

As the two began their battle, Friedrich stepped towards the glowing white pillar. “So, if this thing turns on, people get their alignment swapped. Well, it’s definitely creative, I’ll give you that. A Cape with that kinda power back on Earth Bet would’ve gotten Caged for sure.”

“Friedrich just destroy the thing we can worry about this cage later!” Zodiac snapped.

Friedrich just gave him an irritated look over his shoulder. “An ancient piece of magic? No…destroying it would just be a waste.” Reaching out, he placed a hand on the smooth surface of the crystalline core. “I’ve got something that might be of more use.”

 **“Wh-what are you doing?!”** cried Twilight Thorn, noticing his actions, **“Are you insane?!”**

** “FIRE SPIN!” **

A column of fire spread from Zodiac’s hands. “Don’t even think about it. Friedrich do what you gotta do man!” Internally the Rider frowned. _This operation, even if we turned it around at the start, is going way too easy. Which I’m glad for...but I can’t shake that ominous feeling…_

“No,” answered the older man, a bit of heat entering his voice, _“No I’m not.”_ He plunged his hand into the core, the crystal rippling and splintering in a strange, scale-like pattern, which then began flowing into his arm. “Ah, there we go!”

A brilliant light flashed, blinding everyone else jagged circuits of crystal carved themselves into Friedrich’s flesh, traveling up his arm.

**“Do you realize what your friend’s doing? He’s only bringing about his doom!”**

“If Friedrich says he can handle it, I believe him! Besides, if you can’t stop either of us, your little plan is not gonna work.” Zodiac boasted.

 **“Why do you care about someone who just joined your guild?”** Thorn asked surprising Zodiac and made Friedrich grind his teeth. **“Don’t give me that look, do you honestly think we don’t keep tabs on the legal guilds? Why do you think we targeted Jura and that Perfume Mage. Although in hindsight we should have targeted you first.”**

“Then you’re seriously underestimating him,” Zodiac countered.

**“You think a new mage will fit right in? I doubt you all made a good impression the first time and Friedrich’s no different. Once he has that power, he will turn on you.”**

Zodiac glanced at Friedrich, the traveller happening to catch the slow turn towards him.

 _Does he…really think that?_ he wondered, glancing at the core, _Is he really gonna believe that guy, over what I’ve done for the group? Again…?_

As his heart wavered for a moment, and as it did, Nirvana pulsed black. Friedrich’s eyes widened for a moment, and the green in them glowed brightly, visibly expanding to overtake the blue.

_“We have no use for a Tinker who can’t follow the rules!”_

_“What’s the catch? There’s no way you’re doing it for free. No one’s that nice.”_

_“We can’t trust someone who steals powers like that.”_

_“You killed my uncle! I’ll have your ass thrown in the Birdcage, you murderer!”_

_“This’s war,_ Foundation. _You’re either with us, or against us.”_

Zodiac saw the glowing and panicked. “Friedrich! Don’t listen to him!”

But it was too late as the glowing overtook the clearing, causing everyone to cover their eyes as it expanded from the point of the seal. A few moments later the glowing died down. Zodiac recovered first. “Fried! Are you okay!”

Friedrich said nothing, staring at his own hand as he stood in front of the space where the crystal used to be.

 **“HAHAHA! Now you see? Nirvana is the ultimate weapon! Wait…”** Thorn looked up and screamed. **“What did you do!? Nirvana’s Main Core! ITS GONE!”**

**STANDBY LEO: FINISH!**

Thorn heard Zodiac’s belt announce his finisher. He barely turned around before Zodiac sliced through him.

“Talk about being cut down to size.” Zodiac grumbled as the Dopant blew up. He looked at his friend who hadn’t moved. “Friedrich? Are you still there?”

The man turned his head slightly towards him, indicating that he’d heard, but didn’t look at him. “Fried buddy, I know you're awake man! Don’t let that idiot tell you anything stupid!” Again he got no further response and Zodiac sighed. “Look, what the guild does is their own thing, but they shouldn’t be ignoring you like this.” Instead of powering down, he brought Leonid back to Regulus’ sheathe and activated the sword. “Come on, we got our fellow alliance members to bail out. You’re probably gonna whip out something cool that will probably beat them hands down.”

“And then what?” Friedrich asked, his tone slightly catching him off guard. “Your little friends will be ungrateful bastards, especially Fairy Tail.”

“Seems like they need a more serious lecture. Although to be fair to them, they aren’t used to the thing we’re used to seeing,” Zodiac growled. He took notice of his posture. “Okay, you’ve been off all day. What is going on with you?”

Friedrich turned towards him, and Zodiac stiffened. In the man’s eyes were a pair of solid green irises. “Nothing,” he said dully, his gaze seeming to pierce right through the Rider, “I just…feel like myself.”

“...You know…I had a feeling your eyes weren’t naturally two colors,” Zodiac pointed out. Internally, Drew was worried for his friend. _What the heck is this guy? Please tell me he's still in there._

Friedrich began to walk closer before taking notice of the downed Brain, with the intact Thorn Memory off to the side. “Another one for the collection,” he muttered, picking it up and pocketing it. Searching the guildmaster’s body, his eyebrows rose. “Well now, he’s been holding out on us.” He slowly pulled back revealing another Memory. This one was black, with a slowly fading-out W.

“Just...my...freaking...luck,” Zodiac mumbled. “Friedrich, you know what these things can do.”

“You’re right, I do,” he agreed, stone-faced.

“Who the heck are you?” Zodiac snapped. “Friedrich wouldn’t do any of this!”

“That parasite?” The man in front of him shook his head. “No…he is _not_ Friedrich Holmgardt. I am.”

“So... you’re not from Earth Bet at all?”

Friedrich shrugged languidly. “That part was true, at least. But that egotistical manchild only ever figured out part of the truth.” He leaned forward, his gaze intensifying. “He told you, didn’t he, about how I was an assassin before _he_ took over?”

“Yeah, he said that he fell asleep and woke up in his body. Been fighting for ten years straight and now he’s fighting for us,” Zodiac replied.

“Yes. It’s ironic. I was an assassin, yes. How could I not be? In the war for the Silver Moon Kingdom, that was my role then as well.”

Zodiac’s grip lessened at the startling information. “You were there when it fell? But that makes you...over 100,000 years old at least!”

“Hardly,” grunted the man, rubbing idly at his neck, “When the Kingdom fell, I was dragged through an endless abyss. But then, I arrived in that world, Earth Bet. The year 2000, but that doesn’t matter. None of it mattered. Even if the Kingdom was gone, I wasn’t. So I kept going. I put my skills to use more professionally. I’ll admit, it was a simple life. But then…” For the first time, his dead expression twisted into a distasteful snarl, fingers curling. “That interfering parasite dropped himself into my body and erased my memories, all for the sake of power. How hypocritical, looking down on the villains who would do anything for power, when he did exactly the same! And even worse, he would just follow shamelessly after the others, hoping for validation and _friends._ As if such things were anything more than useless distractions…”

“Then you’re delusional. Sure we may have made mistakes but it doesn't mean we don't care for our friend. If he had all of this built up, he should have come to us,” Zodiac said before bringing his blade up. “And I will prove my friendship by bringing him back!”

Friedrich turned his attention to the black Memory in his hand, even as he told the Rider, “I have no use for you. I’ve already copied your power.” He pressed the button.

**WHISPER…**

Unlike the sinister voices that the Dopant Memories usually gave off, this Memory spoke with a deeper, more subdued voice.

“If it comes to this, whoever you are, then I will fight you and get my friend back!” Zodiac declared pulling his phone out to swap to his Viscount form.

**STANDBY UPGRADE: VISCOUNT**

“I don’t care,” he deadpanned, “Of course…the Kamen Riders were Lord Matthew’s biggest enemies.” He pulled back his sleeve and held the Memory to his forearm. _“So the war must go on.”_

He slammed it into his flesh and became consumed in a dark veil. Unlike most other Dopants, however, his body slimmed down, becoming lanky and wiry, covered in pitch-black skin. Long, silvery talons dangled from his hands, and a long, serrated tail waved about behind him. Aside from a few spikes protruding from his shoulders, he was completely featureless besides that. His face was likewise completely blank, except for a pair of glowing white, round eyes.

(Play: “This Cannot Continue from Nier: Automata)

Zodiac tched. “You really had to go that far huh? Whoever you are, your gonna go down like the rest.”

**“I am Nehemoth.”**

“Well then, let’s get it on!” Zodiac said tossing a cylinder at the dopant before leaping away.

Nehemoth caught it and smirked. **“Weak opening…”** he was cut off as the cylinder went off, revealing it to be a flashbang. **“-NNGH-?!”** His vision went white for a few seconds, the world around him blurring and multiplying nauseatingly. Seconds later, however, it cleared, showing Zodiac long gone. **“Clever first move.”**

The Fire Guardian leaped through the trees in an effort to put some distance between him and the man that claimed he was Friedrich.

 _Okay Drew, what do you have on him,_ Zodiac thought. _Not much, though he probably wants to end this quickly. His magic might run out, but he’s got all those abilities._ He landed and hid behind a large rock. Catching his breath, he quickly pulled out a large bandana to cover his mouth, minimizing the chances he was going to be tipped off. _If I was an assassin, I’d try to find the smallest tips to find me._ Hence why he’d taken to the trees. He quickly swapped to Gemini form and summoned his clone, who raced away to throw him off further. _Now, how do I get an edge on him?_

Then he paused. _Huh, never knew it was this quiet here._ In fact, as he frowned and strained his ears, he realized that it was _far_ too quiet. The sounds of his clone had long since faded into the distance, but even more than that, he’d become eerily aware of his own breathing and heart-rate.

_Better call for backup._

He put a finger to his ear, switching on the built-in headset. “Guys, is anyone-?”

However, that was as far as he could get. Though his mouth opened, and words formed, they would not leave his lips. In addition, no sound issued from his comm, not even the slightest bit of static. He checked to see if it was, in fact, turned on. It was.

_What is this…?_

Suddenly, he jerked as he realized that his clone was no longer connected to him. “Wh-?” His question went unvoiced. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his sword in front of him and turned slowly, scanning the trees for any movement.

Was the day always this gloomy and overcast? The trees seemed to lean in towards him, their trunks crowding together.

_Damn it…not only is he smart, but he’s also creeping me out! I can’t even tell what his power is. Is it from the Memory, or did he always have it?_

Conjuring a fireball in one hand, he hurled it up into the air, hoping to signal one of the others-

Only for it to splash harmlessly against the ceiling, the burst of flames illuminating the pipes that filled the cramped hallway.

 _Where is this?!_ His eyes widened as he looked around, _Where’d the forest go?!_ He was standing in a narrow, darkened tunnel, the walls and ceiling covered in criss-crossing pipes.

_*Plip*_

He nearly jumped a foot as a drop of water struck the ground.

 _Okay, now I know he’s emulating Freddy Kruger. Let’s just be rational here, as long as I keep my head cool, I might figure away out of this mess._ Closing his eyes, he let his Aura sense flow out. _Thank christ for learning at least this from Ash._ As he pulsed out his Aura, he saw two shapes. One was his clone looking outside confused, and the other was like a void. The aura went in and seemingly disappeared, like a black hole . _Okay...Okay...clone’s outside, Nehemoth is acting like the minotaur. Unless he knows how to use Aura sensing himself, and based on our training he hasn’t tried, I might be able to keep track of him._

 **“I’ll give you credit for not panicking,”** hissed that dull, flat voice, seemingly emanating from nowhere. **“My parasite’s magpie-like collection has a good amount of useful pieces. I’ll finish you off with one eventually, but for now…the basics.”**

Zodiac slowly walked the sewer-like halls, slowly tapping the ground. _I know he’s got me pegged, but maybe I can throw him off._ Before he could plan, _something_ shot out of the darkness, knocking him back with solid, sharp strikes to his armor, sending him stumbling as his shoulders and thighs suddenly went numb from the impact. Simultaneously, something sharp slid along the thin under-armor along his neck, eliciting a sting and shower of sparks as it pierced a pipe behind him with a high-pitched screech of metal on metal.

**“...That armor is irritating. Very well.”**

Zodiac started to pant. _That...was too close. Ow…_ He grumbled rubbing the impact points. _Not my best moment. However, I doubt he’s happy I survived that._

A small rustling and clicking made him look around. Nothing but pipes obscuring the shadowed walls around him. _He’s in the damn pipes! How many god damn tricks does Friedrich have!_

Before he could react, a long, thin arm with silver talons suddenly lashed out from between the pipes, swiping at his helmet. He quickly leaped out of the way, his back hitting the pipes. “Oh crud, Friedrich you insane bastard why do you have so many tricks!?

**“You know why. _He_ never could resist bragging about it, could he? And you just let it go in one ear and out the other.”**

“You think that? I was paying attention, he’s talked about Bonesaw, his spirit parasite. I saw him use Exploding Dragon Magic. He’s already taught me more in the two weeks I’ve known him then in the last year alone! And I know he can hear me!”

**“So what? You’ve taken his lessons, but barely listened when he tried to tell stories. No questions, no sign of interest. Why bother? You’ve traveled worlds like him, so it’s not even special.”**

“And you’re not?” Zodiac asked, “At least with Fried’s abilities, I can learn from them. I know I’m being greedy, but if it means saving my friends...MY family, I will do whatever it takes.

**“Yes…fight for you and yours, and no one else. No room for strangers. That is the way things are.”**

“He’s not a stranger! I know he would never turn on us willingly.”

For the first time, Zodiac heard a laugh from the other man. It was just as dead and hollow as the rest of his voice. **“Hasn’t he, though?”**

This time, when the Rider opened his mouth, no sound exited his lips.

The rest was silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> NS:
> 
> UO:
> 
> NS:
> 
> UO:
> 
> Preview: The fights between The Alliance and Oracion Seis continue as Zodiac continues his attempts to rescue his friend Friedrich. As the fights turn desperate, an unknown power emerges and turns the tides of the battle...and changes the way the Riders fight forever.
> 
> Chapter 28: The Sound of Silence! Internal Power Awakened!
> 
> OSPREY...SWOO-!


	28. The Sound of Silence! Internal Power Awakened!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Drew struggles to fight Friedrich, the other Riders awaken something beyond their comprehensio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Static*  
> UO: …!  
> Ash: …?  
> Natsu: !!!  
> NS: …
> 
> Nehemoth: Let there be no unnecessary words.

“”  
Text  
 _Thought,  
“”  
_ **Super Mode/Belt/Monster** _  
_ **Attacks**

Chapter 28: The Sound of Silence! Internal Power Awakened

Natsu flew through the air, his faithful companion Happy holding on tightly. “Will Drew and Friedrich be alright?”

“Don’t worry buddy! They can kick loads of butt! Right now we need to find that Snake!”

“Ask and you shall receive, Fairy Boy!” A snide voice rang out. The two mages looked up to see a red haired male riding a long, blue serpent through the air.

“You’re one of those Oracion freaks...Snake man!” Natsu announced.

His opponent faltered on his mount. “My name is Cobra. And for your information, I’m a Dragon Slayer, just like you!”

“What really?” Natsu asked. “Where’s your dragon!?”

“Dragon?” Cobra scoffed. “I didn’t get my magic from an extinct lizard. I was implanted with the Poison Dragon Lacrima. A much better version than learning from a dragon!”

“So you’re like Laxus!” Natsu growled as he reached down for one of his Transform rings. “Next you're gonna tell me you also have one of those dumb Gaea Memories!”

“Very perceptive of you,” Cobra chuckled, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a purple Memory with an L created by a red laser.

**LASER**

Removing his cloak, he revealed a living connector on his chest. Jamming into his chest, his body shined before turning into his Dopant form. **“Let’s go, Dragon Slayer!”**

“Bring it on!” Natsu boasted, slipping his Wind Ring on and activating his belt, flipping the Hand author.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!**

“HENSHIN!”

**“HURRICANE! PLEASE! FUU-FUU! FUU FUU FUU FUU!”**

Now in his winged form, he raced after the snake like dopant. Venom Ray grinned and streaked up into the air as a beam of light, Cubellos streaking behind him **“Too slow, dragon boy!”**

Draco growled and pulled out Urvan. Pumping it, he took aim and fire bolts wind laced energy. Ray laughed as the shots missed. Draco cursed internally. _I know my shotguns have sucky range, but my wind magic should have helped it_.

Ray saw the hestiation and flung his hand out. **“Cadmium Stream!”** He fired a sickly purple laser at Draco. The dragon slayer flew out of the way but the beam struck his shoulder. He hissed as the poison ate into the armor. Then realized he was having a hard time moving his shoulder joint.

**“Like it? My poison in this form can corrode any metallic surface. Here we thought the Riders were a threat. From what I can tell, our agents are holding their own!”**

Natsu powered through the pain. “Good luck! They’re as strong as me and I can crush you anytime!” As he said this internally he frowned. _If he can make my armor useless, I need a new plan. Stripper would have a field day if he thought I was making a plan._ He then noticed Cubellos flying around and flicking its tongue. He grinned to himself. _That will work._ He hoisted up Uravan and pumped it again.

 **“Didn’t you already try this?”** Ray shouted rushing in, his arm glowing purple. Draco didn’t listen and fired anyway, missing the dopant by inches. **“Hah! See~?”**

“Who said I was targeting you?”

 **“What...CUBELLOS!!”** Ray screamed snapping his head around as the shot whizzed past him and struck the flying lizard. The snake screamed in pain as the shot struck home around its head and began to fall to earth. **“You mon--! GACK!”**

The momentary distraction was enough for Draco to close the distance. Grabbing him in a bear hold, he smirked. “Time for a ride! **WIND DRAGONS’S PILEDRIVER!** He flew up and then began to spiral his way down to terrafirma.

*BOOM*

Draco flew out of the crater and landed a ways away. “Time to end this and find the others!” He flipped his belt’s face and activated his finisher, his own armor beginning to corrode as well.

**C’MON AND CRUSH, SHAKE HANDS!**

His armor glowed before he placed his hand on the head of Urvan, causing it to flash green as well.

Ray stood up, his whole body sparking. **“I won’t be…defeated…! Poison Dragon’s ROAR!” **He took a deep breath and unleashed a dark purple corrosive beam. As it raced towards the Rider, Draco lifted off and charged into the stream. Colliding with the Roar, he pushed it aside as his magic formed a barrier in front of him. Residual poison grazed his armor, but he gritted through it as he began to spin vertically.

 **“DRAGON’S TORNADO SMASH!”** He roared as the twirling mage raced through the air. With on last spin the axe bisected the dopant. Landing on the other side of the crater and wincing, he grinned. “Old School beats New School, kid.”

Ray cried as he fell backwards his arm glowing as he released his prayer. **“Lord Brain, Forgive me!”** As his body exploded.

The memory landed intact next to Natsu as he powered down. Picking it up and pocketing it, he walked over to the crater to see Cobra in pain, his snake hissing comfortably. “Cubellos…” He muttered.

Now that the adrenaline died down, Natsu grunted in pain as some of the effects from the poison finally seeped through his armor and began burning his flesh.

“Natsu!” Happy cried, checking him over and cringing in pain as he touched the poison spots.

“I’m fine buddy,” Natsu told him. “Let’s try to find Dawn and Tori.”

“You think...you’ll win,” Cobra asked weakly.

“Yeah I think we can!”

“Then...take Cubellos with you,” said Cobra, holding up his snake. “I’m probably going to jail...she’s innocent in all of this.” The snake flicked her tongue sadly. “It’ll…it’ll be alright, Cubellos. Don’t bite anyone.” The snake nodded and slithered over to Natsu. The dragon slayer watched as the snake wrapped around his shoulders and flicked her tongue on his cheek.

“She’ll be fine, come on Happy,” the Dragon Slayer said as the cat grabbed him and flew away looking for his next fight

Zodiac Vs Nehemoth

Zodiac cut another pipe, causing steam to pour out. He had limped through the piping, hacking away the metal in hope to cause the Dopant to have to come find him.

 _That outta buy me sometime. Be really nice if Friedrich didn’t have so many damn tricks up his sleeve._ As he caught his breath, he pondered something else. _Nehemoth should have killed me by now...those nails were way too accurate to miss. The first time was pure luck. Second time...could it be something else is going on._

The hallway stretched on and on, no matter how far he walked. In fact, he could have sworn that he’d barely moved, somehow. _Am I still even in the forest?_ he wondered, _Did he move us over to another dimension or something? Great...Rod Serling would have a field day._

A clawed hand suddenly lashed out from between the pipes once more and smacked him heavily, bouncing his helmet off the wall with a *CLONG!*

“GAH!” Zodiac gasped, feeling his head ringing from the impact. “And there goes a concussion…”

As he staggered, clutching at his skull, the area around him distorted and shifted. The hallway seemed to be widening, sunlight blinding him. He put out a hand to lean against the wall, only to stumble as he found nothing to support himself.

Where before there had been a pipe maze, a large stadium had now opened up around him.

**“Labyrinth…a useful power for setting up a battle. The environment is everything, and if you can change it, you control the battle.”**

“And now your gonna end me using my love of sports...just...great. Like I’m gonna let you!” Zodiac clenched his hand around his sword handle. Even with him on alert, however, in his concussed state, he only barely saw the glint of silver creeping in from around him, ready to wrap around his throat.

Zodiac spun around with a wild swing and a shout, only to cut nothing. Nehemoth stood a few feet away, his blank eyes still staring ominously. The Guardian charged and hacked at him again, and this time his blade found purchase. However, even as the Dopant fell back, he vanished without a trace, reappearing even further away.

 **“Grey Boy,”** he announced, his tone dripping with menace, **“Luck is still on your side. If I’d touched you, I’d have won. Imagine trying to fight back when you can only repeat the same three seconds. Over. And over. And over. And over again. Until the stars go out.”** His silver-taloned fingers curled and flexed. **“Death would not save you. Even if I were to slit your throat, you’d just bleed out for three seconds, nonstop…”**

Behind his helmet Zodiac’s eyes widened in horror. _Then if he touches me, I’d be…even worse than dead! Did Friedrich have to fight someone like that too?_

With unnerving suddenness and silence, Nehemoth leaped towards him, clearing the space between them in a single bound, talons reaching out to rake him. Zodiac fired a burst of fire too his right and leapt out of the way.

“Just gotta stay out of range,” Zodiac taunted, his voice quavering. Nehemoth’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, before the Rider’s voice cut out again. He spun, his long, spindly tail whipping around, bristling with blades, to bite into him. However, the Fire Guardian was putting more effort into his agility than ever before as he dodged, dived, ducked, weaved, and dodged every one of his strikes. Finally he threw his fist and missed wildly going over the Rider’s head. Zodiac took advantage and stabbed him in the shoulder, pinning him to the ground with a burst of sparks.

“Gotcha, you snake!” Zodiac shouted, pulling out one of his pistols and raising it to his head. Unfortunately, the Dopant then vanished, leaving the sword imbedded in the ground.

**“Tch.”**

The Rider quickly cast his gaze around and quickly spotted Nehemoth, shaking his head. Then he lowered himself into a crouch, tail arching dangerously over his back and bristling with even more blades as his talons dug into the ground.

 **“Your luck won’t hold for long, Fire Guardian!”** Nehemoth growled.

“Then I better heat things up!” He smiled. Snapping his fingers, he created a brilliant sphere of sapphire flames in his hand. “How about this? **AZURE COMET!”** He reared back and thrust his hand forward, the ball becoming an improvised flamethrower.

The Dopant merely watched the roaring blaze impassively. **“A stream of flames. How conventional.”** There was a grotesque tearing sound as his face split open, revealing a jagged mouth. In an instant, the blue flames funneled into his maw and vanished. **“Did you already forget that?”**

His tail jabbed forward, and the bladed barbs adorning it burst out, streaking towards the Rider like bullets. Zodiac dodged out of another swipe “No I didn’t, just needed some space. Come on then!”

**“You’re confident, aren’t you. Your friend must be so proud.”**

“My friend is still in there,” Zodiac growled as he leaped back.

 **“Perhaps. But he’s not the only thing in here.”** Nehemoth’s wiry body suddenly swelled, muscle mass bulking up drastically and visibly. At the same time, the unnerving flickering and twitching that he’d been subject to ceased.

Zodiac groaned. “Fried, we really need to catalogue your-!”

He went mute again as the Dopant surged forward again, the arena shifting and warping, obstacles distorting out of the ground. **“Silent Dragon’s Blast Shard!”** A claw stabbed into a rock outcropping, and with a soundless burst, it exploded, sending razor sharp fragments of rock hurtling at Zodiac.

The Rider whipped out Osceola and Renegade and fired multiple rounds and shattering some of the rocks taking some of the smaller fragments into his shoulders. Kicking the ground to create a fire wall he raced back into the endless pipes and hid. Calming slightly, he glanced over his shoulder. _Okay so now he can turn into a minotaur like creature. Just great...I can’t even get a word in edgewise….wait a minute._ Zodiac looked back to where Nehemoth had eaten the wall. _He said his Memory was to control sound...so why is it that I’ve been able to talk or even hear him. There’s two possibilities. One is that his control isn’t as thorough as he’s boasting. Or,_ here he grinned. _Friedrich, our Friedrich is still in there and he’s fighting back hard. I’m gonna need a little more time, but I think I can at least force Friedrich to take back control._

Nehemoth’s eyes narrowed as Zodiac ducked out of sight. **“This fight has taken much longer than I anticipated. I should have finished him by now. Damn Parasite’s making my job harder.”** Indeed as even though Lung’s power was flowing through Nehemoth’s body, it wasn’t growing as fast.

“Having trouble?” Zodiac taunted, his voice echoing through the pipes.

**“No, just waiting for the right opportunity to end you!”**

“If you can hear me, then your control’s slipping,” Zodiac laughed. “My friend’s still in there and he’s helping me out.”

 **“Quiet,”** Nehemoth snapped, muting him again. His body shuddered, swelling even larger. Silvery, shark-like teeth sprouted from his ragged maw. **“Your ‘friend’ won’t save you.”** He waved his hand, launching his talons like bullets at the Rider, letting them regrow instantly.

Zodiac ducked under the talons crawled through the pipes, occasionally breaking them to let out more steam. “-think he’s already saved me at least twi-...-that missed me was going for my neck, wasn’t-? …-Grey Boy trick rewound too fa-

 **“SILENCE!”** Nehemoth snapped. Then he chuckled. **“Since you won’t shut up, how about I make it so you can’t even see me!”** He shuddered again before disappearing out of existence.

Zodiac smirked. _Step 1 down, he’s getting sloppy. Now for Step 2._ Carefully, he looked around and noticed him missing. _Bet he used something that turned him into Predator...You know Dad really should stop showing me violent movies at age 9.”_ Putting his thoughts aside for the moment, slowed his breathing down. _Alright then if you want to play that way, then how about I show you what greed does to you._ He took a deep breath, placed his hand around his mouth and blew out a steady maelstrom of fire all around him. With the steam and fire raging, it was now near impossible for either side to see or each other. The Rider however wasn’t looking for a way to hide. He watched the flames closely, looking for a change in their behavior. _Come on take the bait._

Moments late, the flames began to swirl and be pulled to his right. Zodiac raced into the flames, taking a moment to quickly to pick up his phone.

Nehmoth hummed as he swallowed the flames. **_Foolish, to think he wasted this much power as a smoke screen._** As the flames began to die down, he then had a thought. **_It’s almost...like he wanted to!_**

**STANDBY CHANGE: CAPRICORN!**

Zodiac charged out of the flames and speared the dopant into the ground. The rider’s armor had changed from a golden red to a darker blue and white. Sprouting from his helmet were two long goat horns while his chest bore a weird looking N that trailed of to the right. On his hands were two metal knuckles. Said weapons were being introduced to Nehemoth’s face. Being the first time he actually got a hit onto Nehemoth he was taking advantage of it by throwing several punches to the larger dopant’s face. After about ten punches, the beast finally flung the Rider off. Landing on his feet, Zodiac charged again, lifting him up and shoving against a larger pipe causing steam to bellow out before lifting him up and then suplex him back on the ground.

Nehemoth steamed as he slowly stood up. **“You...are dead!”** he growled and charged at him. Zodiac stood his ground and bounced his right leg up and down, glowing as he did so.

 **“Sweet...CHIN! MUSIC!”** With one powerful strike, his leg snapped forward and caught him under the chin. The impact rattled the pipes and actually stunned the larger Dopant as his head snapped back. Then he rushed him and grabbed him by the waist. Then he hosited him up, which was impressive considering Nehemoth’s current size, and powerbombed him into the floor, creating a large crater.

Zodiac rolled off and stood up. “You got a little sloppy there. Normally, you would have countered me right out of the gate.”

Nehemoth chuckled as he stood up. **“Sloppy...from where I was, you couldn’t even beat an S-class mage!”**

“Yeah, well maybe it’s true,” Zodiac said knocking his knuckles together. “But the man who helped us wasn’t you.”

**“That parasite you took advantage of and neglected like yesterday’s trash?”**

Zodiac visibly winced. “If...there was neglect, then I apologize. I should have pushed to see what was wrong with him, but I didn’t.” He stared Nehemoth down. “Friedrich, if you can hear me, I am sorry. I am sorry I wasn’t a better friend, and I should have seen the signs.” He looked at his belt. “You’re a Fairy Tail Mage where it counts. That’s why, Gabby and Tori are gonna kill me for this.” And then to Nehemoth’s shock, he pulled out his phone and pressed a button on the side.

**End Call**

Zodiac's armor burst off him. leaving Drew in his place.

 **“You think that’ll make a difference?”** Nehemoth scoffed. **“I’ve killed before. Even this parasite has killed before.”** His now-enlarged arms shuddered, before a long, crescent-shaped blade split the scales open, sliding out and gleaming in the sun.

“I know that.” Drew replied. “But can you end me?”

 **“Only a fool DISARMS HIMSELF!”** Nehemoth roared, rushing in. Drew stood his ground, not even flinching as the Dopant raced closer. The blade on the monster’s arm stopped inches from his neck. **“What you’re doing is something a foolhardy hero does.”** As he said this, his body started to twitch, his eyes flickering. **“Why can’t I…hit you…?”**

Drew shrugged. “Seems like you have a problem. Maybe Friedrich, the one _I_ know, finally has enough control.”

 **“Are you trying to be a hero?”** Nehemoth asked, his voice wavering.

“Sometimes heroes are the ones who don’t know what their doing,” The Guardian said.

**“Do you even know what a hero does? They throw their lives away for no reason.”**

“I know there are heroes here,” Drew snapped. “Including you, Friedrich Holmgardt.”

This took Nehemoth off guard. **“What…?”**

“I know Friedrich was a hero back on Earth Bet. And because of the morals he learned on my Earth, he probably kept that world from falling into the void. In my book, he’s a Guardian in all but name.”

The Dopant lurched visibly, swaying. **“You-?! S-shut up!”** He lashed out, his fist smashing into a wall behind Drew as the environment flickered and warped rapidly. **“Shut up, shut up! You don’t know the first thing about me!”**

“Don’t I?” Drew asked. “I see myself if I let my power go to my head. Friedrich, I know we made mistakes, don’t let this ruin you.”

 **“Ruin…me?”** Nehemoth spat ot. **“Heroes, are just people who throw their lives away! They’re the ones who ruin themselves!…So why did I…no, he! Why did HE just take my body and throw me into the danger all the time?** Nehemoth staggered, his head pounding with images of Friedrich’s heroics. **He knew nothing about that world! How pointless it was to fight for anything other than himself!” He gripped his head spastically, nails digging into flesh and scales with a shower of sparks. “Why…why did he care…?! No, there was no reason to leave them alive. Why did I, HE, bother?! Why...why did he jump in to save people, even when he didn't know what he could do...?”**

Drew tilted his head. “You know, I always thought Friedrich was the bravest guy I know. Irony, as the lion is one of my sigils. He’s always wanting to evolve and adapt, something I’ve had problems with.”

 **“Courage…”** Nehemoth scoffed. **“Commander Matthew always said the talk of courage by the other side was pointless. Especially when you’re dead!”**

“Courage is defined as overcoming your own fears. I face it everyday.” He took a step closer. “When I die, I’ve got people to carry my flag!”

**“And then the next person, and the next person! Its an endless cycle of violence---”**

“THEN LET THIS BE THE GENERATION IT ENDS!” Drew screamed catching the dopant off guard. He sat down and looked away from Friedrich. “War. Destruction. Poverty. Hunger. Prejudice…I’ve seen it so much. With this power, I want to end it. I want my kids, and my kids kids to never have to experience it. And I know it will get worse...before it gets better. But with my friends, current and future, I know we can do it. And will do it, without becoming you.” He said glaring up at Nehmoth’s eyes.

For the first time this whole fight, Nehemoth was rendered speechless. He glanced at his claws. **“To...end...I never imagined a world like that. Can it...be possible?”**

“It’s a beautiful thing in my mind. A world without war, without true sadness, a world where the world can progress as a whole and not divided,” Drew smiled.

 **“You...are a fool…”** Nehemoth trailed off, his voice losing the edge he had, **“Matthew showed me the power of the Darkness. There is nothing that can ever destroy it completely.”**

“Rather be a fool with a dream, then a monster without a heart.”

There was a long, painful silence as the monster stared unblinkingly at him. Finally, he sagged. **“I will hold you to that…Zodiac.”** Nehemoth turned away, the draconic appearance slowly draining out of his body. Then there came a flash of light as he transformed back into a human.

“Welcome back,” Drew said standing up as the area around them shifting back to normal.

“Thanks, I guess.” Friedrich mumbled looking away. “I’m sorry.”

“For what man?”

“I...You were right. When I had these problems in my head, I didn’t want to tell you and it just bottled up. To tell the truth...you didn't ignore me that much. But still, it aggravates me when I try to tell you stuff and you barely show any interest. Nirvana just...exacerbated that frustration.”

Drew hummed and walked around him. “If that was the case, I’m sorry. Sometimes I have attention issues, something you have as well.”

“Yeah even so, I overreacted. And because of that, that guy almost killed you.”

The two stood in silence, one in contemplation, one in sorrow. Then Drew broke it. “When I was younger, before Tsuki came along, I always wanted to be a hero. Now that I have it, I want to use it for the betterment of others.” He turned to face Friedrich and raised his hand. “You’ve taught us, it’s only fair that I return the favor. Let me teach you how to be a hero.”

Friedrich stared at his hand and then turned around covering his eyes. He gave a shaky smile and sniffed. “Treating me like a newbie...how long was it since I was one and treated like a human?”

“We’ve all been there, Friedrich,” Drew smiled. Then his radio went off. “Yo what’s going on?”

 _“Where the heck have you been!?”_ Gabby screamed.

Drew groaned. “I knew she was gonna kill me,” he whispered to Friedrich. “Sorry, something interfered with the radio. Where is everyone?”

_“I have no idea, I’m with Tori and Brock. Everyone’s split up. Last I saw of Lucy was when Angel came after us. And I had no idea where you are, the whole team’s somewhere.”_

“Gabby, calm down,” Drew said sensing her frustration. “Just tell me where you are, we’ll try to link up with you.”

_“We’re trying to reach these ruins about...maybe 15 clicks northeast of where we started._

“Alright, we’re gonna see if we can find the others. Nirvana is currently powering up, and the issue I had delayed my response. If anyone can hear me, try to find Orion!”

_“Stay safe!”_

Drew sighed. “Right.” He turned to Friedrich. Did you have a hero name back on Earth Bet?”

Friedrich snorted, giving him a look. “Of course I did. Even the Rogues took Cape names, ya know? Mine was Foundation.”

“Any reason?” Drew asked.

“I had multiple abilities even at the start, a lot of which laid a huge groundwork for me to grow over time. When I was with the Protectorate, they liked comparing me with another hero, Dauntless, over which of us would have the largest growth in power.”

“Love to hear the stories later. Let’s ride, Foundation!” Drew said beginning to run into the woods.

Friedrich gave a wobbly smile. “Yeah. To the end of the line.” He chased after the younger boy. The first true friend he’d had in a long time.

With Aura, Lupus and Lyon

Lupus fired from behind Lyon at a biker in front of him.”” As he had never had experienced firing on the move, the shots went wide of his targets. Said ice mage growled. “You can’t hit the broadside of a barn Fullbuster!

“Shut up Lyon! I doubt you can do any better especially on the back of this thing!” Lupus snapped.

“Lupus, focus!” Aura shouted. He ducked a slash from Nitro and fired a bolt of lighting at the Dopant. Swerving out of the way, Nitro fired back with a pulse of fire, forcing Aura to hit the brakes. Revving up the engine again, the Rider quickly caught back up and, drawing Raikou, attempted to swipe at his enemy’s rear tire, only to meet with a large crowbar.

 **“Don’t think so, Hombre!”** Nitro taunted and swung back. Aura quickly countered, parrying and striking in turn, until the weapons collided in a shower of sparks.

 **“You think you can stop all of us? Especially when I’m not the only one you have to worry about?”** As he said this, multiple bikers showed surrounding the duo.”

Aura quickly reached into his deck. “That depends, can you actually hit me?”

**DOUBLE TEAM**

Aura blinked out of existence and several illusions surrounded the group, making some of the Troopers fall off their bikes.

**EXTREME SPEED**

The illusions then charged in at a high rate of speed. Unable to figure out which ones were real, they were helpless as they were run over and bisected.

 ** _Shit! This guy’s fast!_** Nitro cursed. **“How about some firepower! NITROUS METEOR!” **Multiple bursts of flame fired into the air from the exhaust ports on his shoulders. The fireballs raced high into the before bursting into smaller balls and falling into the path of both bikes.

“Lupus! Shoot them out of the sky!” Aura ordered.

Lupus raised his gun out and steadied his shot. **“Ice Make: Triple Arrows!”** Pulling the trigger, three streaks of ice blasted the falling debris, shattering them and keeping them from hitting the ground. Some the fireballs fell through and were about to crash into them when,

** “Ice Make: Lion!” **

A large lion of ice sprang from a magic circle that had opened in front of their bikes and swiped at the remaining meteors. The white haired boy chuckled his coat tossed aside. “Can’t let you have all the fun, Grey!”

Lupus ‘tch’ed but with the two ice mages began to work in sync as the rider Troopers kept up with them.

Aura had no copilot but he had plenty of ways to disperse the shots as he held up his hand. **BUBBLEBEAM!** A stream of bubbles raced out of his hand, forming a wall of bubbles to absorb the falling shrapnel.

Nitro growled. **“You think your hot stuff huh?”** He looked up and spotted Sherry watching the battle with trembling eyes. **“Let’s see if you can’t stop this! CITGO CROSSFIRE!**

He raised his hands and fired multiple black streams into the air and then breathed fire from his mouth. The streams combined and then when the flames connected burst into three distinct balls of fire.

Aura watched the ball burst and realized the attack was not just targeting him, but also Lupus AND Sherry. Even with his speed, he doubted he could reach both in time.

**“What’s it gonna be Rider boy! Save yourself? Save your Guild members? Or save the girl? Come on speedy, you claim you’re the fastest, pick which ‘fore I do it for ya!”**

Aura grit his teeth as time seemingly slowed down. _He’s right...even if I could go my fastest, I can’t save both. What do I do?! What do I…-_

Suddenly, everything vanished. In the dim light around him spanned a massive, glittering spiderweb, adorned with thousands of twisting, iridescent shards.

In the center sat a black, shadowy creature. Five red eyes glared at him, judging for a moment.

 _“Hmph.”_ With a grunt and a kick of one of its limbs, it flicked one of those shards right at him. _“Prism.”_

And then, it was gone. Aura gasped. “What….is this?” In a blink of an eye, Aura vanished, making everyone blink in surprise.

 **“Where did he go?”** Nitro asked quickly snapping his head around.

 **“THUNDER!”** Nitro was instantly electrocuted by the massive bolt striking his helmet. The dopant glaring despite the electrical shock. He then grinned. **“So that’s your choice, leaving your allies at the mercy of my flames!”**

“I’d look again if I were you,” Aura said.

Nitro curiously turned to see Sherry and saw….another Aura? This one was a slightly darker blue than normal and was holding up his sword as he cut through the descending flame storm. Snapping over to Lupus, steam rose from where...a third Aura had used a large Water spell to put out the flames. This one had a purplish tint over his chest, mixing with the blue.

 **“What...what the hell? When did you get magic like that?!”** Nitro screamed.

“This isn’t magic,” the one in front of him said. “But it does let me do this!” He held up his hand, showing off a card with his Bulbasaur firing Solarbeam and swiped it across his belt before leaping back.

**SOLARBEAM**

His Prism Clones held up two other cards. One was his Charizard using Fire Blast, the other was his Squirtle firing Hydro Pump.

**FIRE BLAST**

**HYDRO PUMP**

**TEAMWORK COMBO: TRIPLE FINISH!**

As one, the three clones powered up their respective cards, three powerful orbs appeared in front of them, glowing larger.

 **“Screw this!”** Nitro yelled, trying to race away, only for a large ice wall to erupt from the ground in front of him.

Behind the wall was Lupus and a shirtless Lyon. “It seems like you’ve hit a dead end,” Lupus grinned.

Nitro panicked and turned around as the three attacks combined and collided in a brilliant fireball. When the smoke died down, Nitro’s body was short circuiting. **“Damn...it...my engine’s fried!”**

The original Aura quickly slid his cards across his belt buckle, powering them up.

**THUNDERBOLT: MAXIMUM ENERGY!**

**IRON TAIL: MAXIMUM ENERGY!**

**COMBO: LIGHTNING SLASH**

As the three bodies merged back together, the Rider felt his body charge up, as if he gotten an instant charge on his laptop battery as he gripped his sword. In a blink of an eye, he raced towards Nitro and cleanly bisected him.

“And that’s the checkered flag for this battle,” Aura said landing and sheathing Raikou.

Explosions rocked the dopant before falling over and exploding. **“Forgive me!”**

Aura powered down and he turned to the fallen mage as his Gaea memory landed in front of him. “That’s one Oracion member down.” He took note of a small rune leaving Racer’s arm and frowned.

“That was awesome!” Lupus said powering down, just as shirtless as Lyon.

Sherry ran over and glomped Ash. “Thank you! I would have been burnt rubber!”

Lyon, however, had another thought. “That cloning trick...where did you learn that?”

Ash scratched his head. “Um…two minutes ago.”

“Wait you created those clones and you literally just...learned it? That’s some bullshit!” Grey growled.

“I don’t know what it was,” Ash began. “I saw this big…spider-thing. It threw something at me, and then I just…knew how to do it.”

“Spider?”

“Yeah…or something.” Ash said rubbing his head. Before any further questions could speak, Ash’s and Grey’s radio crackled to life. _“If anyone can hear me, head Northeast and link up with Orion! Nirvana is powering up and I had a serious delay on my end!”_

“Grey can you track Gabby?” Ash asked.

Grey took a whiff of the air and pointed behind Sherry. “Got her, she’s that way!”

“Lead the way then!” He ordered as they took off into the woods.

Tenshi Bliss Vs. Pleiades

Pleiades snapped Mutsuraboshi at the flying dopant, the metal tendril streaking out with a lash, only to just fall short. Tenshi giggled sinsterly. **“Oh, you missed me! I actually felt the breeze on that.**

“Grrr…” the rider growled. “Shut up, you murderer.”

 **“Murder?”** Tenshi mocked gasped. **“No no my dear. That wasn’t murder, that was more..natural selection.”**

Pleiades and thrust her weapon forward again. The angel merely dodged it. **“Is that all you can do?”**

The Rider grinned and held out her free hand. The whip split into several segments before turning and racing towards the Dopant. She screeched as she the knives cut through her back. **“Damn you, bitch!**

Seeing an opening, she quickly swapped out Virgo’s key for Aquarius and jammed it into the her belt.

**SUMMON! WATER BEARER SPIRIT!**

**“Oh?”** Tenshi asked curious as Pleiades transformed. **“You have the key to the Water bearer. Such a powerful spirit.”** Then she smirked as she pulled out a golden key. **“Open, Gate of the Scorpion: SCORPIO!”**

A familiar bell chimed as a golden gate appeared. Out of it was a large tan man with a red and white hair. The top half of his body was bare save for a flower shaped collar. His lower body was that of a metallic scorpion with a gun shaped tail.

“We are...rocking!” The man said.

As Pleiades watched him, her body froze up. _“Honey!?”_ Aquarius asked. The Rider gasped as her armor was ripped away and her human form appeared.

“Hey baby, what up?” he said casually, throwing up the rock horns.

“Sorry I got pulled away from our cuddle time~!” cooed the mermaid, hugging the scorpion with hearts in her eyes.

“We are! Doing more now! Later losers!” Scorpio said as they disappeared in a cloud of sparkles.

 **“Hohoho!”** Tenshi laughed. **“Some celestial mage! You didn’t even do your research on what they do when they aren’t at your beck and call.”**

“Shut up!” Pleiades snapped, grabbing Leo’s key and slamming it into her belt.

**SUMMON: LION**

**“Oh, him…”** Tenshi said unconcerned. **“I remember one of my new spirits talking about him. Let me introduce her. Open, Gate of the Ram: Aries!”**

 _“No, not her! You bitch!”_ Leo screamed as the familiar bell rang. Out of the circle came a well endowed woman with short, curly pink hair. She wore a fluffy white dress of wool, with matching cuffs and leggings. On top of her head were two small ram horns. The spirit looked away bashfully. “I’m sorry, miss, but…I have to fight you.”

_“Lucy...its Aries! That was the spirit I tried to protect.”_

“Then go back, I can summon someone else!”

_“No, our pride won’t let us! Sorry, can you handle yourself!”_

Pleiades reluctantly let him separate. Loke quickly rushed the ram spirit who also didn’t want seem to want to fight either.

The Rider instead focused on the Dopant. “How could you put her through this?”

**“Simple! I killed her previous master and now she’s mine! Though they may be friends, those who fight for different masters are bound to be enemies. They _must_ follow their master’s orders!”**

“That’s not right and you know it!”

**“You’re right...I should just end this. Open Gate of the Chisel: Caelum!”**

Out of the magic circle came a large metallic sphere with a strange looking eye. Putting her hand on it, it glowed before sinking into her skin. Her right arm morphed into a large cannon which she pointed at the two battling spirits and powered up.

“NO!” Pleiades screamed.

 **“Why should you care, they’re immortal,”** Tenshi asked nonchalantly. Time slowed down as she fired the gun, kicking up the water around her. The blast raced towards Aries and Loke, who turned and paled to a ghostly white. Pleiades reached out to them in a vain attempt to save them. _No, please, I need to save them! ANYTHING!_

**_[Destination]_ **

Everything stopped. Everything vanished: trees, spirits, even Tenshi Bliss disappeared, leaving onto a dim gray sky. Lucy looked around, reaching for her whip, only to realize that not only was it not at her side, but she was no longer in her armor. She looked around, seeing only flat ground in every direction, then upward. A shiver ran down her spine as the sun loomed down on her, abnormally large and flaring with golden light.

**_[Agreement]_ **

She gasped as _something_ thrummed through her head, countless impressions and abstract images pressing in on her consciousness.

**_[Satisfaction]_ **

And then, everything resumed. Her hand was still outstretched. Behind Aries back, a large green tear opened up and swallowed the oncoming blast.

 **“WHAT!?”** Tenshi screamed, her powerful blast completely nullified. **“WHAT DID YOU DO, BITCH?”**

Pleiades said nothing and raised her hand at Tenshi.

Behind the Dopant, another green portal appeared. She had just enough time to turn around before her own blast struck her and sent her flying into the trees. **“What the...What the hell... was that?”** Bliss breathed out, her body steaming from the impact.

“That’s what I want to know,” concurred Loke.

Pleiades looked at her hand and in her head a phrase passed through it. “Portal Creation.”

“Like our gate keys?”

“Something like that...wait!” The rider got an idea. “Loke, you trust me?”

“What do you need?” The lion spirit said with no hesitation.

Instead of answering, she brought her hand to the ground and opened another portal. With a nudge of her head, Loke leaped in and appeared behind Tenshi who was ready to cut off the Rider’s head. **“REGULUS IMPACT!”** A left cross sent her skipping down the river before Loke leaped back.

 **“How dare you?”** Tenshi snapped. **“Aries! Attack!”**

Aries looked at Loke who smiled and winked. The ram girl turned to her master. “No…”

 **“What was that?”** Tenshi growled.

“I’m...sorry, but I can’t follow you. Not after you showed your colors. Loke’s master is much more pure hearted than you.”

 **“So what? I still have your key! See...what?”** She looked down to where she kept her keys, only to find that Aries’s key was missing.

“Looking for this?” asked Loke, twirling the key in question on his finger.

**“How?”**

“No idea, but I’m glad she’s away from you!” Pleiades growled. She turned to Aries. “Aries, I know, you’re contracted to that bitch,”

 **“OI!”** Tenshi snarled.

“But if you want, you can join me right now and we can work out the contract details later!”

Aries stared at the Rider and then looked at Loke, who took her hand. “She’s nothing like Karen, or her. She’s probably the kindest person to have ever been a celestial mage. There’s more to her than you realize, please.”

Aries looked into her friends eye and nodded with a watery smile. She turned to Pleiades and handed her her key. “I’m sorry I attacked you.”

“In the future, you won’t have to apologize to me ever,” the Rider told her, gently taking the key. “Now, let’s fight together!” The ram girl nodded and Pleiades inserted the key into her belt. “This will feel weird.”

**SUMMON: RAM**

The Leo armor armor split off and Aries gasped as her spirit particles were absorbed into the armor. The symbol on the telescope flipped to a fancy V, which looked like ram horns. As she glowed, her armor took on a pink and white color, with gold around the shoulders. On her feet, were a pair of white boots with pink hearts and pink wool on top of them. Additional wool appeared on her wrists and around her neck. On top of her light pink helmet were a pair of large ram horns.

 **“Pleiades: Aries Form!”** The Rider cheered. “Aries are you alright?”

_“I’m fine, sorry. It’s just I’ve never merged with anyone before. But this power, it feels so warm!”_

“Do you have any magic I can use?”

_“Um...all I can do is Wool Magic, it’s not the strongest for attacking, sorry. Wait…”_

“What’s up?”

 _“This armor, it’s giving me a new weapon. Bring your arms together fists up._ The Celestial mage did so, frowning under her helmet. Then, with a flash of light, her arms were suddenly weighed down. A pair of small, golden, elliptical shields now adorned them, the tapered points covering her hands like oversized gauntlets.

“Shields?”

_“Sorry, my magic is more defensive… but I hope this will suffice.”_

“Thanks Aries.”

Tenshi growled, summoning Caelum again and pressing her hand to it. It glowed before a large blade popped out of the sphere along with a handle. “ **How dare you steal my spirits!?”**

“How dare you kill their previous holder?” Pleiades countered.

 **“Survival of the fittest!”** Tenshi snarled, charging at the Rider. Letting out a warcry she swung at the Riders head. Only for a layer of wool to come up catch the blade in its clutches. Taking advantage of the shock, Pleiades swung her shield and smashed the Dopant across the head.

_“Miss Lucy, it appears I can control the wool around our armor to act as a second layer._

“This is almost like bigger versions of Zodiac’s shield. But I don’t think he uses as an offensive weapon.”

_“I’m sorry, but they are definitely big enough to defend and attack.”_

Pleiades turned to Loke. “You ready?”

“I’ve been wanting to save Aries for a long time, let’s rock!” The lion grinned rushing at Tenshi.

 **“Screw you!”** Tenshi screamed. She charged Pleiades again, only for her knock the blade away with a swing of her left shield.

Loke raced in, his fists glowing. **“Regulus Gatling!”** He threw out a combination of punches, sparks and blood flying at each hit.

 **“GAHH!”** Tenshi screamed, her body being brutalized by the pissed of Celestial Spirit. Pleiades took her chance and slammed both shields into her back, dropping her into the river, before rearing back and uppercutting her opponent into the air. Then she leaped and slammed both shields into her chest, sending her screaming back into the water.

 **“You...bitch...Gemini...fight them!”** Tenshi panted, wrenching herself upright and swinging her green whip angrily.

Gemini looked at her master and then at the Rider. “No…”

Tenshi’s mind was blown. **“What?”**

“We..“See Lucy’s Heart!” They began to speak in twin speak.“She is…”Friends to all her spirits. She’s much nicer...Than one whose heart is black...as midnight!”

Pleiades could have cried happy tears but she held it in and gazed at her opponent. “This is something that Celestial Mages like you failed to realize. They are sentient and living creatures. They are not toys! And now your greed and power lust will be your undoing.” She twisted her key upwards, popping open her buckle, then pulled it out and slotted it into each of her shields, turning with a click.

**RAMMING. CHARGE.**

The two shields expanded greatly, easily three times her size before unfolding into a rectangular shape. “Loke, grab the other shield and get behind her!”

The lion spirit nodded, taking the large shield and warping behind her. As one both charged at their opponent. Their battered opposition could only close her eyes and release her prayer to her master. **“Lord Brain…forgive me!”**

*CRRRRUNCH!*

The two walls smashed into the Dopant, ruthlessly crushing her, until finally she exploded, flames bursting out the sides. Pleiades grinned as the shield shrank. “Your wings have been clipped.” As she powered down she noticed a barely conscious Angel floating down the river. She flung her whip over and pulled her onto shore.

“Why...why did you save me?” Angel coughed.

“Because it wouldn't feel right to leave you to die,” Lucy explained. “If i leave you untied do you promise not to run from me?”

Angel chuckled weakly. “A choice huh? When i was captured and brought to the Tower of Heaven, I didn't get much choice in anything.”

“So you were like Erza and Jellal?”

Angel hummed. “Perhaps…” She stared into the blue sky. “I spent a lot of my days wondering if I could fly like a bird, or even an angel out of my cage. Out of my pain.”

“You’ve been through a lot haven’t you.”

“Showing sympathy to an enemy? I can kill you you know, just like Karen.”

“But you’re not.”

Angel smiled and closed her eyes. Lucy took a closer look at the white haired beauty. Her gloves and leggings were torn, leaving only the feather corset. “You already look like an angel, just lose the attitude. Also between you and me, you’re pretty hot.”

“What you some sort of lesbian?”

Lucy shrugged. “I play both ways. When you got the looks, why limit it to boys?”

Angel giggled and slowly say up. “You don’t look bad yourself blondie.”

Lucy looked down and saw that her green top and tan cargo shorts were torn up from the fighting. “Well that sucks. Hang on let me call Virgo. Do you wanna change?”

Angel shook her head. “I’m your prisoner. Do with me what you will.”

As she said this, the maid spirit appeared. “You rang princess?”

“Do you have a spare set of clothes?”

“Yes mam!” The spirit said snapping her fingers and another dress appeared in her hands.

“Can you also clean her up?” Lucy asked her, casually stripping off her clothes.

The maid nodded and in a flash, Angel’s wounds were healed.

“I couldn’t repair all of the tears, princess. Punish me?”

“No,” Lucy deadpanned as she put on a pair blue and gold leggings. Slipping on a matching top, she had Virgo tied\ her long hair into smaller pony tails. She hummed as she looked at her hair. “Thinking about streaking and dyeing my hair again. You think white looks good on me?”

Before Angel could comment, Lucy’s communicator went off. _“If anyone can hear this message, head north and try to hook up with Orion!”_

Lucy nodded and nudged Angel forward. “If we encounter anyone, your my ticket to avoiding trouble.”

Angel smirked. “I knew there was devious side to you,” as they raced through the woods.”

With Brain and Midnight

Brain looked at his arms as another line disappeared from his body. “That’s four of my children defeated.” He coughed in pain as he thought about the next step in his plans. “Those Kamen Riders will be perfect to turn on Fiore. No one’s been able to stop them. Even that man who was throwing nails everywhere will be perfect, especially after I have him return my core back to me!”

As Brain plotted, Midnight watched him with trepidation. _If I don’t do something, he will turn on_ me _just as easily._ “Master, let me finish those approaching our location. Perhaps seeing some more bodies will cause them to waver.”

“Do it, my child, and remember the cost of failure!” Brain ordered. The young man nodded and raced into the ruins surrounding the Megalith. As he wandered through the ruins, a small rabbit spotted him and bounced away.

“Buneary!” the rabbit cried, catching Dawn’s attention. She immediately radioed in. “We got movement.”

“I got him, looks like it’s Midnight,” Anabel responded, hiding in one of the windows. “Erza, you got a shot?”

In a taller tower, Erza sat on the roof, Wendy sitting behind her. The blue haired mage had reached the red head safely and healed her. They had all received the call to meet in the ruins and as the first party to reach decided to scout out the area.

“Erza are you sure your okay?” Wendy asked.

“I’ll be fine. Cover your ears.”

“Again with this barbaric weapons?” Carla grumbled.

“I’m sorry. According to Drew, weapons like this and his pistols are common by their military and law enforcement. Though he said they might be closer to Grey’s than mine.” She lined the sights on her rifle and focused. In comparison to Gabby's bow, however, she did not have a proper scope on her rifle even though it could be modified for it. In addition, she did not have the marksman training of the hunter Rider. So when Erza pulled the trigger, it pulled slightly to her left, sending the shot towards Midnight's shoulder rather than his head.

Midnight sensed he was in trouble and moments later, something clanked off the air in front of him. He recoiled instantly, falling into an aggressive stance and glaring around suspiciously.

“Shit! Anabel, I missed!” Erza called as she leaped off the roof.

Anabel narrowed her eyes and flicked her chakram open. “You didn’t Erza, something deflected the shot.”

“Alliance Mages, I know you’re out there!” Midnight called out, reaching into his pocket. “Resistance is futile.”

**MIRROR**

His body distorted, before turning completely black. His feminine form was replaced with a slick black reflective material. His eyes looked like silver saucers, which were pushed as if some stuck two thumbs in them. Smaller mirrors dotted his body specifically around the joints.

**“As your better, Sirris Retsnom, you will find your attacks worthless!”**

Anabel took her chance and threw here chakram. Once away, she quickly put her belt on and activated it. Sirris instinctively flared his magic and saw the chakram clank off his shield and into the ruins. Anabel leaped out and threw her other chakram, simultaneously swinging her arms in her henshin pose.

“HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

The second chakram bounced off the front of the Dopant and reflected it back at the falling Rider. At the same time time, Anabel’s henshin shield popped up and bounced back striking the dopant and knocking him down.

Kyokan landed in a crouch, catching her second chakram in her right hand. “I think you’ll find that reflections often lie,” She said catching the first and twisting her body to strike again.

 **“Your attacks will only hurt you and your friends,”** Sirris growled waving his arms, summoning brief, shimmering outlines of transparent blades. **“Dodge these! INVISIBLE SCYTHES!” **

The knives raced towards the empathic Rider. She quickly closed her eyes and saw the magical outline of the knives. She bent back, her head almost touching the ground to avoid the first wave. Then she planted her hand on the ground and twisted her body in a full circle to avoid the second wave, before pushing off and twirling her body in air as the knives passed inches from her body. After two rotations, she flung both of her weapons at the wall behind Sirris.

 **“HAH! Useless!”** He taunted. Only for the thrown weapons to bounce off a wall behind him and struck him in the back.

 **“Grrr! How about this, GREAT MIRROR SLASH!”** He raised his arm and cut across his body diagonally, firing off a massive crescent of distorted air towards the empathic Rider. Standing tall, a card dropped into her hand and she swiped it across her belt.

**MIRROR COAT**

A shimmering light appeared in front of the Rider, which absorbed the blow with a flash, before the same attack was sent back at double power and speed. Sirris had no time to counter the reflected attack and roared out in pain as it hit him, the remaining energy slicing the buildings behind him.

As he screamed in pain, Erza and Dawn leaped down Kyokan. “You alright?”

“He hasn’t laid a scratch on me,” Kyokan grinned. “But if this is the strongest non guild leader, I’m gonna need some help.”

“No need to worry!” Dawn said cheerfully pulling out her belt.

“You can count on us!” Erza declared latching her bracelet on.

**“One person or three! It won’t matter once my master’s plans are complete!”**

“HENSHIN!” Dawn and Erza shouted activating their respective Drivers.

**EVOLVE**

**HEAVEN’S WHEEL! TAKE FLIGHT!**

As Hanabi and Aquilla drew their weapons, they knew that Nirvana was close to activation. If they couldn’t stop them all, it would be unleashed on the whole of Fiore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> UO: ...Come…(Hits antenna) *CEBBBB* NO (Hits it again) *AND IT’S A GRAND SLAM* Come On! *Hits it again* ...I think it worked...Check one two, NS can you hear me?”
> 
> NS: Yo.
> 
> UO: Oh thank god! I thought it was just me. Hey folks, sorry about that, apparently Friedrich can harm the 4th wall.
> 
> NS: Not really. We’re still inside the Fourth Wall.
> 
> UO: Yeah yeah. SO! We saw a couple of VERY strange abilities, brought up by Ash and Lucy. That’s not from me, that’s from NS! As part of his contributions, I let him put some...relatively strong abilities through. NS care to elaborate?
> 
> NS: Righto! So, as Friedrich himself mentioned a few chapters ago, his powers are not only sapient beings independent of him, they are also growing and...reproductive. Like the Shards in the Worm-verse, Friedrich’s powers will periodically create a ‘bud’ of themselves, which will spread to someone that he is familiar with. These buds can contain a particular fraction/aspect of any one of his original powers, or a copy of one of his own copies provided by the Parasite.
> 
> UO: Bottom line, every rider is gonna get one, and NO Worm fans! We already decided on who gets what. Anyway, the two shown NS?
> 
> NS: Also, none of that pesky ‘must generate conflict’ bullshit that the Shards had programmed into them. As for canon Capes, Ash now possesses the power of a Cape from Worm canon: Prism. Her power is to split into up to three clones, then merge back together for a temporary power boost.
> 
> UO: For RWBY fans think Blake’s Shadow Semblance mixed with the DOTA hero Brewmaster’s Primal Split. It looks strong already, but knowing the future chances are that we will break it open
> 
> NS: Nah, think more like Lycan from the fan-made SLVR Linen Trailer.
> 
> UO: Anyway, Lucy’s got another ability that seems out of left field for Worm.
> 
> NS: Actually, there IS a Parahuman who has an ability like it. However, Lucy’s originates from Friedrich’s Mysticism power, the Sun, which makes it magical in origin. Put simply, her new power is Portal Creation. She can generate any number of portals, linking two or more points in space to each other without having to traverse the space in between. In addition, the edges of said portals can be calibrated to become impossibly sharp. As long as she has a good enough mental image of the destination(s), she can open a portal anywhere, and potentially link one portal to many exits. Other effects could be discovered…
> 
> UO: Translation, her summoning ability got cranked to 11 and the knob is torn off. She can theoretically summon her spirits without a key now. On top of that, she can summon other people, weapons and even objects. Now there will be one more ability revealed this arc and then in the chapter after the arc, Friedrich will explain more thoroughly what these buds and powers are. Suffice to say, most will fit their powers and personalities.
> 
> NS: And finally, we have the power that Friedrich awakened last chapter. This one is an entirely separate power from all his other ones. Don’t worry, this is the last power I had planned to give him. Anything else he’ll have to copy. Anyway, the power is called Shiftmorphing. What it does is, it allows him to merge his body with any substance and then shapeshift it with himself. That’s how he was able to absorb Nirvana’s Core.
> 
> UO: And went nuts
> 
> NS: THAT was a separate issue.
> 
> Preview: Nirvana makes its march. The Allies make a desperate gamble to destroy the machine. All the while Master Brain has an Ace up his sleeve
> 
> Next time: Death of a Dream, Nirvana’s reckoning!
> 
> UO: Hope you read and review! Show some love to the other stories, especially Machina Hero, you guys really loved it! Also if you wanna talk, NSG and I are a part of Discord. He has his own that he runs and I’m on. We’re also part of Soulembrace2010’s guild and Writer’s United. Hit us up for an invite if your interested.
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOSH!


	29. Death of a Dream! End of Nirvana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Allies Final Push as Nirvana begins its Rampage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOSH  
> UO: Finally can finish this arc and get some original stuff going  
> Misty: I love what you've got planned for some of us.  
> UO: I bet you would. NS, is Fried ready to rock?  
> NS: Of course.  
> (Explosion)  
> UO: What in Sam Hill happened now!?  
> Natsu: Um...whoever's got that Jetta in the parking lot...sorry  
> UO: NATSU DRAGNEEL GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE. Someone do the disclaimer please! YOU'RE DEAD, DRAGNEEL!
> 
> Mira: Unitedosprey1991 doesn't own Pokemon, Fairy Tail or Friedrich. He only owns the plots and his OCs

Text  
 _"Thought_ **"** **  
**Timeskip/location  
 **Super Mode/Belt/Monster** **  
Attacks/Spells/Techniques**

Chapter 29: End of a Dream! Death of Nirvana!

Far from the battles taking place stood a large cat shaped building built into the mountains. This was the headquarters for Cait Shelter, Wendy's guild. Inside, an elder gentleman sat and drank from his cup watching over the guild. One of the members frantically rushed in. "Roubaul sir! Nirvana's awake!"

This caused him to spit-take. "What...No, no. Someone's gotten ahold of that horrid machine?"

"Sir, would it be wise to evacuate? From what we've seen its on its way here." Another member asked.

Roubaul closed his eyes. "...No...this is our karmic reward. We created that monstrosity and we deserve to die by it. But perhaps the ones that will fix our mistakes...are already here," he mused as the ground shook with the machine's march.

Sirris Retsnom vs Kyokan, Aquilla and Hanabi

**AURA SPHERE**

Hanabi charged a powerful pink sphere before stabbing it forward. Sirris caught the blast and reflected it back at the pink Rider. Kyokan threw her chakram to block the reflected blast before raising her other chakram and charging up an attack.

" **PSYBEAM!"** She fired the multicolored beam at the Dopant. The blast penetrated the mirror magic and dealt some damage.

" **GAH!"** Sirris growled in pain. **"You think you can beat me with parlor tricks? I'll show you one of my own!"** In the blink of an eye, he suddenly vanished.

"What the? Where did he go?" Aquilla asked.

"I think he's reflecting the light to essentially turn himself invisible," Hanabi deduced. Hearing a noise off to her right she thrust her sword at disturbance. It phased right through Sirris as if he was a dust cloud. Before she could react, she cut across her back, letting out a painful scream as her armor sparked.

"Hanabi!" Aquilla shouted as she spotted Midnight in front of her and fired on him.

Meanwhile Kyokan was trying to pick up Midnight's Aura and track where he was. But it seemed what ever magic he was made him vanish from the current plane.

 _Where are you?_ Kyokan pondered, her head on a swivel.

" **Looking for me?"** A creepy voice whispered. Before she could scream, a glint of metal sliced across her back, causing her armor to spark madly before she was blasted into the building in front of them.

Wincing as she tried standing, she realized her weapons were not with her and instead next to Sirris.

" **You had a pretty good idea trying to get around my reflective magic,"** Sirris praised. He noticed her watching her friends fighting air. **"Your friends are being fooled by my illusions. So they won't see me, end your pathetic life."** He grinned, slowly raising his blade above his head.

Kyokan tried to back up, reaching for her deck for anything that could work. As she stared down the blade, she squinted as the sun flashed, shining brightly from behind the monster, blindingly so. In fact, time seemed to slow to a crawl as the light grew brighter and brighter, whiting out everything else.

**_[Elevation]_ **

A blue and purple starry sky flashed above, a golden orb of a sun floating before her.

**_[External]_ **

Her heart thudded, and with it came a rush of energy. It wasn't Aura, but rather, something completely different, alien. It had a cool, calming feeling to it, simultaneously charged with a sharp tingling.

As Retsnom's blade swung towards her chest, that energy flowed forth, that same starry color spreading and pooling out over her armor, before suddenly hardening into a crystalline-like structure.

SNAP

The blade broke in two from the sudden appearance of the armor.

" **WHAT THE-?"**

Taking the chance given, she focused that energy into her arms and sliced upwards. Energy flowed after the slash, splitting the air as it cut through the mage's reflective magic and dealt massive damage to the stunned Dopant. His yell of pain caught the other Riders attention. Realizing they were fighting fakes, they rushed to their slowly rising comrade.

"Kyo! What happened?" Hanabi asked as she began healing her.

"Lucky shot while I was looking for him," she said kneeling down.

Aquila glanced down at her arms and noticed the starry material in her hands. "What's that?"

Kyokan looked down and saw that the material flowing over her arms. "It's...something that came to me, it actually feels nice." Something spoke to her mind. "Astral Manipulation…"

"Huh?" the Mage asked.

"It's kinda like…there's a layer of reality just a bit higher than ours, and I can pull energy from it and use it. I only just started using it, but…it feels even more powerful than my Aura." She raised her arm, and a tendril of energy raced out and gently grabbed both chakrams and pulling them back to her. "Looks like there's more to it, I think this is like being a psychic.

" **What in the hell was that!?"** Sirris asked.

Kyokan glared at the dopant behind her mask, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out her Latios card. "That was me...not taking this fight seriously," she declared before scanning it. **  
ZEN**

As her armor shifted, she turned to her teammates. "I don't think he can keep up the reflections without me punishing it. He supposedly can hide them, however…" Her purple eyes glowed. Inside her eyes turned to blue stars and saw the dopant's outline as he tried to get to his feet. "He might be able to make himself invisible, but nothing can hide on the astral plane."

" **We'll see about that!"** Sirris growled disappearing from sight.

"Yes we shall! Aquilla off your two o'clock!" Kyokan ordered as her eyes followed the supposedly hidden dopant. The Eagle Rider quickly aimed her rifle and fired two shots, hitting his shoulders.

" **GAH!"** Sirris roared as he was knocked down again as Kyokan raced forward.

Aquilla meanwhile reached down into her bandoleer and pulled out what appeared to be a large halberd.

"What's that?" Hanabi asked.

"The Robe of Yuen. From what I've noticed, he can only focus certain areas at a time. This armor should allow me to break free." She said as she placed it in her bracelet and slid it through.

**YUEN! TAKE FLIGHT!**

Aquilla's bronze armor snapped off and reformed into something resembling a kimono. It was a rich purple, with exotic flowers decorating it. Her boots came up to her knees, marked with similar flowers on them. A large bisento spear appeared in her hands.

" **Aquilla: Robe of Yuen form!"** Aquilla shouted twirling her weapon above her head and planting her staff into the ground

" **You think a change in outfits will defeat me?"** Sirris snarled. **"Have a taste of this. NIGHTMARE FALLS!"**

The area began to distort into a nightmarish realm. A Large horned demon appeared in front of, snarling at the three female riders.

Kyokan narrowed her eyes, unintimidated. "You think a mere illusion will intimidate us, especially once we know how to beat it?" Her arm glowed and formed a large spectral dagger. With one swipe, combined with a wide downward slash from Aquilla, the illusion shattered. Sirris panicked and summed more swords. Kyokan charged ahead into the storm, her chakrams whipping around in a dance of death. The blades shattered and faded away into nothing as the empathic Rider slice through them. Alongside her was Aquila using her shield to block the damage and swinging her Bisento blocking what's left. Hanabi was right behind them healing any damage with her recently learned Light magic. Translation, Sirris was screwed.

Both riders slashed one more time, shattering the reflection magic. Leaping back, Aquilla placed her weapon key in the slot while Kyokan charged up her card.

**FINAL FLIGHT!**

**LUSTER PURGE! MAXIMUM ENERGY!**

Aquila raced in, her spear glowing in green wind energy. **"YUEN HURRICANE SLASH!"** She rushed forward, magic flaring wildly before her blade slashed through the Dopant's hide, then again and again, until the blade disappeared in a flurry of metal and sparks. Then she shoved the spear underneath his legs and thrust him up into the air. Kyokan raised her chakram above her head, and with a loud cry, she thrust her hands into the weapon and fired. The metallic beam raced through the air and drilled through the dopant, exploding in mid air.

"No hard feelings," Kyokan said twirling and bowing.

Midnight landed with a thud, the destroyed memory next to him. As they powered down, Dawn picked it up. "Friedrich will be disappointed in not getting this."

"You think…this will matter?" Midnight coughed as his wrist glowed and disappeared.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"That...was my prayer. The last link in my master's seal…the alliance is doomed!"

Anabel humphed. "We'll see about that."

" _Attention Alliance members, we shall gather in the middle of town and try to devise a plan to take down Nirvana,"_ Drew's voice seemingly said in a telepathic voice.

Before Anabel could comment, her radio crackled to life. _"Heads up! Zero or Brain or whoever it is just jacked Hibiki's telepathy! I would never speak like that. Link up on the edge of town, I got sight of Nirvana! Move people it looks like its getting ready to fire!"_

Drew got off the radio and looked at the sphere in front of him as they sat on the hill overlooking the ruins. "Looks like we got three groups getting closer together we need to direct them over here." He said pointing at the globe and tracing a line. "This is a great GPS, Fried."

"It's amazing. To think my magic could be used in such a way. Now we know where our friends are," Hibiki said, amazed.

Upon regrouping, the older man had asked Hibiki for the chance to copy his magic. Upon doing so and getting used to how to control the magic digital interface, Friedrich had promptly taken it a step further by plugging his Globe Memory into it, transforming it into a powerful radar.

"Takes a little ingenuity, and a lot of imagination to bust this out. Back home, police and governments use stuff like this track people down," Friedrich explained.

"Yeah it...Ow ow ow," Drew groaned grabbing his head. Gabby and Tori who were off to side gasped.

"Drew what happened?" Tori panicked rushing over to him.

"I took a bad hit, I think I got a concussion," Drew said sitting down. "Head's hurting real bad."

Friedrich winced, glancing away. "Sorry, that…was my fault."

"What happened?" Gabby narrowed her eyes at him.

"...That whole alignment shift...Nirvana caused got him and a lucky shot got me in the head. Just check for the symptoms. I know I shouldn't…*burp* be moving around that much," Drew moaned.

"Are you seeing anything?" Tori asked holding up a light to his eye.

"...Yeah I got some stars…" Drew said slowly. The mere fact he was taking his time showed he had some head trauma.

"Let me," Wendy said softly. "If we combine our healing spells, we might be able to fix it."

"Right...Friedrich, Concussions are serious, can you check inside while we do this?" Tori asked.

"...Fried this is not...your fault. If you...feel bad, help me get...better," Drew added.

It was at this time Ash's and Misty's group came in and saw Drew on the ground. "What happened?" Ash asked.

"Someone got a lucky hit on him, he's got a concussion. Misty, help us out," Tori explained.

As the water mage knelt down, a strange ripple passed through Friedrich's coat, the navy blue turning silver for a moment. At the same time, something pulsed in his bones. "Hm?" He looked down and his eyes lit up. "Janus?"

At his question, the coat suddenly liquefied and spread across his body.

The abrupt phenomenon caught everyone off guard. "What the heck was that?" Natsu shouted, his fists ignited.

"It's fine!" Friedrich said a smile gracing his face. "More than fine, actually. An old power of mine just FINALLY woke up!"

"Huh..?" Natsu asked, with the mages gathered looking at him confused.

"Janus...you got yourself an AI too like...Tony Stark?" Drew asked amused.

"AI?" Erza asked as the rest of the mages finally linked up.

"Artificial Intelligence," Gabby explained. "Think like a magic that can operate without any outside input or perform calculations within a second." She looked up to Friedrich. "You actually made one?"

"Nope," he denied, "I had it from the beginning. This is Janus, my own personal armor. Near as I can tell, it's a living organism, which can liquify and shapeshift according to my thoughts, but can become any technological stuff I can think of. As you can imagine, it comes in handy with my Tinkering."

"So closer...to Venom...but without the relative insanity."

Snorting, Friedrich held out his hand, causing a silvery tendril to reach out and encircle Drew's head. "I don't think it even thinks on the same level as a human. It works according to my brainwaves. Anyway, let's see if I can't scan you with it. **Archive: CAT Scan."**

The fluid formed up into a hexagonal tube around Drew's temples, and a green array of magic circles flared up on the inside, forming a sphere. "Let's see…" He said as he pulled up Drew's brain intriguing the onlookers. He was surprised at how fast the Fire Guardian's brain was flaring but focused on what he perceived was the damage as, closer to the back near where he knew the vision part of his brain was. "I don't see any serious swelling. Whatever you girls are doing is bringing it down. I think it will be enough for today, but you're gonna have headaches for a few days."

"I just need to be up for the fight, we need all the manpower we got," Drew said as the slurring seized and slowly stood up. "Thanks man."

Before Friedrich could reply, Nirvana had stopped and began to power up.

"It's targeting something already. What's over there?" Ash asked.

Wendy gasped. "NO! That's Cait Shelter!"

"Why are they targeting it?" Misty asked.

"I think I know," Angel said. "It's because they're the leftover remnants of those who sealed it away in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked her prisoner.

"Master Brain, he was a researcher with the Council before being expelled. He found about the Nirvit and their sealing away of Nirvana"

"What if…" Anabel spoke up. "This Nirvit tribe built it and fell under Nirvana's influence. And they sacrificed most of their members to seal it away?"

Before they could respond, the tower finished glowing, its cannon ready to fire. Just as it reached max power, its legs were blasted by a large magical burst, breaking two of them. It was enough to throw it off balance and send the blast harmlessly away.

" _Woohoo, that's the power of Blue Pegasus!"_ Eve's voice shouted out.

" _Christina's back online!"_ Ren cheered.

Drew smiled, then frowned. "There's no way we can let them get that cannon to charge again. Hibiki, Fried is there anyway we can take this down permanently?" As they began to run into the ruins.

Both computer mages instantly scoured their Archive magic. "Got one!" Hibiki exclaimed. "In order to power it, it needs tremendous energy. Energy it absorbs from the Earth and sends into one of 6 Lacrimas."

"We need to destroy all six at the same time. If we don't, they'll just regenerate," Friedrich concluded.

As if reading their thoughts, Brain projected his voice. _"I see you've figured out how to take down Nirvana. I wish you the best of luck, because I will be waiting for you at one of the Lacrimas, HAHAHAHA!"_

"Alright then, Natsu, Friedrich, you're with me, we're taking Lacrima 1. Lucy go with Grey for two, Misty, take number three, Erza head for number four, Ichiya will take number five. Mira, Wendy, go for number six."

"What about me?" asked Ash.

Drew pointed at the base of the tower where Troopers were lining up. "I need you outside with the others clearing that. Misty has more indirect damage. I need you here to lead them."

Ash nodded and rushed in, the other Riders and mages racing after him. Friedrich turned to Drew as they headed inside. "Is there another reason why you wanted three of us instead of just Natsu?"

"Cause I think our opponent is waiting in front of the one we're going to," Drew said as he propelled himself forward.

"I can smell him out he's definitely this way," Natsu boasted as he rocketed towards the Lacrima.

"Alright, everyone who's heading towards the Lacrima call in when you get in position!" Drew ordered as they traveled up the leg.

" _One more thing I found,"_ Hibiki spoke telepathically. _"This thing takes about twenty minutes to fire. Please hurry!"_

"Great...we got a Death Star scenario!" Drew growled as they approached the lacrima prison. As they pulled up, Drew pulled out his phone, making Natsu pulled out his ring and belt. "Brain, we know you're here!"

It was silent for a few moments, before they heard chuckling. Coming down from the rafters was Brain, but he had changed significantly. Gone was the dark skin and almost jovial smile. The man in front of them had silver hair was wearing a long green Chinese chest. Most telling was the mad red eyes he was now sporting.

"I commend you for getting this far," Brain commended. "But this is where your fairy tale ends."

"Your not Brain, who the heck are you?" Drew demanded.

"I have your allies to thank for that," Brian explained. "You can say I'm another personality. One that was sealed away. The keys to the seal were in my children you defeated!"

"Oh yeah, that dragon slayer Erik, released this crazy glowing light from his wrist," Natsu realized.

"Thanks to you all, I am now free. I am Zero, but you may call me something else," He said holding up a _third_ Gaea Memory.

"How did you afford _three_ of those?" Drew asked.

"And where the hell were you keeping it?" asked Friedrich, pulling out Thorn and Whisper, "The other guy already got these off of you."

Zero's expression turned ugly at the sight of the stolen Memories. "Let's just say, being a member of the Magic Council pays well." He growled activating it.

**ARMORY**

"Question, what does taking three Memories due to someone's psyche?" Friedrich asked.

"Without a proper filter, my guess is nothing good," Drew replied pressing two buttons quickly, while Natsu activated his Fire Ring.

**STANDBY: VISCOUNT LEO**

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!**

"HENSHIN!" They both shouted.

**COMPLETE**

**FLAME! PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI!**

Zero simply slammed the Memory into his wrist. The sounds of a factory starting up filled the room as his body shifted and twisted into a metal amalgamation. His shoulders contained two six-pack missile launchers, his arms a pair of retractable swords, while his chest contained a large cannon, and his fingers hard hollowed out into gatling guns.

"What the heck is all of that?" Draco asked dumbfounded.

"That...is essentially an entire regimental weapon depot in the hands of one man!" Zodiac realized. He quickly shifted Leonid to the Sheathe on his back and in a flash of light, pulled out Regulus.

"I call dibs!" Friedrich grinned.

"You would!" Zodiac shouted back.

"Like you would?"

" **Then take it from me! Ground Zero! GENESIS BURST!"** His fingers lit up with bursts of machine gun fire. Draco didn't know what they were, but his instincts were telling him to dodge quickly. He rolled out of the way and ducked behind the lacrima.

Zodiac rolled out of the way before pulling out Brave and pulling the trigger. Instead of firing a round, a large magic circle appeared in front of him. Rolling again, he pulled a second time, causing the circle to flash and pulse out even larger, a smaller one appearing in front of it. He repeated this four more times, creating a stack of six circles.

" **You scared to attack me, boy, with all of the firepower I possess?"** Zero taunted, floating through the room as the spent cartridges dropped to the floor.

I'd be more worried about my setup!" Zodiac replied, holding up his revolver. The dopant looked around and spotted six magical circles and began to panic as large bullets slowly popped out. "Eat lead! **FULL CAROUSEL!** " The bullets fired at supersonic speeds, lodging themselves into his body. Then he fired shot he was charging into him. Zero screamed as all the rounds detonated, doing massive damage.

The flames were quickly absorbed by Draco who snapped his head back. **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" **The flames' intensity doubled as he sucked them in, and then fired back a massive column of fire. The impact kicked up a massive shock wave that shook the room, kicking up the floor and cracking the Lacrima. "Did we get him?" Draco called out as he landed.

"Considering this is the boss, no way he went down that easy," replied Zodiac swinging his sword around.

" **You are CORRECT!"** roared the Dopant, stomping out of the smoke, untouched. **"Dark Capricco!"** He thrust his hand forward, machine guns erupting with a multitude of dark energy bursts. The allies quickly dodged the supersonic bullets, impacting the wall behind them.

" **Your underestimating me, I am nothing like my previous form!"** As he said this, the bullets soared out and raced towards the Riders. Unable to dodge them, the bullets struck Draco and Zodiac in the back.

" **You see this, you can't stop me! You can't stop destiny!"** Zero laughed only to be hit by four nails into the shoulder.

"Maybe not, but I don't believe in any destiny you can predict! I'm kicking your ass and taking that memory!" Friedrich shouted, rushing him. His coat turned silver and liquified, conforming around him and solidifying into a flexible armor, a smooth mask with glowing red eyepieces covering his face. With a flash of green light, a large, boxy exo-fist formed around his arm, which he _smashed_ into the Dopant, sending him skidding back with a grunt. _"Ohhh, it's_ good _to be back!"_ he cackled. A pair of tendrils rose from his shoulders, forming into a pair of sleek spikes, carved with magic symbols. **_"Command V! Iron Dragon's Goring Fangs!"_** The spikes extended, rocketing forward to punch into Ground Zero's torso with a shower of sparks.

As the two clashed, Zodiac got to his feet woozily. "Okay, that didn't help my headache. Draco, you alright?"

The dragon slayer groaned. "Damn it, are bullets supposed to hurt?"

"Well if it wasn't for these armors, we would be keeping our guts in." Zodiac quipped. Something caught his eye and he turned to see Jellal stumbling in. "What the?"

"Jellal? What the hell are you doing here?"

" **So you've come back to help defeat our foe. Have your memories returned?"** Zero asked, only for Friedrich to nail him across the face.

"What is with people not focusing on their targets!" he grumbled.

"I wouldn't be talking!" Zodiac snapped. Turning to the blue haired mage he frowned. "What's going on? Why are you here?"

Jellal stared at the Riders. "Before I recovered my memories...in the Woodward Sea I...remember, three things from before. One was that I was defeated by you, Natsu here and...Erza because I was a dark mage."

"Of course we beat you, you made Erza cry!" Draco growled.

"And that's the last thing I remember. You are a ray of hope." He ignited his hands and held it up to the dragon slayer. "Take this."

"Why?"

"This power, it's called the Flames of Rebuke. It...will give you the power needed to win."

"And your giving this to me?" Draco asked.

"Because Erza believes in you. So I believe in you. Take these flames, save this world."

Draco stared at the golden hand, and looked at Zodiac who nodded. "Take them. They're not gonna harm you."

Seeing the confirmation, Draco took the blue-haired mage's hand. The flames settled into his hand, before without hesitation he swallowed it up. Once the flames were absorbed, his armor began to glow brightly.

"What...is going on?" Draco asked.

Zero rolled away from Friedrich's slash and noticed the glow. **"That power, that ultimate power, I know what it is!"**

As the glow died down, Draco looked at his arms. "This is amazing…I feel like I could go head to head with Gildarts!"

Zodiac looked down at his friends waist and noticed another glow. "Draco, look at your left hip!"

The rider looked down and noticed four new rings that weren't there before. Each of them had a different picture, the red one had a dragon's head, the blue had a tail, green wings and yellow claws.

Friedrich looked at Draco and grinned. "I know what it is too. Say hello to your upgrades Draco. It's DragonForce!"

"DragonForce? This magic feels more than my armor. Its…" Before he could say anything, Jellal shoved him out of the way and took a large beam to the chest. "Jellal!"

"Crud! Friedrich, I need you over here! Draco, use one of your upgrades, I'll cover you!" Zodiac shouted.

Draco nodded and grabbed the red ring and slipped it on before flipping the Hand author. Then he thrust his left hand over it.

**FLAME…**

A magic circle opened beside him, and he thrust his right hand through it.

**DRAGON!**

**BOU.** Flames erupted around the dragon slayer as the armor glowed brightly. **BOU!** His helmet broke through the whirlwind first, revealing a metallic helmet with overlapping horizontal plates, ending in a sharp jagged jaw, ruby eyes blazing with flames. His right arm erupted, forming into a serpentine dragon of flames that spiraled around him. **BOU BOU BOU!** The rest of the flames dissipated, becoming completely Ruby red with ridges up and down his armor, his cape having burned away. Completing the look, his boots had turned into metallic talons.

Draco looked at his new armor and clenched his fists before crossing his right arm. **Kamen Rider Draco: Dragonforce Flame!"**

Zero laughed. **"This is perfect! Once I defeat you I will be the most powerful being in the world!"** He charged at the dragon slayer, his shoulder mounted launchers firing off their loads.

Friedrich glanced up from where he was healing Jellal. _"Get in line, bucko. There's more th_ ** _an one Dragonforce user here. Blazing Dragon!"_**

Friedrich's armor began to bubble and shift, melting away from parts of his body as flames burst forth. It retracted entirely from his flaming left arm, leaving it bare. His helmet warped, a set of tubes forming around the top, from which fire spewed like horns.

Holding up his flaming arm, it erupted with twin streams of fire, which coiled around each other and roared towards the missiles, engulfing. As a result, they exploded in a flash of fire and massive orbs of darkness.

"And now we got two freaking fire dragons…" Zodiac groaned. "Well, might as well join them." He held his hands together gathering magic in hands. **" LION'S GATLING!"**He thrust his hands forward, launching multiple tiny fireballs that chased after the dopant while wrecking the walls.

" **By taking Jellal's flames, you've also taken his sins,"** Zero taunted. **"Are you so desperate to win that your willing to side with a criminal?"**

"Shut up!" Draco roared, his feet igniting and propelling him forward "We're Fairy Tail! Whatever sins we have, we bear them! The real sin is averting your eyes and breaking your bonds!" He screamed. His shoulder drilled into the dopant's stomach and blasted them into the walls, shattering the material underneath. Not even hesitating, he flipped him over, before pumping Urvan and putting a round into the dopant's chest. Zero screamed as he fell to the floor as the dragon slayer continued the chase. He fired off another Dark Capricco, but Draco's large fists deflected the beam away and then countered with a series of punches. One punch broke Zero's guard, but he used it to bash the dragon slayer's head. Draco swung him back up to the ceiling. **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"** He took a deep breath and unleashed a much more powerful flame than ones he's launched before and drilled the Dopant to the ceiling.

"Incredible, I've never been this strong before! Its like my Guardian powers are amplifying the flames Jellal gave me! Its like the Ethernano I ate.

"That was a serious boost, and look your not sick. By the way! Friedrich is he stable?" Zodiac called back.

"He's not in danger of dying if that's what your asking!" Friedrich replied.

" **I wouldn't be so cocky Dragon Slayer! If I had that power, you'd all be destroyed!"**

"Well ya don't, I do!" Friedrich taunted.

" **THEN PERISH! DARK GRAVITY!"**

Underneath the allies, the floor shattered, kicking up debris and dropping through several floors into the basement below. Zodiac quickly righted himself and propelled himself to Draco. Seeing Zero racing towards him his hands stretched out to fire his guns, he grabbed his phone.

**STANDBY CHANGE: VIRGO**

His momentum carried him in front of Draco and in time to intercept several bullets fired from his hands. They landed heavily, Draco on his feet, Zodiac on his back, rolling away.

" **You can't stop me!"** Ground Zero covered his fists in darkness, creating two large whips, before segmented blades filled them in, transforming them into serrated lashes. He snapped his arms back ready to strike the Riders when four nails impacted his back.

"Don't forget me asshole!" Friedrich shouted, forcing Zero to focus one of the whips on him. This allowed Draco to tilt back and fire off a Fire Dragon's Roar. Though he made contact, Zero flew away and fired off multiple green disks at the dragon slayer. Seeing Zodiac flying towards him, he directed his missile launchers to fire at the other Guardian.

" **Your just wasting your time,"** Zero taunted as Draco raced at him. He simply raised his hand to block the punch, causing a shockwave to form. **"I am a guild master of the Oracion Seis, one of the Four Greatest Dark Guilds in the world. You are nothing but mages from an ordinary guild!"** He grabbed Draco and kicked him away. **"How could you keep up with the likes of me?!"**

"'Cause our bonds are what keep us strong!" Draco replied slamming his fists into the ground. "Everyone of us are fighting. Our voices are united! I will crush you with all of the training we've done, the power of my Dragon Force and the power of my Guardian Heritage a!" As he shouted, the flames got larger. "You think you can stop us? Think again!"

Zero sighed. **"Pathetic. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted! You three could have made such good Dark Mages! Now your deaths will pave a way for the future that is darkness!"** A large amount of magic began together in hands while the guns and missiles located around his body began to glow.

"Draco, I think we got this if we can survive this next attack, there's no way he's not running low!" Zodiac called out.

"Then let's end this before he gets there!" Draco replied pounding his fists and grabbing Urvan. "How about a new attack?" His glowing red arm flashed, losing cohesion and flowing out over the axe, absorbing it. Then, with a roar, he thrust his hand into the air, letting it burst upwards and taking on the same shape as his weapon. " **Crimson Lotus: Exploding Crimson Axe Crusher!"**

Zero grinned and mirrored his charge. **"Once your dead history will be mine! This is the end of an era and the Genesis of the Age of Darkness! GENESIS ZERO!" **He threw his hand forward and fired the large green shape behind Draco. A rift opened up into a large void of Darkness.

" **This is the Land of Nii. Anything I toss in there is erased from existence! LET ME SHOW YOU!"** Before Draco could react, the missiles and guns all focused on him before unleashing their payload. The dragon slayer screamed as he was flung into the void, his armor sparking and breaking off.

"DRACO!" Zodiac and Friedrich shouted.

" **And that's one! You should surrender now if don't want to die like your friend!"**

Zodiac growled. "He's not dead!" He turned to the void. "DRACO! Are you or are you not a Dragon Slayer!? Are you or are you not A Guardian!? THIS POSER IS NOTHING!"

" **HOW DARE YOU! DARK CAPRICCO!"** He fired another beam at Zodiac only for Friedrich to deflect it away.

" _That trick's getting old. Lemme show you how it's motherfuckin'_ done!" Friedrich shouted. A ball of darkness formed in his burning hand, a corona of blue flames flaring up around it, before he thrust his palm forward, a beam of his own blasting forth. **"Blazing Dragon's Dark Capricco!"**

His copied and mixed attack drilled through the Dopant's darkness, burning it away before slamming into Zero's stomach, flames and darkness warping the many weapons along his torso.

While the battle was going on, Zodiac was still shouting into the void. "You listen to me! You are stronger than this! Where's your damn pride as a Fairy Tail Mage? Do you roll over and die? NO YOU DON'T! You get your butt out here and kick his ass do you hear me? Or am I gonna have to go in there, kick some sense into you and throw you at him! NOW GET UP AND FIGHT!"

As Zodiac was shouting, Draco floated in the increasing blackness. "He's...right...but I've...got no energy left…"

Just then an orb of light floated in front of him. _"Natsu…"_

He cracked his eyes open… "Igneel…?"

" _Get up boy! You're no Dragon Slayer if you lose to this man!"_

"You're...right...but my body…" Then Draco remembered something from his childhood, one of his training sessions with Igneel.

_Flashback (Natsu Age 6)_

" _What?" Natsu asked._

" _Break this rock! It's easy for a Dragon slayer!" Igneel chuckled. Said rock was easily twice his height_

" _But it's so big…" Natsu grumbled._

_Igneel chuckled and brought his snout to his son. "Now now, it's not impossible. You're strong, you've not only got an inner fire to you, but something much bigger."_

" _Really?" The pinkette asked._

" _Indeed. All you need is pride in your abilities and as a Dragon Slayer! Believe in yourself and your heart will follow!"_

Flashback End

"Pride in myself...Pride in my power! Pride as a Guardian!"

He heard Zodiac shouting something but he caught the last sentence. "NOW GET UP AND FIGHT!"

"You want me to fight?" Draco laughed. His power reignited burning away the magic holding him. "I'm ALL FIRED UP! RAAAGGHH!" With a loud roar, the spell holding him shattered.

" **WHAT!?"** Zero screamed in disbelief. **"WHAT IS THIS POWER!?**

Draco crouched and let out a much louder and much more powerful roar. A terrifying visage of a red dragon became visible to the fighters.

Zodiac seeing this radioed the others. "If everyone's ready, we're about to bust this open!" He looked at Draco and Friedrich. "Let's do this!" He called to Friedrich activating his phone.

**STANDBY LEO: FINISHER**

"Alright!" Friedrich cheered, gather energy in his chest.

Zero took a step back. **"Is this...a Dragon Slayer's power?"**

 **FINALE! PUNCH STRIKE! SAIKOU~~!** Draco's ring announced. All the flames around the room gathered into his arm. With a roar, he charged in, his giant arm glowing and transforming into a large draconic fist, glowing as if powered by lava. Behind him, Zodiac and Friedrich finished charging their attacks, and prepared to fire. A long blade sprang from Friedrich's right gauntlet, glowing orange with heat, while two orbs gathered into Zodiac's hands.

" **LION'S INFERNO CANNON!"**

" **BLAZING DRAGON'S FANG!"**

From Friedrich's blade, the tip glowed as his power spiked, and he swung with lightning speed, splitting the air and launching a white-hot shockwave. Meanwhile, Zodiac clasped his hands together, smashing the two orbs into one. The orb grew before racing off in a sonic boom. The two attacks followed Draco empowering him as he raced forward. His Arm ignited, a visage of a Phoenix trailing after him.

" **CRIMSON LOTUS: PHOENIX BLADE!"** His roar echoed through the chamber as he crashed into Zero and shoved him through the holes in the floors they created before. Ignoring the floors, he kept pushing, his goal the Lacrima in front of them. They smashed through it like it wasn't even there, shattering it into pieces while at the same time destroying the Dopant body. At the same time, the rest of their friends launched their strongest attacks at the other Lacrima. With a timing only known to the ages, all six hit at the same time. The Lacrimas were blown into dust, Nirvana lost all its power and stopped moving.

Draco landed in a crouch grinning over the fallen body of Zero. "That's...why you don't mess with Fairy Tail," he panted, powering down.

Friedrich and Drew flew up through the hole with Jellal as the Rider quickly called everyone. "Are the other Lacrimas gone?"

" _Done on my end!"_ Misty cheered.

" _Likewise!"_ Mira concurred.

" _We're good too!"_ Lucy revealed.

" _A successful venture on my end!"_ Ichiya revealed.

" _And that's six for six!"_ Erza finished.

Drew let out a whoop. "Hibiki how much time did we have left?"

" _You could have done it sooner? There's was like two seconds left!"_

Drew laughed and whooped. "Mission Impossible got nothing on us!"

As Drew was checking in, Friedrich walked up to the sprawled body of Zero. "Well I'll be damned," he uttered, picking up a red Gaea Memory marked with an A, "Even that new, powered up finisher didn't break this thing. That's promising."

As he walked over to Natsu, he didn't see Zero waking up nor him charging up an attack from his arm. "Take away my dream will you? Then your payment shall BE YOUR LIFE!"

Friedrich and Draco were caught off guard as the traveler turned, weapon flashing into his hand, while Natsu tried to drum up energy to fight.

*BANG*

A loud shot rang out, echoing through the chamber. Zero jerked as a hole opened in the middle of his forehead, before he collapsed, dead. Behind him, Drew had seen Zero stand up and on reflex, pulled out Osceola and shot him in the head.

Friedrich whistled. "Wow…those were some fast fingers."

Drew lowered the gun and sighed. "I keep telling myself to only do that to real people in self defense. I saw him charging it up, I acted." Holstering his weapon, he shook his head. "Doesn't make it easier."

"No," agreed the older man, in a tone that indicated that he understood completely, "It doesn't."

Just then the tower began to rumble and crack. Drew groaned. "Not again!"

"That's part of the Fairy tail charm! Busting bad guys and property damage!" Natsu cheered.

"You say it like this isn't the first time you've been in a collapsing tower?" Friedrich asked.

"It's the third time!" Drew snapped.

"Seriously?" Friedrich deadpanned.

"Tower of Heaven and Phantom Lord's Castle!" Drew replied.

Friedrich made a move to respond but then he closed his mouth. "Right! Let's move!"

Drew grabbed an unconscious Jellal and they raced to the exit. They got three steps before the exit was closed off. "Damn it! We're cut off!" Then he noticed a large ripple in the air leading outside. "Question do we stay here and die or take the portal to God knows where?" He asked rhetorically as they headed toward the portal.

Once they landed outside, the portal shut closing off the explosion. Friedrich took a look around and was baffled. "Did we just go through an interdimensional portal?"

"You did," Lucy answered, "I got everyone out using them. Loke and my spirits helped."

Friedrich blinked. "Wait... _you_ made them?"

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Drew asked the traveler. Before he could reply, Wendy tackled Natsu out of sheer gratitude. "Tell us later when we actually pay attention," He muttered.

Grey looked at the gathered group and noticed Jellal. "Jellal," he growled reaching for Tundra.

"Stand down." Drew ordered to everyone's surprise. "He helped us out during Nirvana's awakening and helped take down the Lacrima despite his memories being shot."

Erza approached Jellal. "Jellal...I'm glad you're alive."

The blue haired man smiled gently. "Likewise." He put his hands through her tresses. "Despite my memories being gone, I remember why I gave you your last name. Hair as fiery as the sun." Said red haired woman blushed red at the memory. He glanced at Natsu. "You take care of her you hear me Dragneel?"

Natsu grinned. Just then Ichiya's voice panicked. "What the devil? Something's blocking me from using the little gentleman's room."

Wendy looked at the ground. "I see some strange lettering on the ground."

"Its runes!" Jura realized. "Whoever it is wants us here."

"Indeed!" A voice called out. Everyone turned to see a division of knights lead ny a dark haired man in glasses.

Gajeel recognized him."Lahar? What are you doing here?"

Lahar noticed Gajeel and Friedrich. "Nice to see you too gentlemen. I hope you haven't gotten into too much trouble. Sadly, I'm on official business. As ordered by the reformed Magic Council, the Oracion Seis are to be taken into custody. We've already detained three."

Hoteye stepped forward, his demeanor had completely changed. "I see, then I shall surrender myself to you." He turned to Jura. "Thank you for sparing my life. I just wish I knew where my brother is?"

"You mean Wally?" Erza asked. "He was with some of our old friends last I saw. He's doing alright for himself.

Hoteye nodded, tears flowing. "Thank you." He then approached Lahar and didn't struggle when they cuffed him.

Angel nodded and turned to Lucy. "Hey. Lucy."

"Yeah?" The blonde asked, only to have two gold keys thrust in her face.

"Take care of these, will ya? Once the spirit king knows I got arrested, my contract will be broken." Lucy nodded and took them. As the white haired girl walked to the Knights, she glanced at Friedrich. "Hey you."

"Me?" Friedrich asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look me up sometime when I get out," she purred, winking, before being led away.

"Really dude." Drew groaned. Looking at Lahar. "Anything else, or are we good here? Some of us are tired."

"Unfortunately, no," said Lahar, glaring at Jellal. "Jellal Fernandez. By order of the Magic Council and the Fiore Military you are to be put under arrest, for dark magic and High Treason! Come quietly or lethal force will be used.

This got the Fairy Tail mages to protest loudly. "What!?" Natsu screamed his fists ignited. "He lost his memories, he's a different mage! I'll fight you all right now!" This got the Knights to assume fighting positions and the Fairy Tail mages rallied to defend their friend.

"ALL! OF YOU! STAND! THE HECK DOWN!" Drew ordered to everyone's shock. "As much as you want to defend Jellal, he still committed crimes that could have destroyed us all. We defend him, we're accessories."

"He's right," Friedrich agreed. "Just because he's our friend does not mean we can pervert justice."

Drew walked up to Jellal and glanced at Lahar. "We hand him over, execution is off the table, deal?"

Lahar nodded. "Agreed. Mr. Fernandez if you would?"

"No," Erza whispered, as tears began to flow. taking Jellal's arm. "Please, I just got you back. Don't go."

Jellal simply hugged her letting her cry on his shoulders. "I've done bad things Erza. Many horrible things. Let me redeem myself with this. You have to let me go."

Erza sniffled and nodded. He turned to Wendy and knelt down. "I'm sorry little one for not remembering that I saved you."

"Its okay, its been a long time," Wendy agreed and then hugged him. "Thank you anyway."

Jellal nodded and walked to the Rune Knights who cuffed them and led them into a waiting carriage.

Drew sighed as the Knights left. "What a freaking mess. Ughhh…someone get me some Advil...or benadryl I need to sleep this whole day off!" He grumbled walking away, Gabby and Tori in tow."

Everyone agreed that they should get some rest after the ordeal they had. Fortunately, _Christina_ had enough living space for all, so Blue Pegasus offered them to spend the night before heading home next day.

Next Morning, just before sunrise

Erza sat on the deck of _Christina,_ her arms around her knees. She sat in contemplation as her past and present thoughts were warring in her head. So lost in thought, she didn't realize someone was sitting down next to her. "Hey," Lucy said.

"Oh…" Erza stuttered, responding sluggishly. "Hello, Lucy. I didn't know you were up."

"Hard not to notice when one of my bed mates is missing," Lucy shrugged. She scooted closer and hugged the redhead closer getting her friend to blush. "What's up?"

Erza continued to stare into the sky. "Jellal. We've been through so much together. He may have attacked me, almost made our friends kill each other. But before all of that, we were just orphans trying to survive." She glanced at Lucy. "I wished we could be free. All of us. But we were just orphans, nothing but trash. No one would care about us. That's why when Jellal betrayed me it hurt. And now I just got him back after I thought I killed him, and he's in jail." She started to sniffle. "Its not fair!"

Lucy pulled her partner closer and placed Erza on her shoulder. The normally composed mage bawled her eyes out as memories of her painful past flood through. The Guardian said nothing and threaded the soft scarlet tresses. After a few minutes, she felt Erza calm down enough for her to give her light kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you," Erza whispered.

"No problem, honey," Lucy replied back and went back to watching the sunrise. After a few moments of silence, they heard shuffling and looked up to see Drew walking onto the deck. Seeing their position, Erza squeaked and buried her head into Lucy's shoulder, making the blonde giggle.

"Hey girls, you're up early," he said softly.

"Could say the same," Lucy replied.

"I slept for nine hours, needed to get some air." He looked at Erza and rolled his eyes. "I deal with May and Dawn being tooth rotting sweet to Ash on a regular basis, you think you and Lucy hugging like that is gonna phase me?"

"I...just…" Erza sputtered.

"You just don't like public or noticeable affection?" At her blush, he chuckled. "Let me tell ya, I'm a pretty private person myself. So's Tori and Gabby. We don't like showing our relationship in public, partly due to the stigma."

The girls absorbed the information given to them. It did explain why the Fire Guardian was rarely in the thick of things or even in the guild save for meal times. The Guardian looked over the horizon. "In life there are difficult choices. And I feel we're gonna make harder choices in the future." He looked at Erza. "I didn't do what I did yesterday because I wanted to, or just outta spite. I did it to make sure we didn't end up like Oracion Seis. This new Magic Council, I got a bad feeling about them. Anyway." He walked toward them. "I want you to know, any decision I make, I make for a reason. They might be a bad decision at first glance, but they'll work out in the end."

Erza nodded. "I know, and thank you."

Drew smiled. As the rest of the ship woke up, _Christina_ took to the sky towards Cait Shelter's location. An hour of flying later, they landed it in front of the Cait Shelter guild. Wendy rushed out of the ship to greet the guildmaster who chuckled and patted her head. "I'm so glad your okay Wendy." He turned to the rest of the Allied forces. "Thank you. All of you. Nirvana's been destroyed thanks to your help."

Natsu grinned. "Well then we should celebrate!"

Roaubul shook his head. "No,' He said making people stop. "What you did was destroy our greatest failure."

"Greatest failure?" Drew asked.

"You see, we aren't the descendants of the Nirvit Tribe. We ARE the Nirvit Tribe. And I was the last of them."

"What are you saying? You're…ghosts?" Lucy asked.

Roanbul closed his eyes. "We built Nirvana 400 years ago to contain the world's evil. We thought we succeeded. But all that darkness entered our hearts...and we turned on each other. Until only I was left."

"But what about the guild?" Wendy asked hoping what she feared wasn't true.

Roanbul looked at Wendy. "Seven years ago, a young boy came with you sleeping on his back to this site and asked me to watch over you. When you woke up, you told me that this Jellal was taking you to a guild. I decided to lie and created the Cait Shelter guild. Everyone one of the guild was made to raise you and make you happy. Though we maybe fakes...the memories we had together were all real.

"What happens to you now?" Wendy asked her eyes watering.

"Now that our mistake has been rectified...it's time for me to go...I'm sorry Wendy. But do not despair, young one. You will always have us in your heart."

"No!" Wendy screamed her tears flowing. "Don't GO! PLEASE!" She raced around, calling out everyone's names as they vanished in front of her. The Allies looked away, some of them sniffling as well. Wendy collapsed to her knees and covered her face, her cries heart-wrenching. After a few moments, Dawn, May and Erza approached her, with the Aura girls hugging them close and soothing her with gentle and kind words.

"It will be okay, sweetie," May assured her.

"You got us now. If you want," Dawn told her.

Wendy looked up through her hands and tears to gaze despondently at their smiling faces. "R-really?"

"You can with us to Fairy Tail you and Charle. We can be your new family. It might not replace the memories you made here, but you've got plenty of people to take care of you," Erza said.

"Yeah, I always wanted a baby sister," Dawn said softly."

Wendy began to cry again but in happiness. Dawn and May nuzzled her cheeks before the lolita scooped her up. Walking back to the Aura team, Dawn bashfully asked. "So uh...you mind if we add one more to our guild?"

This got Fairy Tail to laugh as they loaded back onto _Christina._ Drew looked back at the ruins of Cait Shelter to see the spirits of Cait Shelter smiling at him. He gave them a salute as they disappeared one more time.

"What are you looking at?" Friedrich asked.

"Just committing to memory this place," Drew revealed.

The man nodded, biting his lip as he spared a glance back himself. "Yeah…that's not a bad idea."

Drew hummed. "Darkness is in all of us. Nirvit thought they could destroy it, only to be corrupted." He turned to board the ship Friedrich doing the . "You know what's the difference between Yuzan and us?"

"What?" Friedrich asked him

"We can stare into the abyss and know we got people holding the rope."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, we got friends to bring us back if we ever go to far. I didn't give up on you when we fought. And I know you'd do the same," Drew finished, patting the man's shoulder.

Friedrich smiled as they boarded the airship to go home, their mission accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Oracion Arc done! Next arc is original! *Looks at notes* NS care to explain the buds explored?
> 
> NS: Aye, let's get right into it. In this chapter, Friedrich's Mysticism power has decided to share a portion of itself with Anabel. The Mystic encompasses knowledge of the universe beyond the physical, including the dimensions beyond. Anabel has been granted access to the Astral Plane, which deals with the subtle workings of mind and soul. She can, of course, draw energy from it into the physical plane, but Astral Manipulation works best behind the scenes.
> 
> UO: To DC fans, Raven's powers work like this in a way. To DOTA fans, this is basically Templar Assassin in a nutshell. She's gonna learn said assassin abilities in the future. If you think she's hard to hit now, wait until she has a constant shield going. Next chapter we're gonna explain what these buds are. As for who gets what, we have all the buds planned out for all the Riders. Current and Future ones.
> 
> Preview: As Friedrich explains his past, a quest sends Team Natsu and Team Aura into the mountains where they find a tribe worshipping one of the past Knights. Can Erza live up to their expectations and soar like an eagle.
> 
> Next Time: Fly On The Wings of An Eagle! Erza's Great Flight!


	30. Fly On the Wings of an Eagle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious bird leads to a village that contains the next Temple! What surprises will they encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOOSH
> 
> UO: Let’s keep up the momentum! ORIGINAL ARC TIME!
> 
> Natsu: Huh?
> 
> Drew: It means the next few chapters are gonna not involve canonical events. While most would be filler, the next few chapters are important for the overall plot.
> 
> Erza: I see…*Notices Natsu gone* Where’s Natsu?
> 
> UO: I caught him fighting with Katsuki. 
> 
> Natsu: *Growls while tied up*
> 
> Lucy: And Grey?
> 
> Juvia: LOVE RIVAL! *Cries and floods the whole studio*
> 
> UO: *Spits out water* There’s a song there I swear. Disclaimer, please.
> 
> Misty: *Floating in the water* UnitedOsprey1991 and NSG Don’t own Fairy Tail, Pokemon, Kamen Rider and any other references. He owns the plot and NSG owns Friedrich

“Speech  
Text  
 _Thought_ **  
Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
Attacks/Spells/Techniques**

Chapter 30: Fly on the Wings of An Eagle!

September 7th X784

Friedrich sat down at a table staring at the group surrounding him. All the Riders had gathered and sat around him waiting for what was bound to be a lengthy lecture.

“So, talking with Lucy, Anabel, and Ash, they told me they saw something like…a spider?” Drew glanced at Ash who nodded. “And a sun?” He directed this nod to the girls nodded as well. “And then they had these weird abilities that I know weren't there before.

“Like?” Friedrich asked.

Instead of answering, Ash split into 3 without prompting, while Anabel’s arms became coated in a dark kind of mystical energy.

“I see, I see…” murmured the man, nodding and looking unsurprised. “Well, if I’m gonna spill my secrets…you need to pay the price.”

“And what price do you propose?” Erza narrowed her eyes.

“Your belts.” Friedrich then raised his hands before anyone could protest. “I don’t want them permanently! But I’m extremely curious what they do, how you get the armors, all that jazz. So, while I’m explaining, I want to tinker with your belts.”

This made some of the Riders uncomfortable, especially those who’d had them the longest. The belts were always said to be valuable, at least according to Drew. Was it worth it? Their choice was taken out of their hands when Drew took his phone and gently laid it out in front of Friedrich.

“You told me you felt left out, this is the start of bringing you in,” He said, smiling. His actions spurred the others as one by one they summoned their belts and placed it on the table in front of him.

“Wow, thank you,” Friedrich said smiling. “I can ask Levy to help chronicle these later. Now,” he grabbed the Zodiac phone. “What do you know about my world, or rather the world I called home for 10 years?”

“You said there were capes that got abilities from these Trigger events and like anything there’s those who use for good and bad,” Tori counted off.

“Yes. Well, that’s a generalization, but you _are_ correct. See, Capes were widespread enough, with varied enough powers, that in my time that the Parahuman Response Team had developed a classification system for Capes.”

“Classes?” Natsu asked confused.

“It means each person is assigned to a different group based on different factors,” Lucy explained.

Friedrich bobbed his head from side to side. “Well, nothing as concrete as that. They were more shorthand for the PRT to let each other know what to expect when going into a conflict. Wasn’t that unusual for a Cape to have multiple tags on their powers.”

“So...what are they and how do they apply to us?” Anabel asked.

He snorted and began reciting in an almost sing-song voice.

“Mover, shaker,  
Brute and Breaker

Master, Tinker,  
Blaster, Thinker

Striker, Changer,  
Trump and Stranger.”

Seeing their bewildered faces, Friedrich smiled ruefully and explained. “Mover is pretty simple; any power that makes a Cape hard to pin down in some way. Super-speed, teleportation, flight, proficiency with vehicles, etc.”

“So like Jet?” Levy asked.

“Yeah, exactly,” he agreed, nodding, “Shaker is for any powers that have an AoE.” He picked up a few of Natsu’s rings, grimacing. “Christ these are clunky.”

“AO—what?” Gajeel asked.

“Area of Effect.” Gabby replied. “It means attacks that don’t affect just a single person but the area around them.”

“Correct. Think… Gabby’s arrows vs Drew’s Fire attacks. Or the aftermath of every mission Natsu is on. Brute sounds simple, but there’s a bit more to it. In addition to super strength, it encompasses anything that would make a Cape difficult to subdue by force. Enhanced durability, regeneration, all that stuff. Judging from what I’ve seen, all your guys’ armors would give you a decent Brute rating at least.”

“Good to know,” Lucy said unsure.

“After that, we’ve got Breaker powers. These ones are a bit… odd, or esoteric. Basically, a lot of them involve the Cape changing into a state where the laws of physics don’t work the same on them, or changing other things. For instance, Clockblocker’s power, which I used against you guys in our training.”

Dawn flinched, getting May to rub her hand sympathetically. 

“Next we have Masters. Any power that involves affecting another living being falls under this. Having Pokemon fight for you, for instance, could be considered a Master power. Some Masters can create minions, while most make do with pre-existing creatures. Masters who affect humans… tend to be regarded with suspicion, especially after Canary…” He shook himself. “After Masters, we’ve got my personal favorite, Tinkers.”

“Sounds like a building type.” Brock theorized.

Friedrich grunted, holding up Lucy’s belt. “What I’m doing right now is what Tinkers mainly do. Unlike most Capes, they have similar powers: they can create technologies that go lightyears beyond anything that modern science is capable of. Only differences are, each Tinker has different specializations. I’m unique in that I can continually choose and improve what specializations I have.”

“And the tech you’ve already shown us is hundreds of years ahead of ours,” Mira realized.

“That’s right. Tinkers can range from ones who make vehicles to guns to making things as small and efficient as possible, to things that are modular, to even medical-type equipment or procedures.” His expression darkened. “That last one is just as feared as human-controlling Masters, though, due to one particularly infamous villain…”

“Bonesaw,” Drew said. “When you got put under the spell, I remembered you did talk about him and how he was like the devil. In comic book or manga terms, how bad was he?”

“She,” corrected Friedrich quietly, “Was like Harley Quinn and the Joker finally had a demon-child and not kidnapped Tim Drake. I don’t know what Jack Slash did to get her on his side, but whatever it was, she was by far the thing people feared most about the Slaughterhouse Nine. If Mannequin got you, he’d just cut you up. If Siberian got you, she’d eat you. Crawler would just rampage. But Bonesaw? There were people who lived for years after she was done with them. If you could even call them people anymore.”

“Okay, we can talk about them later, let’s...move on before some of us get sick,” Misty suggested woozily.

He shook himself. “Right. Sorry. After Tinker, we’ve got the Blasters. Pretty straightforward: anything that involves projectiles or long-range. One of the Triumvirate, Legend, was pretty much the peak of this; seemed like he had lasers for just about any situation.” He glanced down at his side with aggravation. “And for some reason, none of those situations seem to warrant me getting to use any of ‘em!” 

This made everyone chuckle at how childish he sounded for a moment.

“Ah, right. Ash, your power comes from a Cape named Prism, a Hero. I believe her power would be classified as Master, since it creates clones, and either Brute or Breaker, due to the power boost you get from merging with them again. Lucy, your portals would absolutely be pure Mover, and a VERY high rating of it too. Anabel, you’re a Shaker, though since you can use it to directly coat your body in a force field, you can tack a bit of Brute on there as well.”

He continued. “Thinker is anything that affects the user’s own consciousness, mind or perception in some way. Precognitives are all Thinkers, but they all tell the future in different ways. Striker is any power that can only be used by touch range…” Friedrich glanced at Drew. “Grey Boy was a Striker, as was Clockblocker. Changer is basically shapeshifting, usually something like transforming into an alternate form with its own powers. Kamen Riders by their nature would be Changers. Trump is kinda like the wildcard; they can affect other people’s powers. Nullifying, boosting, transferring,” he waved a hand at himself, “Copying…the most powerful Cape in the world, Eidolon, had the power to manifest any three powers he needed at a time.”

“So essentially Changer’s Mira and Elfman’s magic, while Striker is...basically status effects like Poison Sting and Thunder Fang.” May crossed her arms. “Trump sounds like a perfect counter.

“What’s the last one, Stranger?” Max asked.

Friedrich grimaced, scratching his cheek. “Well, it’s kinda hard to describe. Stranger powers are kinda based on…subterfuge, but it’s a loose generalization. It’s all based around fooling the senses and mind. Stealth, invisibility, illusions, memory alteration, all that stuff. They’re a big pain in the ass.”

“So ninjas and magicians,” Drew said. “So one more thing before we let you go, what was with the spider.”

“Oh, that would be the Parasite. He’s the manifestation of my copying power, and I guess he felt like giving out copies of the powers of Capes from Earth Bet. If that’s all, I’ll be in my lab,” Friedrich said gathering up the belts. “I’ll have them back before you go on another mission. Levy can I get your help.”

With that, the group began to disperse to their normal routines. A few hours later, Dawn carried a tray with a sandwich and some juice to where Friedrich was working. Knocking on the door, she opened it and poked her head in. “Friedrich?”

“Hm?” The traveler looked up from working on Lucy’s belt. “Hey, Dawn, what’s up?”

“Mira thought you were hungry, so she whipped up a sandwich and orange juice,” she said bringing the tray in.

“Oh thank you, I get so caught up in my work.” He mumbled as she placed it on another table. “Your belt’s on the right, Levy’s just cataloging what we found.”

Dawn looked to see her fellow bluenette looking at the Aura buckles. She reached down and gently picked hers up and then placed it in a pocket in her ruffled skirt. “Is there anything interesting?”

“Well...I can tell these were probably made during a conflict, made it easier to reproduce if there was a problem,” Friedrich pointed out. “So they’re similar in design. It’s your cards that change them. I’m actually curious what your mid and final forms are.”

“We haven’t gotten to use them, or rather we haven’t had the opponent to use them on,” Dawn conceded. At least Brock and Max for their upgrade forms and none of us for our finals. We also haven’t used our Mega forms yet.”

“Mega...forms?” Friedrich asked curiously. “As in from Kalos?”

“Kalos?”

“It's the region after Unova in Generation 6. You’re from Sinnoh which was Generation 4. You actually have them?” Friedrich asked.

Dawn held up her wrist revealing a small metal bracelet with a blue and red gemstone. “Each of us has a Mega form. I happen to use Latios, my upgrade form.”

“Nice!” Friedrich praised. “Now if I can figure out these belts, I might be able to upgrade them. Jesus, the guy’s belts are so clunky to use,” he grumbled at the rings. “Lucy’s keys are much sleeker.” He pointed at the face.

“Um...why are you looking at the top of her belt?” Dawn asked curiously.

“Its where she inserts her keys, duh,” Friedrich replied.

“No, she always inserted them into the right side.”

“Wait, what?” Friedrich snapped his head to the side of the belt.

“Yeah, she always put it in...right here.” Dawn pointed at the small opening in the belt.

“That’s… interesting,” Friedrich said flashing light over it. “No wonder it wasn’t making sense. Now I can see some sort of tumblers. Looks like each key causes the tumblers to shift to accommodate them in order to flip the faceplate. So what would this be used for?” 

“Well, maybe it’s like Drew’s phone.” Dawn suggested. “When he swaps to his Viscount form, he does something on his phone, I think he… swiped it? Not his transform swipe.”

“So this could be Lucy’s way of accessing an upgrade. Gotcha.”

As they spoke, Levy wrote down her notes swiftly. “So much to learn. I wonder what else could be discovered?”

“If Tsuki’s to be believed, there are countless things to be found,” Drew chimed in smiling. “I’m glad we can decipher the past. How’s your progress?”

“Great, just need to work on the boys’ rings. Should be done tonight, your phone’s done, gave it a sturdier case,” Friedrich pointed out his phone.

“Thank you. Don’t stay up too late alright,” Drew chuckled taking his phone.

“What are you, my mom?”

“No just a concerned housemate.”

Friedrich rolled his eyes as the girls giggled.

Hours later, Lucy strutted home, her smile plastered on her face. For most of the day, Natsu seemed content in hugging her and nibbling her. If she didn’t have the dignity, or if there weren’t as many perverts like Macao and Wakaba, she would have slipped off her top, that was how good his hands were.

She shook her head and entered her apartment before closing it. Sighing, she reached under her top and pulled it off, letting her breasts bounce in her bra, which she stripped off soon after. “Being around Natsu so often makes me hot.” Sighing in pleasure and flopping down on her couch, she smiled softly as the air caressed her body. “Never knew being like this was so comfortable. Really helps with the breasts, which are still growing.” Lucy pouted. “Need to do some clothes shopping soon..” 

After a long bath, she was walking around in a short pink robe when there was a knock on the door. Walking up to the door and spying Erza through the eye hole, she grinned and popped her robe open to show her cleavage and the tops of her giant breasts, and opened the door. “Hey, Erza.”

The redhead was about to speak but was momentarily caught off guard by how Lucy was dressed as if she was expecting her. “Oh uh, hi Lucy, I was...wondering if I could...spend the night?”

“You and Natsu are always welcome here,” Lucy said softly. “Come on, I got some leftover food. Make yourself comfortable.”

Erza nodded and walked through, her armor disappearing and revealing her white blouse. Lucy tsked. “When I said comfortable, I meant sleeping, don’t be shy.”

“When did you get so bold?” the redhead asked.

“Being Natsu’s girlfriend opened me up. I got a hot girlfriend who’s not afraid of showing her body off in a fight. I don’t mind in my apartment.”

Erza nodded and she replaced her blouse with a long nightgown. As they sat down, Erza took a bite of the food Lucy laid out. “I’ve...been having some dreams.” She said after a few moments

“What kind?” Lucy asked curiously swallowing some chicken.

“It...felt like a vision. I was...over a red forest, I wasn’t floating so much as flying. And it felt natural. Then I flew and saw this great tower, where many eagles flew in. There was one that stood out, it looked like it was wearing a version of my Rider armor. Before I woke up, I heard a voice say, “It’s time, find the quest to find your destiny.”

“Hm… maybe it is your Rider armor, but why would a tower like that show up?”

Erza shrugged and they quietly ate their dinner. A couple of hours of talking and laughing later, Erza yawned. “I guess it's bedtime, do you have a spare blanket?”

“Erza, you’ve slept with me before, your sleeping with me,” Lucy said firmly, slipping out of her robe, revealing her bare body to blushing redhead

“Um…” the redhead said dumbly.

“I’ve started sleeping like this, hope you don’t mind,” she said sauntering over to her bed and crawling in. 

Erza shook her head and crawled on the other side. Lucy quickly scooted into her embrace. “Do you mind doing something?”

“Yes?” She asked.

“Can you massage my breasts? Natsu did it a couple of times and I fell asleep almost immediately.”

Erza surprised at how innocent it sounded placed her strong hands on her globes and tenderly massaged them. Lucy’s sighs told her she was doing it right and before long, the blonde’s cute snores echoed through the room lulling the redhead to sleep.

Hours later, Erza blinked herself awake and yawned. Noticing where her hands were, she tried to move them but Lucy’s own kept them. “Morning sleepy head.”

“How long have you been up?” 

“Not long, I was comfy.”

The girls stayed in their embrace until they decided to get out and clean up. Dressing in a pink top and skirt for Lucy and her normal armor and skirt for Erza they walked out hand in hand. At the guild, they saw everyone staring at a large black and white bird in the middle of the hall.

“What’s going on?” Lucy asked.

“This bird showed up this morning with something tied to his talons,” Mira asked.

“Only problem is the dumb bird keeps attacking us— OW!” Gajeel growled as the bird pecked him.

Just then Drew and Friedrich walked in. “Hey what’s going… Oh, cool! An Eagle!” He said carefully walking up to it. 

“Careful, it’s been temperamental!” Makarov warned.

Drew understood and approached it. “Hey there pretty thing, what’s got you worked up?”

The eagle stared at Drew and then edged closer. “That’s it, not gonna hurt you. Hey Erza, why don’t you come here?”

“Why me?” 

“If I’m right, I think he’s gonna accept you.”

The redhead nodded and approached. The eagle immediately went to her arm and held up the note. Taking it and unfolding it, it was revealed to be a map. The bird then calmed down enough to be petted.

“What’s going on?” Friedrich asked.

“Its a map, to where I don’t know,” Erza said.

“It’s your temple, I feel,” Drew revealed. “Perhaps it's time for your own test.”

“Alright! I’m fired up for a mission!” Natsu cheered.

“I guess that’s Team Natsu on a mission. Ash, why don’t you take your group with them? I would go, but the doctor hasn’t cleared me to leave.”

Ash nodded and the Aura riders went to go pack. Two hours later, all 12 members were gathering outside of town.

“Wait!” Mira’s voice called out.

“Huh?” Natsu asked. “Mira, why are you here?”

“I asked Laki to run the bar. I… just wanted to come.”

Natsu grinned and they made it onto the road. After an hour of quiet walking, Ash glanced up at the sky. “That Eagle’s been staying with us since we left. Wonder where he’s leading us?”

“We just gotta follow the map, something you and Misty have a hard time with,” Brock said good-naturedly.

“Um, who got us lost the most?” Misty asked.

“Excuse me, we did fine with the maps!” Ash growled.

“Oh my god shut up about the maps, you both are responsible!” Dawn snapped.

At the mages questioning looks, Max sighed. “We got lost… way too many times back on our world. And normally it was those two.”

The two Guardians argued more before May and Anabel snuck up behind them and pushed them together getting them to kiss. “Seriously,” Brock shook his head. “If I knew they could be stopped by doing it I would have done it years ago.”

Mira giggled. “So...back on Drew’s world, do you have you like to do? I mean it's not like you can go on missions every day."

"Well, most of the week unless its summer or a break we're in school." Max began. "Eight hours sitting at a desk listening to teachers and such.

"That sounds boring," Gajeel grumbled. "Do you do anything for fun?"

"Well...we have sports. Ash is a competitive runner, and Misty is a competitive swimmer, on top of their musical talents." Max pointed out. 

"I could have guessed that," Mira giggled.

"As for me, I play something called Lacrosse, which can be a very violent sport and I also do something called Parkour, which is free-running over obstacles. Brock volunteers at an animal clinic. Anabel is a DJ who actually mixes and plays her own music as well as others. She and May are also Gymnasts, people who contort their bodies and dance on different equipment."

As a demonstration, Anabel bent her leg over her shoulder. While the mages were worried that she hurt herself, she actually looked comfortable. "I can do this with all of my body thanks to my training. Dancing helps too."

"What about you Dawn?" Lucy asked.

"Well...I design clothes for everyone and even other paid commissions. And I'm also a cheerleader which are people meant to pump up crowds." Dawn explained.

"Point is, we got a lot of hobbies to keep us occupied. When you come to our world, you'll definitely find something." Max explained. 

"Kind of feels like a world full Bunny girl's lifestyle," Gajeel theorized.

Ash looked down. "That's as far from the truth as you can get. Just trust us on that."

May decided to change the topic. "So Mira, when are you gonna make a move on Natsu?"

The white-haired mage was taking a sip of water and spit-takes at that question. "What?"

"Works every time," the brunette giggled only to splashed into a nearby tree. "Think that's funny, little Skitty?" Misty asked with a wild gleam in her eye which caused the brunette to growl. May fired a vine at the redhead only to miss and nearly hit Dawn. She deflected it into Max, who then leaped up landed on Brock, who threw him into Ash. For the next few minutes, the mages watched as their normally unflappable teammates devolved into childish fighting, not unlike their guild. When it stopped, Ash had May and Dawn by their tops, looking like pouting kittens, Brock had pinned Max in a hold and Misty was holding Anabel in a water ball. The redhead was the first to laugh which made the others bust out too. Fixing themselves up to where they didn't just have a 10-minute fight they resumed their walk.

"So… want to explain?" Erza asked.

"We've been together for so long, we know each other well. We actually get into these mini-fights to take some of the edge off," Misty explained. "We never take it too far and it helps burn off some energy. Something Max and Ash have loads of.

As they walked, May and Dawn were wrapped around Ash's arms. The bluenette glanced at Natsu. "You know we're not opposed to seeing your PDA with your girls."

Natsu grinned and wrapped himself around Lucy, who blushed. "Sorry, it's just…"

"Not used to being in love. It's fine," May said. "Do you know where we're going?"

Erza looked at the map and then up in the distance. "Based on the map, i say...where we're going are those mountains." She pointed to a decent size range in the distance. As she said this, the eagle that brought her the map flew overhead.

"Probably a good idea to make camp and tackle it early in the morning," Brock suggested.

They walked another couple of miles before finding a large lake. Based on its position the river that fed it came from the mountains. Settling down, the mages watched in awe at the efficiency and quickness of the camp being set up, almost as if they were rehearsed. Tents, sleeping bags and even places to sit were arranged into two groups of 7, while places for Pokemon were laid out. Brock then began to cook the dinner for 13. Meanwhile, all the Pokemon were let out as the Trainers quickly went into their own training routines. 

Natsu watched as Ash began to stretch his legs. "So are you gonna spar?

"Maybe later; right now I need to practice my sprints. Max mind timing me?”

Max got to the end of a long stretch along the river and waved to the two of them. “Can you count me off?” Ash asked Natsu as he got into a sprinter’s stance. 

“Um sure… 3… 2… 1… Go?” At the word go, the Lightning guardian took off, Pikachu at his side. Natsu blinked and watched him race towards Max. Racing past the smaller Rider, the Dragon Slayer heard him say. “11.2.”

“Damn, I’m getting rusty. Let’s run it again.”

While the Natsu watched and even got some tips, Erza and Mira watched Misty do something that was out of her element: doing crunches on top of a large tree branch.

“So what are you doing? Shouldn’t your training be in the water?” Mira asked.

Misty grunted as she did another set. “You would… Think so… but, you need… a lot of core and leg muscles...something just swimming, only provides a part of.” She finished her set and relaxed, her red top slipping to reveal a matching bra and toned stomach.

Erza noticed her arms and gasped at the length. “How long are your arms?”

“Oh? Here, let me show you.” She dropped down, wrapped her arms around her stomach. To the mages shock, her arms were able to comfortably wrap around her body her right hand on her left hip and vice versa. “When you’re swimming, you have to stretch out your arms to do the stroke. My arms look like paddles,” she twisted her arms. “It pushes the water away, removing resistance from the body. Makes it hard to get a good top. But it’s my ankles that provide the propulsion, so I have to stretch that too. Now I’m gonna do my lats, which are my back muscles.” The two girls watched as she leapt up and began to do pull-ups. Every rep, her muscles rippled with exertion, showing she put a ton of work into her body. “Unlike most girls, I don’t mind if I have muscle. Heck, I think I’m starting to develop a six-pack. You can join me if you want.”

The two mages took her up on her offer and jumped up. After two reps, they could barely keep up. “How…” Erza panted, with Mira trying to get feeling back into her arms.

“It’s hard at first. I could use a work out partner or two,” Misty sympathized.

Her fellow redhead nodded and she led the two older mages through her routine and gave them some times for their own.

On the other side of the clearing, Lucy watched Anabel bend her legs completely behind and bend herself backward all the way to the ground. “That can’t be comfortable.”

“It used to be, but dancing and working out, my body has adapted and I actually like to bend my body out of shape.”

May giggled as she walked into the clearing completely topless. “We’re very flexible as is. Considering the apparatus we’re on regularly, we need to control our legs and back. We all tumble a lot.” As she said this she went into a roll quickly got to her feet. “Combined with my Capoeira style, my elbow and knee joints are gonna get hit...a lot. So I doubt I’m gonna get any taller."

“I focus more on dancing, and as a result, my legs are longer. Makes me look great in heels,” Anabel revealed. “Regardless, because of the strength we need to push off, our core or stomach muscles need to be worked on a lot.” As she said this placed her arms under her head and slid her legs out and put herself into a handstand.

May smiled and did the same stance as Anabel before stretching her leg back. Lucy bit her lip. “Are you...okay doing this? Without your top?”

“Lucy, you forget, I normally train in less. The only reason I don’t do it more often is I normally train in public.”

Lucy nodded having seen some of May’s training. After about an hour of personal and Pokemon training, Brock called them in. “Dinner’s ready!”

Everyone came in from where they were, Ash provided May his cloak for cover. As Brock served the stew, Natsu took a spoonful and swallowed it. “Wow! This is amazing!”

Erza hummed. “I admit, you and Mira could be a great cooking duo.”

“Oh stop, my cooking is not that good.” 

“Mira, you’ve been essentially our guild’s chef for two years. We wouldn’t be surviving so long without you,” said Grey, down to his boxers.

The white-haired girl blushed. “I… didn’t start that way.”

Brock smiled as the rest of the group ate. “I’ll be more than happy to share recipes. I used to raise nine siblings.

“So you know what’s it like being the one everyone relies on,” Mira said softly.

“Brock’s always dependable. He basically was our big brother on the road,” Ash praised. “We had no cooking skills, me and Misty, and well he was a lifesaver.”

The dark-skinned boy laughed and began to talk with Mira about different recipes. As the fire died down, the group began to get more and more comfortable with each other as this was the first time they had time together without fighting. Before long, people were turning into their tents. Mira wondered where she was gonna sleep when she was pushed towards Natsu and Lucy’s. “You’re with us, Mira.”

“Um, what?” The Soul mage mumbled as they entered Natsu’s tent. Natsu was already softly snoring into Erza’s chest as Lucy went into her bag and got out a nightshirt. “Why are you doing this?”

“Mira, I’ve seen you steal glances at Natsu, you think he’s cute don’t you?”

“Well…yeah...I guess,” she said. “But, he’s got you two.”

“Ash has Misty and yet she’s comfortable with May Dawn and Anabel, what makes us different. Come one he’s a comfy pillow,” Lucy smiled and laid on his shoulder.

Mira bit her lip and then undid her ponytail before laying down, finding Natsu’s heartbeat to be soothing enough to fall asleep too.

A few hours later, when the moon was low on the horizon, Misty yawned and sat up slowly. She smiled at her bedmates, wishing she could join them but her internal clock insisted upon waking her up ‘cause it was her time for practice. Grumbling about early swim practices, she moved the sleeping bag up to cover Dawn’s shoulders. She crawled to her bag and pulled out a dark blue and white swimsuit. Stripping off her travel outfit, she pulled it up, sighing at the feeling of the material clinging to her growing curves. She liked her bikinis, but the tightness of the one-piece swimsuit was something else.

Crawling out of the tent she swung her arms to get them loose before bending her knees and stretching her legs. She waded into the water not caring about how cold and dove in. She broke the surface and smiled. Water always brought a smile to her face. Going into a front stroke she began heading to the other side of the lake. The moonlight was still bright as she swam without a care in the world. After a while, she slowed down and floated on her back her face only visible above the water. "Stars are gorgeous out here." She closed her eyes and let the ambient sound lull her into a trance.

A few moments later she felt something amiss and opened up her eyes. She went rigid when she realized she wasn't in the water but floating in front of a giant spider. "Bug…Giant bug" she whimpered.

The spider’s five red eyes narrowed with no small amount of derision. " _Fathom."_

Before Misty could comprehend it, the spider flicked a shard at her, which stabbed into her and became absorbed into her skin. When she looked back up she realized she had sunk into the lake but had not drowned. Looking around her she saw she was in a giant air bubble. 

"So this is what a Bud feels like," Misty wondered aloud her voice echoing. "I can feel all the water around me. It’s as if I am it." She blinked her eyes. "Hm?" She rubbed them making sure nothing was bothering them or to make sure she was seeing correctly. "Wow, this Bud is letting me see everything." Then panic began to set it as she realized there was no light to guide her here. "Wait, where's the surface?!" She shook in fear, her body shivering as she realized she was trapped underwater. "Maybe I'm down deeper than I thought. If I go to the bottom, I can orient myself." She angled herself downward (or so she believed) and headed towards what she thought was the bottom. Fifteen minutes later, she stopped herself and caught her breath. "This is ridiculous, where am I?" She knew this was the one thing she didn't want as this had killed divers in the past. "Alright, I still have air, just need to think about this. Strange that the pressure hasn't started to crush me though…" Looking around, she felt a current rush pass her. Turning to her left, she noticed a large circular portal that the water was rushing through. Taking her chances, she swam to it, entering it with a flourish. On the other side, she realized that she was back in the lake, the moonlight illuminating the water. 

"Whatever that bug did, sent me to another place. I guess Fathom meant deep water power. Makes sense, fathoms are their measurements and the darkness reflects how deep I was. I wonder." She held up her hand. The same portal from before opened up, showing the utter darkness of wherever she just was. 

"So not just adaptation, I can control an actual dimension of water." She swam to the surface, breaking it gently as her bubble popped. She gazed at the lake, appreciating the view as she floated. "This is so pretty. I wish I could enjoy it more." As if listening to her thoughts, her body began to tingle. She looked down and saw her swimsuit had vanished, replaced by two starfish pasties. Subconsciously, she put her legs and watch in surprise as millions of light blue scales trickled down her legs before merging together while her feet thinned out becoming a large caudal fin. She stared at the tail unwilling to believe it was hers. Looking down at the rest of her body she noticed that her arms had developed matching fins where her arm bones would be and her hands had become webbed as well. Feeling her face and neck, she found gills on her neck and her ears had become finned too. 

(Essentially her Costume with starfish bra with extra fins on her arms and ears.)

She floated gracefully in the water, her hair floating as if it were its own entity as she gazed at her body. "This bud...lets me adapt to anything in the water. So…I’m a mermaid for real…this is amazing!" She took a big dive and kicked herself downward. She raced through the dark lake as if she lived in it. She raced up to the surface and leaped out before diving back down. Her workout routine had inadvertently given her a positive benefit in this form, making extremely hydrodynamic as she cut through the water like a torpedo.

As she swam and splashed around her bedmates began to stir 

"Hm?" Dawn yawned. "Misty must be practicing or something.”

"Or early morning fishing." May agreed, stretching out and letting her breasts bounce in her borrowed shirt.

"Whatever it is, her happiness seems to be through the roof," Anabel pondered as all four crawled out of their tent. 

Ash looked around and spotted Misty's distinctive red hair in the rising sun. "Hey Misty!"

The redhead grinned and waved back, before diving, her tail whipping up over the surface.

"Was that a tail?" asked May dazedly, rubbing her eyes trying to convince herself it was a trick of the light.

"I…think it was," Dawn said blinking. Their curiosity was confirmed as the Guardian swam up and laid down on the shore, her tail casually bent in a direction normally legs couldn't, the water dripping off her back and glistening in the rising sun.

"Hey there, what do you think?" Misty asked showing her tail off.

"Is it real?" Ash asked bewildered.

"Go ahead and touch it, if you’re unsure," she teased.

Her partners eagerly did so finding the scales firm to the touch and gorgeous to see with no separation between human and fish.

"I'm jealous! I guess I can settle for my own costume," May pouted.

"So pretty!" Dawn beamed.

"Its as if you were born one," Anabel praised.

"Thank you. This happened because of my bud, Fathom.”

"So you can adapt to anything underwater?" Ash asked.

"Kind of. I can also access like an entire world of water as well." Misty hummed.

“Have you tried changing back?” May asked.

Misty rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. Almost instantly her tail separated into two modelesque legs and her top disappeared returning to her one-piece blue and white suit. “Looks like the change is voluntary as long as I’m wet. Not like those on T.V. where they need to dry off first.”

Ash bends down to pick her up bridal style. “Even if you were stuck, I’d carry you until you were dry,” He said kissing her.

“A prince and his mermaid princess, it sounds so romantic,” Misty purred giving their boyfriend a kiss back. They walked back to the camp just as their friends began to stir.

“Hey guys,” Max waved. “Why are you carrying Misty?”

“She found her Bud, we’re gonna see how much it changed her,” Ash replied. “I’d say that her moniker is more appropriate now.”

After a quick breakfast, they packed up and began their trek. As they began their trek, they noticed that the trees were unusually bright red as if they were soaked in blood. The unusualness was they wouldn't turn that color for at least another month as it was still mid-August. 

Putting aside for the moment, other than May collecting some samples, they headed off into the hills. By mid-morning, they reached the mountains. Pondering where to go, the Eagle that had been with them chirped. He circled around them and began to fly in a certain direction. “I think he wants us to follow him,” Erza pointed out and followed the bird. The climb was long but thankfully less rocky than expected. What did get them was the steepness. Many of them didn’t climb mountains other than on missions and as a result, some were beginning to feel the strain.

“Man! I knew Mt. Coronet had steep areas, but this is ridiculous, my legs are burning,” Dawn moaned.

“Let’s take a break, catch our breaths. We don’t know how high this mountain goes,” Brock suggested.

Laying down next to the wall, they all took some water. As Ash drank he glanced up the cliff face and narrowed his eyes. “Natsu.”

“Yeah?”

“Use your Earth senses, do you feel anyone?” 

Natsu hummed and placed his ear on the cliff face and tapped it. “I’ve got...several people coming down, it looks like they want to fight!” He growled, reaching for Urvan.

“No, keep them holstered,” Ash ordered. “We have no advantage here.”

As he said this, multiple soldiers in bronze armor approached with spears pointed at them. The leader with a golden eagle mask stepped forward. “Halt! You are not one of the trading caravans! Who are you?”

“We are traveling mages,” Erza began diplomatically. “We found a map to a place close to the village.”

Before anyone else could respond, the eagle that had been leading them circled and landed on the outstretched leader’s arms. “It’s Kazeijin, our fastest bird. We’ve been looking for him for three days, where has he been?”

“He landed at our guild, it wouldn’t let us near it till Erza showed up,” Natsu explained.

The whole squadron gasped and then in a surprise move, all of the minor soldiers kneeled to the ground. “It’s you, the reincarnation of our great matriarch,” the leader whispered, bowing to everyone’s shock. Erza blinked as everyone in front of her bowed in reverence, unsure of what to do. The leader stood up. “Follow us, our leader Tarazad will be eager to meet you.

The soldiers turned around and escorted the group up to the mountain. After a few minutes of walking, they approached the top of the cliff. Looking down, they saw a large, Greek-inspired town with many buildings made of marble and stone. Off to their right was a large market area, bustling with activity. To the left was a hotel that wouldn’t be out of place in a resort town. In the middle was a large palace that stood over 100 feet tall. Behind the palace was a large tower that stretched into the stratosphere.

The leader removed her mask, revealing a redhead with an energetic smile. “Welcome to Okab, Village of the Eagles. I am captain Olana. Come our queen should be excited to hear the news.”

Olana led the group into the town. Despite the remoteness, the town was thriving with many traders and tourists.

“Um, why were you surprised to see us?” May asked.

“Normally when we get traders or tourists we have them go up the special lifts we designed to run on wind power. We were surprised as the path you took was the old way to get up here and only potential invaders would take that route,” Olana explained.

“So this queen, she rules over you?” Lucy asked.

“Indeed, we are a mostly matriarchal society. Our partners are allowed to move in with us and fulfill any job required. Our first leader was a Queen and we continue to recognize the strongest person in our village as our leader .”

“So you don’t have a royal family?” Ash asked.

“No, we value strength, Man or Woman. Let us not keep our queen waiting.” The red-headed warrior led them up to the giant steps to the throne room. Inside the immaculately kept room were statues presumably previous rulers. At the end of the hall was a tall woman that looked like she could have been Erza’s mother, dressed in a gold robe that contained a voluptuous figure. 

“Erza, is that your mom?” Natsu asked.

The queen laughed. “No, I can assure you, I would know if I had another daughter that was as beautiful as me.” The queen stood up, and the Riders all bowed in respect. “Please, you have no need to bow, especially you, the one called Erza. I am Queen Tarazad. If Kazejin had gone to find you, then, it appears the prophecy of our village is coming true.” The queen smiled. “I take it you are all Guardians and Knights, much like Erza here.”

“Yes your majesty, my Guardians Natsu Dragneel, and Lucy Heartfillia,” Erza began introductions. “And my fellow Knights, Grey Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox and Mirajane Straus. Also with us are the Lightning Guardian Ash Ketchum, Water Guardian Misty Waterflower and their knights, Brock Slate, May and her brother Max Maple, Anabel Soliel and Dawn Berlitz.”

“Well met, but I sense your missing one Guardian.”

“The Fire Guardian wished to be here, but due to injuries suffered recently, he couldn’t make it. My apologies, a prophecy?”

“Indeed, our first Matriarch told us that eventually, her powers would be needed again, in the temple that we now use to test our young warriors on the lower floors. We’ve never been able to reach the top floors of the tower, as only the bracelet of our Matriarch can open it,” Tarazad explained. “You being here means we could finally know what is in there. You’ve had a long journey, please stay as our guests, we will take you to the temple in the morning.”

“Thank you,” said Erza bowing. Glancing off to the side, she noticed a girl dressed in similar garb to the queen glaring at her. “Um, can I help you?”

“Alshain, don’t be rude,” Tarazad scolded.

Alshain scoffed. “These outsiders have no business entering our sacred temple. The bracelet has long been lost and for them to find it…”

“Alshain, enough!” The queen growled. “My apologies, Alshain is my daughter and will be taking our warrior's test with you when you access the temple. She has believed the Aquilla bracelet should have gone to a villager.”

“I see,” Erza sighed. “Thank you for your hospitality.” The guards led them to their rooms. The rooms look extravagant as Erza was allocated a room with Natsu, Lucy, and Mira. The bed was clearly large enough for all of them as Natsu bounced on the bed with Happy.

“Our servants are at your beck and call. You are all guests here, please do not abuse this privilege,” Tarazad warned as she led the others to their rooms. 

Lucy sighed and sat down on the bed, and removed her boots. “This day was exhausting.” The blonde laid down and closed her eyes. She felt Natsu crawl over and snuggle into her breasts. “That tickles.”

Erza smiled and laid down behind him, Happy settling on a small bed to the side. She looked at Mira who looked conflicted. “You joining us Mira?” The Soul mage hesitantly nodded and crawled in. She squeaked as Erza unbuttoned her blouse revealing a black bra. “So nice to let loose. Lucy, you have the right idea.”

Mira watched Lucy strip off her top and let Natsu lay on her breasts. She looked nervous and the blonde sighed. "Mira if you want to kiss him do it."

"W-what?" Mira stuttered.

"You've been staring at him for the last two weeks and watching us make out with him. You're either jealous or scared," Lucy pointed out."

"I… feel like its betraying my sister, Lisanna. She always wanted to marry Natsu," Mira sniffled looking away.

Natsu sat up and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. "She wouldn't want you to be sad." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Mira blushed bright red before turning around and pinning Natsu to the bed. "You think you can get away with that loverboy?" She slammed her lips into Natsu not even caring that Lucy and Erza were watching them make out.

After a few moments, they separated, Natsu grinning face meeting Mira's atomic red.

"I… just don't forget me please?" She asked with true softness in her voice.

"Never Mira," Natsu said placing an arm behind his head.

The mage smiled and then moaned as four soft hands began groping her. "Hope you didn't forget us," Lucy whispered.

Mira turned to Lucy. "What you think I'd forget my new guildmate is such a flirt?" She grinned before tackling the blonde to the bed and kissing her too, making sure their chests squished together.

"You have… no idea how long… I've wanted to do that to you," Lucy said panting as her body was assaulted by her friend's sweet lips.

"Get used to it your stuck with me," Mira winked.

The next few hours were spent making Mira know she was welcomed in, stopped briefly by a large meal they spent feeding each other and then making out until they fell asleep exhausted. They hadn’t realized they had fallen asleep until they felt the morning rays fall 

Mira giggled as she held up the sheet covering her nude body, the cool air making her tingle. "So much fun and we didn't even have sex."

Lucy hummed from across their boyfriend's chest. "I wish we could spend all day like this, but Erza has a job to do."

The redhead, who was petting Natsu as he held them close, sighed. "Indeed, come on we need to dress and get to where their temple is.

Natsu watched as his girls got dressed, noticing they were giving him a show before they headed out with their guards.

At the temple, the met the already arrived Aura team as a vibrant ceremony was underway. Ash grinned at the smile Natsu was giving off tipped his cap and was met a thumbs up. The girls meanwhile giggled at Mira's radiant smile

War drums beat in rhythm as the queen and her daughter marched down with her guards. Alshain was dressed in a bronze corset and leather skirt with tan gloves and boots.

With a raise of her hand, Tarazad’s people were motioned to be quiet. In a matter of seconds, the room’s volume fell silent. "My fellow subjects, today is a glorious day. Not only is my daughter, Alshain, old enough and ready enough to take her rite of passage, but we have with us the long-prophesied incarnation of our first Matriarch to fulfill her destiny. Erza Scarlet and friends, please step forward!”

The Fairy Tail group pushed forward and into the center to awe and wonder of the crowd. Tarazad continued. "We have with us the Guardians and Knights of the new generation. Please welcome them with the hospitality we are known for!" The crowd cheered and applauded as the Riders waved back. Holding up her hand again, she turned to the temple entrance and motioned to her daughter. "As it is your test as well, please open the door. And good luck to all of you!”

Alshain nodded and approached the door. On its face were three circular panels attached to pipes that stretched down to two large catchers on the side to the side. She took a deep breath and thrust out her hands, air currents shooting out. The currents were sucked into the pipes and swirled around. The top two panels began to shake, then the one the left turned over, letting out a loud wood-wind sound. Then the one on the right did as well, letting out another. The panels had also flipped two pipes that sent air down to the third panel, flipping it over. Once all three were flipped, a large section of pipe lifted up and the gates began to open backward, shaking the tower slightly.

“That was cool,” Max said as they walked forward.

Alshain scoffed. “You think that’s impressive, you clearly haven’t seen wind magic at its most potent.”

“Well I’m learning to be one, I like to think I’ve gotten some tricks out of it,” Max grumbled. “Erza here’s is also a Wind Mage,”

Ash smiled and then looked at the room. “So, how would Drew figure this temple out.” 

“Drew?” Alshain asked.

“The Fire Guardian,” Ash explained putting away his hat. “This is the first temple’s he’s missed. But a head injury is a head injury, don’t want it worse than it already is.”

(Play Legend of Zelda Wind Waker: Wind Temple)

Alshain said nothing and pointed at the door in front of them. “That door has four locks and leads to the final testing ground. Beyond that, is the door the Aquila bracelet will open. In order to disengage them, the four rooms at the end of these halls must be cleared. They are, the Tests of Speed, Power, Wisdom, and Courage.”

“Guess we should start in order, let’s go with Speed,” Brock said as they went to the door on the far left.”

On the other side, the floor dropped out into a dark abyss. Wind howled up from the darkness, mixed with vapor so that they could see how it twisted and swirled about chaotically. Added to the mix were several large balls, which were somehow being held aloft by the air and thrown around, though none of them quite reached towards the entrance.

Lucy who was holding down her skirt shouted over the winds. “The wind’s insane!” 

“Well, I guess this was a bad way to start,” Ash shouted. “How are we going to do this?”

Alshain grinned. “Just watch.” She looked at the walls and propelled herself up to them. Then using her wind magic, she kept herself on walls while racing towards the other side. Confident in her abilities, she didn’t see one of the spiked balls come in until it hit her. The hit knocked her off the wall and she fell screaming into the abyss. Then, all of a sudden, she fell out of the air back onto the floor by the door with a grunt of shock.

“Enjoy your trip?” May asked teasingly. Alshain humphed. The brunette looked downfield. “Alright, so how are we gonna do this?”

“Its a speed test right, so perhaps there's a way to shut the wind off," Max suggested. "First area is wide enough and the balls aren't going fast. We just need to time it,” he walked forward. Seeing the simple pattern so far, Max quickly raced across the beam to the next safe area. “I think when they mean speed, they mean a way to quickly get across the gaps. Timing and everything will get you across.”

Using the same timing, the massive group negotiated the first three platforms with increasing difficulty. The third section had several beams with gaps in it. In addition, several beams looked extremely thin.

“I only see one path that could get me across,” Alshain pointed out and began to follow on the bigger bars.

“That’s weird we can see a couple,” May said slipping off her shoes, Anabel following suit with her sandals.

“What are...you’re gonna use the thin bars?” She gasped as they lined up their run.

“Yes,” Anabel said as she took a tentative first step, the winds howling below, her uniquely wired eyes seeing the invisible fans causing this in a brilliant green. “There’s a pattern to the wind I can see.” She stepped onto a beam and walked with poise and grace most wouldn’t dream off. May quickly followed. They felt a gust of wind and paused letting gusts do its thing as the spiked edged closer then turned away.

“How are they keeping so balanced? It would take warriors years to learn that dexterity.”

“Where we’re from, there actually are people that do this as a hobby,” Dawn explained.

“And the shoes?” 

“Comfort mostly.”

Anabel calmly leaped across a gap. Off to her side, one of the balls started to spin towards her. She bent all the way back letting it pass over her, the spikes inches from her flat tummy. Putting her arms on the bar, she inched her way forward to where she knew there as a gap before snapping forward and flipping onto the next one. She landed on her chest, her hands instinctively holding on.

“Ana!” May cried out, on the other path.

“I’m…alright, just…let me catch my breath,” panted the empath. Looking ahead, she could see the end with two more large balls spinning wildly as they balanced on a rail. “Okay, I can do this.” Standing on wobbly legs, she began to pick up her pace. Knowing she only had one shot, she began to cartwheel. Then with a powerful kick, she pushed off over the first spiked ball and landed on the other side spreading her arms out as if she finished her performance.

"Great job!" May shouted doing her own tricks.

"That...was most impressive," Alshain conceded as she did her best to cross and not get hit. Once across, she walked up to the pedestal and pressed the button. A loud click and a jingle sounded through the hall. “The first test is complete. Let us return to the entrance hall,” the princess told them as the wind died down

As the group entered the hall, Ash spoke up. “We should split up the rest of the way.”

“What are you talking about?” Alshain asked.

“We’ve got too many to fit through each room,” Ash reasoned. “I figure you and Erza can go to each, and then we have everyone else pick a room to do.”

The princess nodded. “Alright, that seems to be the best course of action.” She looked over at the main door to see one of the locks had unhooked itself. “There are three rooms left. I believe Power should be the next room.”

“Then how about me, Misty, Natsu, and Gajeel join you two.”

“Indeed, they are the more powerful of us right now,” Erza agreed. The Guardians plus pirate Rider walked to the first door on the right. Entering the door, everyone summoned their weapons, figuring that power would involve some sort of fight. “The test of power. Five rooms of increasing difficulty.”

(Play the Zelda: Wind Waker Enemy Music at the appropriate spots)

Several small knights in the back of the room marched forward taking their stance. Gajeel smirked and pointed Redemption at the first knight and blasted its head off, then spun around and parried another blow, creating a stalemate. Meanwhile, Alshain rushed in and bashed another with her shield stunning it and then whipping out her own short sword and stabbing it.

Behind her, Natsu had Urvan cleaved through another soldier's armor before pulling the trigger and shooting the soldier behind it. As he did so, Misty threw Lugia through the blasted soldier and stabbed a third.

Ash sheathed Raikou after finishing his. “Next!” As he said this, the next door opened. As they entered and the door closed, they couldn’t see anything. 

“Where are they?” Alshain asked impatiently.

As they searched around, a loud whine echoed through the room. Several bird-like figures appeared laughing before twirling their wands and unleashing large fireballs.

“Wizrobes! SCATTER!” Ash called out rolling out of the way. The rest of the group scattered save for Natsu who grinned and took a deep breath. All of the fireballs that flew through the air were almost instantly sucked up into the dragon slayer’s mouth.

“What magic is that?” Alshain asked amazed.

“Less questions, more finding these guys,” Misty growled from her right. “God damn it, this is just like Max’s temple!”

“What are they?” Erza asked, blocking a shot.

“Wizrobes, they like to teleport and…” the Water Guardian summoned some water in front of her and blocked another two shots. “Shoot off spells rapidly. We just gotta keep moving.”

“Is there any way to defeat them?” Alshain asked

“Well, those sounds they make right before they appear shows where they’re gonna be. Also, they aren’t that strong, a couple of shots might do it. Gajeel!” 

“Yeah?” The dragon slayer called out. 

“You and Erza are our best shots at this! Natsu sniff them out!"

The Iron slayer nodded and scanned the room. One of the Wizrobes appeared in front of him and he blasted it in the face. Reloading, he glanced at Salamander. “That Shotgun’s got some cone effect, use it!

Natsu nodded and pumped Urvan's handle and fired. Two Wizrobes happen to appear in front of him at the same time ad were blasted back before they disappeared. The Fire slayer sniffed and aimed behind Misty and blasted its head off. 

Having reloaded, Gajeel spun around and jammed Redemption down a Wizrobe’s throat as it appeared around his shoulder. The shot caused it to explode into black dust. The last two were quick to fall as Natsu easily sniffed them out and Erza sniped them. Once all the Wizrobes were destroyed, the next door opened, allowing the warriors to proceed.

In the next room, there seemed to be nothing to suggest any opponents were present, save two stone statues.

Alshain growled. “What in the...is our test broken?” She slapped her shield. “Where are they?” As she ranted, she didn’t notice the two statues began to glow pink. Only Ash’s quick reflexes and summoning a Vine whip saved her from being vaporized. The two statues began to glow an ominous purple and stood up.

“What in the world?” Alshain wondered. Noticing that the Vine Whip was still around her, she elbowed Ash in the face. “Let go!”

“Sorry for saving your life,” Ash groaned, rubbing his jaw. He glanced at the robots and watched them rush the group. “SCATTER!” Everyone split up as the robots chased them. One went after Ash, Alshain, and Natsu, while the other went after Misty, Erza and Gajeel. 

Ash was quick to deflect another blast. “Damn it, I can’t get close! Natsu I need a distraction!”

The dragon slayer nodded and stomped the ground summoning a wall. The noise did its job and the robot focused on the Earth Guardian, charging up its laser. Ash split into his clones and raced towards its legs. The clones quickly sliced two of its left legs, the electricity crackling in their wake. The sudden loss of balance caused it to fall to that side, with the charged beam now facing Alshain. Reflexively, she raised her shield. The timing was near impeccable as the blast struck the shield before it bounced back, striking the robot in the eye. It beeped loudly as it fell onto its back. Its eye blinked rapidly before Ash stabbed it, ending its existence.

On the other side, Erza threw her shield causing the robot to fire at her, which she dodged nimbly. Gajeel turned his arm into a large kunai before firing several into its back. The robot glared at the Iron Dragon Slayer before charging up again. As it fired its blast, a large void opened up in front of him confusing the slayer. Misty smirked before opening another and sending the collected blast at the robot. The robot staggered, backward before Erza raced in and stabbed its eye, causing to fall over dead.

“Geez, cut it a little closer why don’t do you, fish girl!” Gajeel growled only to be blasted back by a column of water.

Ash resheathed Raikou and hopped off the robot as the next door opened. Turning to the princess he grinned. “Thanks for the save!”

Alshain scoffed, “Just repaying you.”

Ash rolled his eyes as they headed to the next room. Inside, two large robotic birds dropped pig-like humanoid beasts who snarled and thrust their spears forward. Alshain moved to confront them, but a glance at Misty and Ash told her to back off for the moment. The two Guardians unhooked their weapons and brought them in front of their bodies. The pigmen obliged and stalked closer. The one facing Ash took a big windup and swung, leaving a wake of air behind it. The Lightning Guardian snapped Raikou up to block it, not even flinching from the impact. He then flung it to the side before spinning and slashing upwards. The momentum of the slash had cut the spear in two. Before the pig man even reacted he spun again slashing through the chest, causing it to bleed profusely before he flashed behind it, cutting its head off.

Meanwhile, Misty twirled Lugia around her head blocking an overhead swing. Keeping the momentum, she bent backward as her trident spun around her body deflecting a spear. On the next spin, she caught the spear between the points in her weapon catching her opponent off guard. Turning so her weapon pointed down, she stabbed it into the ground before kicking it and snapping it. Completely weaponless, the pigman was powerless to stop the three prongs that pierced its skull.

Alshain was dumbfounded at the ruthless efficiency of the two Guardians. “That was amazing...how did you…”

“When you’ve been fighting as long as we have, you learn a thing or two,” Ash said his smile not fading. “These guys are nothing.”

“...I guess so.” The princess muttered. She had always thought she was one of the best fighters in the village, but seeing the two Guardians overwhelm the pigmen like that made her think she was out of their league as they entered the last room. In the center of the room was a large black knight with an oversized sword. “Allow me to handle this.” She said stepping forward. 

The knight turned his sword and slowly marched forward to meet her. They circled each other, staring each other down. Alshain blinked first and charged at the armored figure. It barely budged as the armor clanked. The walking knight retaliated with an overhead swing that she rolled out of the way. Jumping back to her feet, she thrust her spear again as her opponent tried to lift his sword up. While not dealing any significant damage, the thrusts did knock the arm guards off. Seeing this, Alshain narrowed her eyes and tightened her stance.

“She’s noticed the armor breaks off,” Ash noted.

“However, it’s gonna get harder; the less armor he has the quicker he moves,” Misty countered.

“Huh?” Natsu asked.

“As a general rule, the less something weighs the easier it is to move,” Ash explained. “This is one of the key differences between how I fight and how Drew fights. Drew’s gonna stay in the thick of the fight so his armor and by extension, his weapon is designed to take hits. Your dragon skins work the same way. I don’t have that luxury, so I have to be quick or use abilities that can attack from a distance.”

As they were talking, Alshain danced around the soldier, taking potshots whenever she saw an opening. Each hit knocked pieces of the armor off, allowing more of the humanoid skin to reveal the chainmail underneath. One more swipe allowed her to leap over and knock the helmet off. Landing on the other side, the knight growled and tossed his giant sword at the Princess. She ducked and the sword went sailing at the other group members who ducked. Thoroughly enraged, it grabbed another sword. It was longer and thinner than the previous one but no less deadly. He swung the sword vertically that the princess barely blocked, making her wince from the impact. Gathering her wits, she thrust her spear forward. The point struck between the ribs making the soldier reel back. Seeing her advantage, she thrust it forward again, picking up making sure to give him any quarter. Eventually, the barrage brought the soldier to its and she let out a warcry before piercing its neck. The soldier sputtered before falling to its knees.

Alshain let out a deep breath and turned to the onlookers who applauded at the display. She smiled and bowed. She walked over to the switch that was unlocked with the soldiers' defeat. Pressing the button, the sound of another door unlocking echoed through the room.

Walking back to the group, she grunted and grabbed her chest. Erza immediately rushed over and flung an arm around her. “Damn, that took more out of me than I thought.”

“Dawn’s a healer she can get you patched up,” the knight told her as they headed back into the center room. Dawn took one look at the princess and immediately got to work.

“So two rooms left, Knowledge and Courage. Whose going into where?” Ash asked.

“Let me do the puzzle,” Lucy asked.

“Anyone else?”

“I can go with her,” Brock offered.

“Same here,” Mira raised her hand.

“I’d like to try the Courage room,” Anabel said hesitantly.

“Likewise,” Max said.

“I’ll take anything on!” Grey grinned.

May and Dawn looked at each other. Neither wanted to do the Courage room, so they played Rock paper scissors. May’s paper beat Dawn’s Rock, so the brunette followed Erza into the next room.

Upon entering the room, they came across several fans, raised up on long poles at different levels. In the center of the room, at the bottom of a depression, sat a large ball green and grey ball. At the top of the room, 50 feet off the ground there was a glowing bucket.

“It appears we need to get this ball up to the goal. Looks like the fans are the key,” Brock mused. “Let’s see how it rolls.” He walked over and stepped on a button on the floor. The depression suddenly popped out, rolling the ball away with a clank, all the way down to the first fan. The sphere was almost immediately lifted into the air, but as it then drifted towards the second level, it quickly fell, dropping down into a hole and out of sight. There then came a distinct clank as it discreetly dropped in out of a hidden vent back onto where it had started.

“We’re gonna need to move the fans,” May pointed out as Brock stepped off. “There should be some levers, I guess.”

“I think we also need to set the fans at certain points,” Anabel realized walking around. “Looks like there are checkpoints where the ball can sit while we adjust the fans. But we need to get someone up there.” She spied a control panel with several levers and switches. “Over here.” She looked at the first gap and pulled the switch that lined up with it. A large fan lowered into the gap, pointing up, with the air tapering off before the next point.

“I think I see one more gap before a resting point,” Erza said. 

Alshain walked over to the panel and nudged Anabel to the side. “Let’s see… Here we go.” She twisted one of the knobs so that one end of the second platform lifted up, tilting its own fan to angle it towards the cup. “If we force the ball into the stream from lower down, the force should throw it up higher. Brock, start it up again.”

The Knight nodded, and the ball was again sent rolling down towards the first fan. Moving the second platform over, the sphere became caught in another airstream and was borne aloft. Then, moving it back, Alshain smacked the button to tilt it, quickly angling the airstream away from the ball and causing it to drop. As it fell, it once again became caught in the stream, but this time closer to the fan, and thus rocketed out towards the goal. It landed with the grace of a basketball going through a net setting off another lock.

“…Well now, that was a waste,” May pouted.

“I was always a great student,” Alshain proudly boasted.

“Thinking outside the box leads to innovation,” Anabel praised as they walked back into the main room.

“That was fast,” Grey said confused.

“Alshain was smarter than the test,” Erza pointed out. 

“And I didn’t even get to do anything. I hope I can do something in Erza’s section,” Lucy pouted.

Erza hummed, “I guess that leaves the courage test.”

Those moving to that test nodded, entering the room. What greeting them was a massive cavern. Winds howled and crossed every which way. Scattered throughout were small islands to break the winds.

Dawn peered over the side they were on and gulped as vertigo overtook her. Grey caught her quickly. “Damn… how high do you think we’re up.

“This room is over one of the only open cliffs in the village,” Alshain explained. “This test is to get to the other side, testing your courage in the face of winds that can knock you into caverns below.”

Dawn slowly made her way to the edge again. “M-Maybe this is… like Anabel’s,” she mumbled. Her right hand glowed before placing her hand in the air next to the platform.

“What is she doing?” Alshain asked.

“Dawn’s element is light,” Max explained. “She’s learned enough to be able to be able to manipulate the light particles and make things invisible appear.” She noticed her tipping over and grabbed her skirt. “Dawn are you alright?”

“Yeah… I saw the path. I can’t keep it for long… but I saw enough to get you… over…” she pointed to the second closest island. “It’s a straight shot to the first one… then some basic turns.”

“What’s going on?” The Princess asked as the bluenette wobbled.

“We’re not used to the altitude so we’re feeling the effects of the thinner air. Dawn has a weaker constitution than most of us,” Anabel explained. “She’ll be fine if she has another day to acclimate.”

“Then she should go back to the village,” Alshain said concerned for the first time. 

“I’ll… be fine,” Dawn said kneeling to the ground. “Give me a couple of minutes. Go ahead.”

Alshain nodded and carefully walked the narrow path to the first island. The wind whipped up as the group minus Dawn, crossed to the second one. 

“Now what?” Grey asked.

Max looked around and noticed something. Sticking out of a small crevice sat what appeared to be something metal. He walked over and pulled it out. “Hey, check this out!”

“Hm? Oh, that?” Alshain asked. “We’ve found these metal contraptions all over the village. Most of it was either turned into weapons or made into decorations.”

Even as the boy examined it, the room suddenly fell silent. He looked up as suddenly, a wave of crystal spread from his feet, coating the entirety of the floor and walls. Everyone else vanished, leaving him in a dark space, a star shining from the suddenly-black ceiling. As Max watched, it suddenly fell, streaking down to crash into the flat crystal, splintering it, before suddenly growing into a set of tubes, air and flames and god knows what else blasting from them. But somehow, staring at them, he DID know. Or at least, how such energies might be tapped into…

And then it was gone, as suddenly as it had come.

“Max?” Anabel asked concerned.

He stared at wings in thought and then looked up. The empath noticed he had a similar grin to Ash when he had an idea. “I think I can make these fly.”

“What, like gliders?” She asked as he brought out a screwdriver and began to tinker with the metal contraption.

“No, actual wings, like the Vulture!” Max said.

“Impossible,” Alshain grimbled. “If humans were meant to fly, we’d either have magic or a bird’s wings!”

“Yeah well, you just don’t know the physics,” Max snapped. A few more tweaks later, he had a pair of metal wings. It was easily double the boy’s size with a small gap between his shoulders with two handles on it.

“You are insane if you think that can work!” Alshain screamed in worry as he went to the other edge.

“Well, this is the courage room right. All we need is one leap of faith!” He shouted running off the edge and spreading the wings. He caught a good current and flew higher into the cavern. “This is awesome!”

“Max, can you head to the goal?” Grey asked,

“Yeah,” he called out. Spying the end goal, he began to bank and head down. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he miscalculated the bank and began falling faster than anticipated.

“Max! Pull up!” Erza screamed.

The young boy began to panic as even though he was getting close to the goal, he did not have enough altitude to pull it off.

 _Gotta try something! Wait, Friedrich! He said air is one continuous current, right? So maybe,_ He dropped his feet allowing the air to gather underneath him. He then forced them up into his wings and with the speed he was carrying it created lift. He quickly pulled the wings back up and the momentum carried him to the goal, where he rolled and hit the wall. 

“Max!” Anabel called out, her whole body shaking like a leaf.

The young boy rubbed his head and grinned. “Heck yeah! That was awesome!”

Alshain bent down to catch her breath. “That...was impossible. Man shouldn’t fly like that! Not without magic.”

Max saw a switch and pulled it down. Instantly, the paths lit up to show the way forward. Carefully, Alshain and the others with her crossed the paths, jumping over the gaps before leaping onto the last platform and hitting the switch. The last lock opened in the main room and a portal opened next to everyone. Stepping into the light, they teleported back to Dawn who was feeling better and exited the room.

“How was the test?” Ash asked.

“Other than Max giving us a heart attack, it went fine!” Grey said.

May glared at her brother with a look older siblings gave their younger. “What. Happened?”

“Um, I found my bud and I nearly crashed?” Max responded.

Her response was cut off by Ash who grinned. “Oh really? What is it?”

“Like I was hit with an entire encyclopedia for all things fast. So many ideas at once, maybe it’s one of those Tinker abilities Fried likes.”

“We can ask him later, now I think our princess has a final exam,” Misty grinned to her fellow redhead.

Alshan nodded. “INdeed, this last test I must ask you to remain on the sides while this occurs.” They walked up to the now unlocked door as it creaked open. The room was large and circular, with gentle winds blowing around. In front of them was a large eagle statue whose emerald eyes were glowing.

_“ Ye who seeks their final test, step forward and present yourself.”_

(Think Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Alshain nodded and stepped forward and kneeled. “I am Alsahain, current princess of Ozad. I humbly present myself to you, great Aquila spirit.”

_ “This test is one of heart. Pass and be recognized for your success, fail and you may return once you have trained your heart.” _

Alshain nodded and the Eagle’s eye glowed and a gentle green beam hit her. The air was tense as everyone waited with bated breath for her success. Eventually, the beam died down, allowing the princess to breath.

_ “Princess Alshain. Your heart is strong for your village and of your family. I am proud to deem you worthy of protecting this temple and your village. _

Alshain smiled and bowed. “Thank you great spirit. I pledge my spear shield and magic to fight honorably.

She heard applause and turned to see her companions cheering. She blushed and bowed. 

Erza stepped forward and hugged the princess to her armored chest, nearly choking her. “Great job, your highness.”

Alshain coughed and got out of her grip. “Thank you. Now I believe its your turn.”

The knight nodded and stepped forward. The Eagle spoke again. _It seems it is time for my power to be needed again. Wielder of my bracelet, step forward._ Erza nodded and stepped into the center. _Present._

Erza put it on and held it up. A gold light shot out and hit the statues beak. _The tests ahead are most difficult. Who shall be the tester?_

“I, Erza Scarlet, shall take this test!” 

_“Very well, Erza Scarlet. Should you pass this test, your rewards will be magnificent. May the winds guide you through this test._ As he said this, the legs began to lift, revealing a passageway forward. Good Luck.” 

Erza looked behind her and motioned her friends forward.

(Begin Tower of Gods from Wind Waker)

As they approached the landing for the next floor, they were greeted by two long platforms, that were separated by several smaller circular platforms. 

“This looks easy,” said Natsu, leaping onto the first platform. He immediately regretted doing so, as the moment he touched the scale, it dropped out of sight.

“NATSU!” Lucy screamed, rushing over to the edge they were standing on. “Are you alright?!”

Natsu’s motion sickness had kicked in and he was moaning in discomfort. 

“Is something wrong with Prince Natsu?” Alsahin asked.

“He has really bad motion sickness. Combined with the thinner air, he’s basically paralyzed,” Ash explained.

“What do we do now?” Grey asked, his shirt missing.

“I think we need to balance the scales,” Anabel suggested. “But, they look extremely sensitive. And it looks like there’s five sets that we need to cross.”

“So, with 14 of us, how do we all get across?” Erza asked.

“Max, you think you can fly across, see if there's anything to weight these down?” Dawn asked the young boy.

May grabbed her brother and made him face her. “Are you seriously gonna try something that you just built in a temple that’s perched on a damn cliff!?”

“Yes, I am!” Max said with no hesitation shrugging off the hand and stepping back. 

“Have you figured out what happened?” Erza asked.

“Just didn’t get enough air, and to not try and bank as much. Should be a straight shot!” Max called out as he set himself up. With a deep breath, he started to walk and then sprinted off the platform. The air in comparison to the other room was blowing more gently allowing him to easily clear the gp.

“This is impressive for one so young…do people fly like this where you are from?” Alshain asked.

“Only with the aid of magic,” Erza revealed. “What about your world Ash?”

“Yes, we have internal power to help with flight,” Ash answered. “However not many people can fly without crashing into the ground. Max just has a passion for it. Most only experience flying in the form of travel from one place to another.

As the young boy landed, he noticed several statues. “Hey, you think you can find statues over there?” He called back.

Erza glanced over to the right and noticed more statues. “I got them, but how will these help?”

“We need to make sure certain sides move and stay up. First try to get Natsu to come up!” Max shouted.

Erza grabbed a statue and hoisted it on her shoulder before walking up and tossing it onto the raised platforms. The scales balanced and allowed Natsu to rise up.

“Lucy, use your whip to pull Natsu out,” Brock said realizing the same issue. The blonde mage quickly snapped Mutsraboshi and flung it down to wrap around the dragon slayer, before the others grabbed her and pulled her back. As she did so, the scale slowly evened until Natsu was back on the platform, the scale back to its original

“It looks like the idea is to balance the scales in a way that it stays up, for all of them,” Max pondered. “With our athleticism, I think we can get this done on three.”

After loads of trial and error, they finally got the scales balanced to a point to a point everyone could get across. Finally through the door, they were greeted by a blast of air. They had entered an exposed part of the temple with a cliff face. Those who normally wore head cover had already taken them off, but the wind was howling enough to blow the loose clothing on the girls around, forcing them to hold them in place or hug the wall.

“What is with this weather?!” Alshain yelled.

“As we get further up, the air gets thinner,” Max explained, “Less energy to move through the same space. We have to be at least 3 or 4 thousand feet up. The winds are gonna be merciless until we get inside.”

“Glad we decided to rest for the night, cause I doubt we could get used to the altitude like this if we started yesterday,” Ash concurred.

As they talked, the wind slowed. “It looks like this is more patterns. One wrong move and we’re off the edge,” Brock pointed out. Then he grinned. “At least, that’s how the test is supposed to be.” He walked up to the first small gap and pounded the wall. Instantly, a platform was created bridging the gap. He waved them on, after getting applause. They continued up the cliffside, battling the winds and creating and destroying platforms as they passed. Finally, they reached a large circular platform, where they took a break.

“I wonder how high we are?” Misty asked, looking over the side. “It looks like we’re almost a mile up.”

“How do people in Denver live this high up?” May gasped, catching their breath.

Suddenly, a wall went up where they had entered, making everyone tense. Max realized what was going on. “GUYS! AWAY FROM THE WALL!” They scrambled to their feet and headed into the center. Seconds later, spikes jutted out out of the walls.

“Is this temple trying to kill us?” Alshain exclaimed.

Ash looked to the sky. “No, I think it’s sending out something big.”

Before she could ask, a loud screech echoed through the air. From a nearby cliff, a large bird shaped shadow flew closer at a high rate of speed. It was a giant blue bird with at least a thirty foot wing span with red and white tips. Surrounding its head was a large face mask that covered the top half of its face. It landed opposite the group and let out another screech.

“What is that?” Lucy panicked.

“It’s called the Helmorac King!” Max explained. “This thing is even bigger than I thought!”

The bird reared its wings back and began to flap its massive wings. The air raced forward, sending feathers and other debris flying at them. Brock and Natsu immediately anchored themselves and the lighter girls bid behind them. Meanwhile, Erza began firing over her rifle and Ash launched several lightning bolts. The shots grazed the bird as it took off. It flew higher before flipping around and beginning a divebomb run. Everyone ducked behind shields that Brock, Dawn and Anabel conjured up, as the giant bird dropped feathers on the ground. Seconds later, they exploded like firecrackers, explosions rattling against the barriers.

“How are we supposed to take it down?” Grey asked firing a couple of rounds off.

“First thing we need to do is break that helmet!” Max told them, “That means we need to get him closer.”

“Whatever flame brain was doing seemed to piss it off more!”

Natsu was about to retort when Misty spoke up. “No, that’s the idea. Lucy wrap your whip around Natsu. Brock, do you need help?"

Anabel knew what Max was asking. “I got him!”

“Alright, now we need to bring it back!” Erza said firing her rifle. While the range made it impossible to get a good hit, it was definitely enough to get its attention. It soared around before banking and then flapping its wings before landing, sending a wave of air on touchdown. 

“Hey ugly!” Natsu taunted pounding his chest. The king bird stomped towards and reared his head back. The Dragon slayer grinned as he felt the whip tighten and pull him back. The bird slammed its face into the ground, wedging its beak into the floor. As it struggled, Lucy swung Mutsuraboshi all the way off the platform before snapping Natsu forward. The dragon slayer ignited his feet, blasting himself upward before he came screaming down. The glowing axe crashed down on the helmet, cracking it but not breaking it. At the same time, Anabel raised her arms and began to dance to build momentum, before mimicking an overhead throw. Brock, who was being held by Anabel’s astral energy flew by as if held by stunt wire before coming down and strike the mask where the cracks were. The combined force shattered mask, revealing a red face and glowing red eyes.

“I’m gonna say he’s mad now!” Max pointed out. As he said this, the bird flew back up and away from the arena. Then it raced back down, its wings scraping the ground and forcing everyone to roll away. With the helmet gone, its hawk like head was exposed for the mages to fire on it.

“It’s taking a lot of hits!” Erza observed, “But if we get on its back, we can bring it down!”

“I got you!” Mira summoned Gambol Shroud and tossed it at her. Wrapping it around herself, the redhead nodded, before the ivory-haired mage began her wind up. After about seven rotations, Mira snapped her whip forward, the Knight sent flying towards the banking bird. To her fortune, it was turning so the back of its heck was exposed and in a position that couldn’t stop easily. She crashed between its wings, knocking it off balance. Grabbing a handful of feathers, she climbed the body towards the neck, the Helmorac King fighting to shake her off. 

Settling into position, Erza summoned Milo and raised it above her head. With a loud shout she drove it into its neck hitting the spine. The bird screamed in pain and tried to shake her off, but her control was firm and she flew it downwards. As her friends watched, Erza slammed the bird straight into the cliff face. She saw her landing zone and leaped off, taking her weapon with her. The Helmorac King screeched before crashing into the mountain, the impact crushing its skull and breaking its neck. Erza smiled as she walked away to her cheering friends, the bird falling into the abyss. A wall on the other side of the arena lowered, revealing a pathway to the next area.

“That was awesome Erza!” Max cheered.

The knight smiled. “Thank you, but it was thanks to all our efforts,” she told them. “Now, let us hope there aren’t any more of them on the other side.”

Groaning at the idea, the others followed behind her as she followed the path towards the new door.

She gasped as she entered the new area. Like the arena, it spread out in a circle, though this time the floor was solid. However, vertically it stretched up even higher, continuing on until she couldn’t even see where it ended, with sheer walls that clearly weren’t meant to be scaled.

Cut into the floor were a series of curved grooves, and what appeared to be five statues moving along them at a decent pace.

Max gazed upwards “I think the boss room is up there, but I don’t think we can reach it at the moment.”

May looked at statues. “I think the statues are the key, this could be like the knowledge test with Alashain.”

Erza looked at the statues gliding along the patch and noticed each one had a symbol. Glancing around the room, she saw five different alcoves. “Each statue appears to need to go into these alcoves here.” She noticed that each alcove had a different symbol. One was a pair of crescents like rainbows, one looked like a pink flower, one was a hammer with a lightning bolt in the middle, the fourth was a simplified eagle and the last was a red shield with a javelin going across it. “Each of these statues should have a symbol that matches this.

“And we probably need to move each statue using wind magic to adjust their paths as needed,” Max suggested.

Erza, Max and Alshain were quick to float over to the first one. The young boy glanced up and saw propellers on each of them. “We got our source of movement.” He reached back and blew a stream of air at a propeller on the head of the rainbow statue. As it spun, Erza heard a muffled, but distinct *KTHUNK.* When it next reached a split in the grooves, the statue suddenly veered from its course, moving along a different track. 

“They act like train tracks, and we need to switch them onto different paths,” Erza realized as she sent air to the switch closest to their statue. A couple more switches later, and the first statue settled into position. It turned to faced the center, glowing yellow before it settled in. A loud unlocking sound echoed above them.

“It appears these do more than move around,” Alsahain observed. “It looks like these statues are keys much like my tests down stairs.”

The three wind mages quickly walked over to the next statue, this one with the eagle on it. This one needed some course reversals and some switchbacks in order to line up correctly with its slot. The third one, the flower was extremely difficult because it felt like it needed something else to move it. It took some figuring out and a glance over to Ash cuddling with Misty to realize that this one needed to be paired with another statue.

Through trial and error, it was determined that the one with the hammer had to move as well, which took some coordination between the three to make sure they both went in at the same time. Once they were in, it was time for the spear statue. As this was the last one, they essentially have to go through all of the tracks and then raise into its position above the other before. As the last statue turned in its place and glowed bronze, the final locks unsealed as the three wing mages dropped to a knee in exhaustion.

“That was great puzzle solving,” Anabel praised as they walked over to the lift.

“Yeah...thanks,” Max panted. “Dawn...focus on Erza,” he asked the healer as his sister gently laid him in her lap.

“I’m fine,” Erza protested, despite breathing heavily.

“No you’re not,” Dawn rebuked, her hand already glowing pink to begin healing the Knight. “You need all of your energy for this fight.”

The redhead knelt down to allow for the lolita to heal her. Meanwhile, Lucy noticed a lever and flipped it up. The lift shuddered before quickly ascending the shaft, the wind blowing past them at a breakneck pace. After a few minutes, they stopped at the top.

“We’ve gotta be at least 7000 feet high…Erza how are you holding up?” Ash asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Erza replied as they reached the top, the elevator grinding to a halt slowly. In front of them was a large grey door, with five tumblers that had rolled to the side, showing it was unlocked. Entering, they found themselves in a much larger arena. It was a domed arema with gaps underneath for ventilation. The floor shined as if made of made of metal.

“I assume because its Erza’s test, we can not enter.” Alshain theorized.

“First time someone’s gotten that beforehand,” Misty replied with a smile as her fellow red headed knight stepped forward.

“Erza Scarlet, you have passed your tests, save for one. Present your Driver and prepare to fight your predecessor!”

Erza nodded and held her bracelet up high. A beam of light shot out and struck the center of the arena. 

(Play Between the Wind from Baten Kaitos EWLO)

As the beam died down, the wind began to pick up. Red colored leaves began to swirl around in front of her, drifting in from out of nowhere. The leaves slowly merged, twirling faster and faster before bursting into flames and dispersing in a swirl of dust. The debris revealed a stunning scarlet-haired woman. She had striking green eyes, complemented by matching eye shadow. Her attire consisted of a bronze circlet, a brown leather corset, a red skirt and calf-length, armored, heeled leggings. On her back was a familiar pair of weapons. Despite her imposing form, she had a gentle smile.

“Hello there! My name is Pyrrha Nikos,” The warrior said formally, nodding politely “You being here, means my legacy is ready to be passed on.” 

“Indeed,” Erza responded.

Pyrrha hummed. “When I was alive, I was a huntress, same as most of the Riders of my generation. Unlike most, I rose to fame beforehand thanks to various combat tournaments.” She closed her eyes. “It was…nice, but ultimately, I wanted to be a normal huntress. But my fame followed me everywhere, so I enrolled in a school far away from home.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I was called…the Invincible Girl. Everyone put me on a pedestal, made me feel alone. That’s why when I went to Beacon; I was glad some people didn’t recognize me. And for that I will always be eternally grateful. 

“When my school and the tournament I was in was attacked, I rushed to help out. But it turned out, that generation’s Guardians and knights had infiltrated the tournament and we helped them stop the attack. It was only later that many of the friends I made at Beacon were also to be Guardians and Knights. I was so glad I was one of the Knights.”

“Glad you were a Knight? Weren’t you the strongest person?” Erza asked.

Pyrrha sadly glanced at Erza. “Tell me, despite your power, people feared you, and you kept yourself locked away, am I right?”

Erza clenched her fists. “Yes...I know I can be imposing, but...I’ve tried to be better. For the sake of all our friends.”

Pyrrha hummed in delight. “Good.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Aquila bracelet. “I assume you know how this works?”

“I win, I get your final form and you can go to heaven.”

"Well, yes. Let me warn you, I _was_ one of the strongest Knights. Many people thought I was worthy of being a Guardian. Let’s see if they’re still right!”

“I expect nothing less from my great ancestor,” replied Erza holding her transform sword with a grim smile.

(Play Slingshot from Red Vs Blue i.e Meta Versus Carolina)

“HENSHIN!”

**AQUILA! TAKE FLIGHT!**

The two belts echoed through the hall as the armors formed onto the two women. Erza quickly charged in summoned two short swords and charged at Pyrrha. The spartan for her credit met her challenger with her sword and shield and began to trade blows. 

Off to the side, Natsu was cheering his mate on. “Go Erza! Kick her ass!”

“Show that princess who’s boss!” Gajeel echoed.

Ash though noticed something slightly off. “Max you got better eyes than me, you seeing something...off?”

Blinking, Max watched closely as his fellow Wind Mage fought and saw she was mistiming swings. Something that she, being the experienced swordswoman, would not do in a fight of this caliber. “She’s making small mistakes. It looks like she’s overcompensating her swing.”

“Is it magical?” Lucy asked worried. “Is Pyrrha using spells non verbally?”

As she said this, Anabel watched Pyrrha’s hands. “It’s not magic. If it’s what I suspect it is, Erza has a problem.”

“Wait what?” Natsu asked in shock. “Erza’s losing?”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ash asked the empath.

“Magnetism,” Anabel nodded.

“Magnets? Wait, Pyrrha’s got them in her hand?” Grey exclaimed. “Isn’t that a little unfair?”

“Erza’s got a whole arsenal at her disposal,” Anabel countered. “No, I think this is her ability.”

“What do magnets have to do with Erza losing, can’t she overpower them?” Mira asked.

“No. See, the universe is governed by several forces, among them is something called electromagnetism,” Misty began. “Drew’s Libra form has access to this but the relevant issue concerns our atmosphere. In our atmosphere, there’s an invisible electromagnetic field, made of balanced positive and negative forces. Forces of similar polarity repel each other, while those who are opposite attract.” At Max and Brock’s skeptical looks, she pouted. “I can pay attention in science.”

“And Pyrrha can access it at will?” Mira said realizing the implications.

“I think she can. And she’s been using this polarity to repel Erza’s swords, just enough to push them out of the way,” Misty concluded.

“Which means, Erza’s whole arsenal,” Gajeel began.

“Can be turned against her,” May finished.

Natsu stood against the shield and watched as his girlfriend fought. “Erza...you can do this.”

The Knights clashed, sending sparks flying. Erza smirked behind her helmet. “I can tell you’ve trained extensively.”

“When your a multi-time tournament winner, you either get good or fall by the wayside,” Pyrrha agreed. “And I can tell you’re a high-ranked soldier.”

“Indeed. Enough of the foreplay,” said the Mage, pulling out her Heaven’s Wheel sword and grinding it through her Driver.

**HEAVEN’S WHEEL! TAKE FLIGHT!**

As the white armor took hold, Pyrrha smiled behind her helmet. “I see you also have multiple forms. Allow me to show you one of mine,” she reached to her belt. “My friends that became Guardians and Knights helped me design my own forms. Let’s start with this one.” She held up a curved green blade, engraved with the petals of a pink flower, and cut it through her bracelet.

**STORMFLOWER! TAKE FLIGHT!**

The spartan’s armor glowed before shifting into a green oriental robe. Her legs were encased in white armored leggings and short boots.

 **“Aquilla! Stormflower Mode!”** Pyrrha shouted. She flicker her hands to make two green colored pistols drop into her hands.. She pointed it at her opponent and fired, the pistols lighting up with multiple fast rounds. Erza deflected the initial wave, but realized the rate of fire was too much and began to flee.

“Those are like Drew’s pistols, but why are they firing like Grey’s?” Lucy asked

“The ones Drew has are called semi-auto or single shot pistols,” Ash explained. “Semi-auto means he doesn’t have to worry about setting the hammer, whereas with single shot he does. Looks like Pyrrha has full auto, or perhaps pistols designed to be like that.”

“More worrying is what else Pyrrha can bust out.” May frowned. “Unlike other Knights we’ve fought, none of Pyrrha’s forms really match anything we’ve seen from Erza.”

As she said this, Erza took to the air and had grabbed her Black Wing key.

**BLACK WING! TAKE FLIGHT!**

“If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, these guns are like Drew’s and they don’t have a way to defend themselves!” She screamed charging at Pyrrha.

CLANG

To everyone’s shock, Pyrrha had indeed blocked the strike, using the butt of the guns to block it. Looking closer at Stormflower, they saw that two dagger like blade extended from the handle.

“You were saying?” Pyrrha asked a little cockily, “Huntsmen had to be adaptable to any environment and must be able to fight as conditions allow. My friend just so happened to know the weaknesses of his weapon and built them accordingly.”

“That may be true. But can it withstand multiple hits?” Erza asked back, swinging her blade again Pyrrha countered again, but this time she was pushed back, the blow noticeably stronger with each one. After three blows of increasing strength, the guns shattered in Pyrrha’s grip. Seeing her opponent momentarily stunned, Erza took a step forward and slashed upwards, finally raking her blade along Pyrrha’s armor and causing a shower of sparks to spill out.

The Spartan landed and rolled back to her feet. Holding her stomach, she chuckled. “That was impressive, it reminds me of my partner.”

“Partner?” Erza asked.

“Yes. At our hunting schools, we were paired with different people through random chance. My partner Jaune was very raw, experience-wise, but had a lot of potential. He was actually the leader of my team, along with another couple that turned out to be the best friends I could have ever asked for. Let me show you his power,” she said holding a straight blade with two crescents on top.

**CROCEA MORS! TAKE FLIGHT**

As she slid the sword through, her green armor disappeared, replaced by a white half plate armor over a leather buster, tight blue leggings and heeled combat boots. In her arms, was a longsword and a white shield with two crescents on it.

Ash winced. “Now Erza might have an issue,” he said to the mages. “I doubt she uses shields and most of you are...strong enough, to take multiple hits. However, throw a shield in and a lot of strategies need to be changed. If she’s used to guns, then that shield is designed to take some serious force.”

“Its like whenever Erza finds an opening, it gets thrown back in her face!” Natsu growled pounding the shield.

“This is supposed to be a test, it’s not supposed to be easy,” Dawn said. “And if you think this is hard, yours and Lucy’s are gonna be brutal.”

“Why would...oh...why me!?” Lucy asked then realized and started sobbing waterfall tears.

Erza clenched her sword, contemplating what else she can do. Pyrrha saw this and grinned. “Being able to handle damage is a trait most would find enjoyable. But you can’t win playing defensive. Sometimes, you need to have courage to fight without a plan.”

“What, be like Natsu?” 

“Maybe, Jaune was always a great tactician. But when it came to his friends, he’d be running to defend with this shield.”

“Let’s see how strong this armor is!” Erza shouted, reaching down to grab a random blade and swiped it across her bracelet.

**FLAME EMPRESS! TAKE FLIGHT!**

As the armor formed, Erza growled. “I wasn’t even trying for this armor. But I guess I need to deal with what I have!” she yelled, summoning her flame sword and charging again.

As they clashed, off to the side, the Mages were starting to get worried. “Erza’s getting frustrated, and that means she’s going to make mistakes!” Mira said worried.

“Wait…” Grey narrowed his eyes. “Why is Pyrrha not deflecting this blade.” Indeed, Pyrrha was using her shield to block, rather than try to deflect it away. “Is she that confident?”

Max watched the fight closer and realized something. “Its not because she’s not confident, its because she can’t use it!”

“Wait what?” Natsu asked the young boy. “Did Erza hurt her?”

“No, is it safe to say that the Flame Empress armor can produce flames?” Max asked. At the mages nods he continued. “Magnetism does have a weakness. If it gets hot enough, the magnetic strength weakens. Too hot, and it loses it completely!”

“So in her frustration, Erza lucked into one armor that can negate Pyrrha’s ability,” May contemplated, shaking her head.

As they were discussing this, Erza was slowly coming to the same realization. “Your Polarity seems to be turned off,” she observed as the blade met her shield again. 

Pyrrha said nothing and tried to push her back, but without her polarity, Erza’s stronger body made it easier to shove the spartan back. She lashed out with a larger kick that caught Pyrrha in the midsection, which was followed by a flaming roundhouse kick to the spartan’s head.

“I think I now know the problem. Your...polarity can’t handle the heat can it?”

The spartan slowly stood up. “It...might not be able to combat heat. But it does allow me to do one thing.” Pyrrha got out, holding up a small, axe-like blade. 

“Which is?”

**MAGNHILD! TAKE FLIGHT!**

As her armor shifted to a bright pink chest plate and white knee high boots, she reached back and a larger hammer formed. “I can fly!”

*CRASH!*

She brought the hammer down, her power and strength adding to the fore. The impact shook the entire arena and knocked the observers off their feet. The impact caused the platform to violently flip up, knocking Erza into the air. Pyrrha grinned as gravity took hold and she began falling. Having been caught off guard by the sudden change in arena, Erza panicked as she followed her opponent into gaping maw, vanishing from sight as she fell.

“ERZA!” Natsu, Lucy and Mira screamed, looking over the edge.

“What the hell did she do?” Grey snarled.

“She essentially took away any advantage Erza got from the Empress armor,” Ash said looking down. “If she switches to any of her flight armors, she can easily just use her polarity to control her flight. And I don’t know how much control she has over fire magic in that form.”

“Are you saying Erza might lose?” Natsu asked.

“I’m saying that Pyrrha was probably better than advertised and Erza’s fighting style is coming back to bite her. If she acted more like Natsu, I think Pyrrha would have had a much different time.”

(Play the music From Dead Fantasy 2...RIP Monty)

As the two fell , Erza slowly righted herself and tried to find her opponent. She heard a gunshot and felt an impact on her shoulder, spinning her around in the air some more. Grunting, she looked around and caught a glimpse of a muzzle flash before feeling another shot hit closer to her arm. Grabbing her armor’s sword, she deflected the first couple of bullets bounced off before wincing as another shot hit the back of her shoulder.

 _Damn it, she can control the metal in these bullets. What am I going to do? Wait...bullets?_ She thought as she recalled something Drew told her.

_ Flashback, before the mission with Oracion _

_Erza fired into the dummy Friedrich had created for her to test their shots. As she placed her rifle down, Drew casually walked over and smirked. “Nice shots. Got some fatal wounds, especially near the heart.”_

_“I’ve been asking Bisca for some help,” the redhead admitted, “I feel like I’m improving.”_

_Drew hummed as he scanned the wounds. “You know, if I ever got into a gunfight with ya, I’d have a hard time getting to you.”_

_“What?” Erza asked surprised._

_“You think bullets are the end all? No, they can be stopped pretty easily. But the worst thing is that they can be easily deflected by the wind. As they lose energy via distance, they can be affected by various forces, including elemental.” He explained. “My pistols don’t have a lot of range, or punching power. All you would need to do is use a windshield and that bullet is gonna go around ya.”_

_“Interesting...so I could make a shield and deflect things away,” Erza muttered._

_“Work on it before you put into practice,” Drew warned._

_ End Flashback _

_I didn’t practice much, but better late than never,_ Erza thought as she closed her eyes. She felt her magic swirl as the air condensed around her.

Pyrrha stared down her sights at her motionless opponent and fired. She was surprised when instead of finding her target, it hit the wall behind her.

Seeing her tactic work, Erza pushed forward with her wind magic, her sword raised. She slashed across Pyrrha’s chest, the force knocking her into the wall. Not letting up her advantage, Erza charged forward, her right hand grabbing Pyrrha’s helmet, and dragged her down the tower. Pyrrha struggled to lift her legs and kicked her fellow redhead back. She then twirled her gun and changed it to a sword. The two clashed again as the wind from below swirled beneath them. Pyrrha reached back and grabbed her shield and threw it. Erza ducked, and summoned one of her Heaven’s Wheel swords to deflect the inevitable bounce back. The momentary distraction as enough for Pyrrha to make a desperate stab. Erza was not fooled and elbowed her wrist, disarming her. She raised her Flame Empress for another strike.

***CRASH***

***SQUELCH***

(End current music start playing Forever Fall from RWBY...T-T)

Pyrrha’s shield shattered under the powerful swing, surprising her long enough for Erza to bring the short sword forward and stab her chest.

“Gasp* Pyrrha coughed, blood pooling in her helmet. Her armor shattered, revealing the stunned woman. “I...give…”

Erza caught her and allowed the wind to bring the two up the top of the tower. Upon reaching the top, she landed in front of her friends and laid Pyrrha down while her armor dissipated.

“You...did wonderfully,” Pyrrha said smiling. “I’m sorry...I couldn’t have helped my friends,” she coughed as her form slowly began to turn into an ash like substance.

“What do you mean?”

“I...was the first of the Riders to fall, to save my fellow teammates and Riders. The...only regret, is...not growing old together with my beloved…” She held up her hand, which Erza took in her own. “Please, remember this lesson, your friends...will make any loneliness...disappear...as long as you fight with them in your heart...you will be unstoppable…”

Erza nodded, her own tears beginning to fall from both eyes. Pyrrha held up something in her hand which the knight took. “This...is Altair...the star of the Eagle. Use it...better than I did,” she coughed as blood and ash came out. But she smiled, and began to sing. _“Some people... wait a lifetime to love...and some never get it right...but our hearts...will endure...Forever….Fallll…”_ Her body disappeared into a cloud of ash. Some of that ash settled around Erza’s collar bone forming an intricate Eagle tattoo.

Erza was still crying when Natsu and Lucy walked over and hugged her sides while Mira hugged her back.

“Memories are like Dreams,” Ash said walking over slowly. “The more you think about them, the more they remind you of what you’ve lost and what you wish to obtain.” He sighed. “I’ve had this talk with Drew a few times. He believes these temples are more than testing grounds, they are in fact the last vestiges of the civilization that brought them into existence. If we forget our ancestors, then all of this is for naught. The proper quote he uses is, “Those who fail to learn from History are doomed to repeat it.”

Erza stopped sniffling and clenched her fists. “Then I promise...no matter what, history won’t repeat. My magic, my swords will be used to bring this peace Drew wants.”

Ash smiled as the other mage riders echoed her sentiments. “He’d be proud to hear that.”

Alshain walked up to Erza and bowed. “My apologies for past behavior. After seeing this battle, you’ve proven worthy of the bracelet.”

Erza stood up. “No need for that. But thank you.” Looking around, they spotted a large door that had opened up. She started walking towards it, with the others. Inside was a large treasure room. In addition to the gold and jewels, there were several weapons stored here, ranging from antique to modern. Erza quickly found the pedestal which activated the sealing of said treasure. When the room was cleared, a simple urn was left in the middle.

“Where’s Pyrrha’s body?” Natsu asked looking around.

Misty walked over and gently took the urn. “It’s in here…her body was cremated and collected,” she handed it to Erza, who took it with unusual reverence. “There’s nothing here for us anymore, let’s go.”

As she said this, a blue portal appeared in front of them. They all began to step into the light to leave. As Erza stepped in, she looked back and saw Pyrrha’s spirit smiling. The spirit waved before disappearing again. Erza waved back, before she was taken away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ND OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: I’M SORRY I KILLED HER AGAIN! It hurts to even write about it and feel free to bash me on it. Anyway, two more buds were revealed. 
> 
> NS: Yep, and that’s my job to explain!
> 
> Misty - Misty received the power of a canon Cape called Fathom. His power was quite simple: he could open portals to a dimension full of water, causing it to rush out and engulf enemies, before sucking them back in. Her turning into a mermaid was not part of the power, but rather something that Osprey insisted on.
> 
> UO: She looked great in that costume, don’t deny it readers. In addition, she can now adapt for multiple watery environments as a result. How many will be up to us.
> 
> Now comes your favorite type, NS.
> 
> NS:
> 
> Max - Max is the first, but certainly not the last, to receive a bud from Friedrich’s Inspired Inventor. While not a direct copy this time, Max has become a Tinker inspired by another canon Cape, by the name of Stinger. His specialization will be ‘High-speed Propulsion,’ meaning that he can create just about form of tech, so long as it has to do with going fast.
> 
> UO: Translation, Jet Fighters, fast cars, drones, you name it, if it can break the sound barrier he’s gonna build it. Tinkers if i understand it correctly are only limited by imagination and resources. And as NS said he’s the first of several. Who the others are will be a mystery known to us.
> 
> Preview: As the village of Ozad celebrates their success, tender moments are shared between the group. When the village is attacked, the Riders must team with the village defenders and push them back.
> 
> Next time: Claws of the Dark Spirit


	31. Claws of the Dark Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Village of Okab celebrates, Dark forces appear! Can the Riders defend the village?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOOSH
> 
> UO: Alright let’s keep the train rolling  
> Drew: ASH ACTUALLY WON!  
> UO: Wait, what?  
> Misty: Wait, WHAT?  
> May: WHAT!?  
> Dawn: HUH?  
> Brock: WHAT?  
> Max: NO WAY  
> Drew: HE BEAT THE ALOLA LEAGUE *STARTS UP POKEMON THEME*
> 
> UO: Okay…as you can see we’re celebrating something that took 22 god damn years. Um…right. Disclaimer: I only own the plot. If I owned Pokemon, Ash would have won years ago!
> 
> ???: GOD BLESS THE ANIME AND MY CHILDHOOD TOO!

“Speech  
Text and Time change  
 _Thought_  
Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
Attacks/Spells/Techniques

** Chapter 31: Claws of the Dark Spirit **

Moments after the battle

Erza landed in a beam of light. Loud cheers greeted her as she turned around and bowed in gratitude. Tarazad approached her with a wide smile. “Congratulations to both you and my daughter for clearing the temple and proving yourselves to our great ancestors.” She turned to her daughter and hugged her. “You changed while you were in there, whatever happened was good for you.

Alshain sniffled, “Thank you, mother.”

The queen turned to the rest of the team. “You are welcome to join our celebration tonight. The ladies are also welcomed to partake in our dancing. For that, they must be prepared. Gentlemen, you’re all still our guests here, so please enjoy our party to your heart’s content!”

Natsu, Gajeel, Ash, and Grey immediately made a beeline for the nearest stand while Brock decided to ask about Max’s new glider. Meanwhile, the girls were escorted into the palace, specifically to a dressing and bathing room.

With the limited number of attendants, it was decided that only two girls should be prepared at once. The rest were allowed to rest on the piles of pillows scattered throughout the room. The room itself was a large parlor room with several couches and pillows scattered around. In the back was a large spring that used geothermal energy to heat itself. Some of the attendants were busy adding herbs and salts to help with recovery into it.

“It feels like a sultan’s den,” May giggled burying herself into the softness of one of the pillows.

“There are no men wandering here, so make yourselves comfortable,” Alshain told them as she slipped off her top, revealing D-cup breasts, before slipping into the water. “This water has special herbs and cleansing agents. I would recommend it before they dress you.” 

“Don’t mind if I do!” May said as she stripped down and found her way into the water. “Oh man~!” She moaned as she stepped in. “Misty, this water is divine!”

The Water Guardian followed her in and agreed as if it was made from a water god. Anabel and Dawn giggled as the attendants dressed them and put their make-up on. Erza sighed in bliss as she laid down, the day catching up to her. She felt two pairs of hands gently grab her blouse and took it off, followed by her bra. She smiled as Lucy sat in front of her, topless as well, while Mira’s ivory haired visage snuggled into her back.

“You did amazing today,” Mira whispered, kissing her ear and reaching down to massage the redhead’s chest, squeezing her dense, springy breasts lightly. “You had us scared when Pyrrha knocked you off the platform.

"She was one of my toughest opponents. She could have… no, she should have won," Erza admitted.

"Don't say that," Lucy assured her. “I’ll admit, you had us a bit worried when she could counter anything. But you’re always figuring out ways to win, so we knew you would.”

The red-headed knight smiled and squeezed the blonde closer. A whistle caught their attention. Looking up, it was May looking at Dawn, who was bashfully covering herself. She was wearing a gold lace bodice, showing off her comparatively modest chest, and a pink satin sarong. Her hair was in a long ponytail with a jeweled braid. On her hands were several sapphire bracelets while blue makeup and blush adorned her face, which was covered with tiny sparkles.

“Wow, Dawn, you look amazing!” May gushed. Turning to Anabel, her mouth began to drool. “Damn, Ana! You really pull it off too~”

The purple-haired empath was wearing a purple jeweled bra with matching drapes that showed off her long dancer’s legs. Her feet had a pair of silver anklets while her arms were adorned with over a dozen bracelets. Her eyes had gold and purple eyeshadow while her lips were the same color. A tiara kept the bangs out and was topped off with a purple silk face shawl.

"Yeah, this feels… feels so natural," Anabel swooned, twirling around.

The attendants went for May and Misty next, considering that they were cleansed in the water. Misty's hair was braided with a ruby hairpiece, while a matching red jeweled bikini and a hip scarf were given to her. She was also given a pair of heeled sandals and several bracelets that clinked with the slightest movement. For makeup, they went with green eyeshadow and matching lipstick color. Overall she portrayed a vision of a powerful princess.

May, on the other hand, was going for full-on seduction. Her top was merely two jeweled gold pasties attached to a small strap while her bottoms featured a simple gold-colored metal thong with drapes. Her hands had several jewels on them, as her eyes displayed gold eye shadow and her lips coated in gold lipstick. The attendants offered to paint her completely but she politely declined.

Afterward, it was Lucy and Mira's turn. When they were done, Lucy sported a gold-colored strapless bikini that strained against her bust and matching thong and hip scarf. She was given strapped, heeled sandals, along with a long eagle necklace that settled in her cleavage. Her golden hair was thoroughly cleaned and braided with a diamond-encrusted braid. Her face was adorned with gold sparkles that made her blush stand out beautifully.

It was Mira’s model-like form, however, that made everyone stop and stare. Her impressive figure was encased in an ivory-colored pearl-encrusted bra. Her hips were encased in a matching thong and drapes with a couple of bangles on her ankles, leaving her long smooth legs on sensuous display.

"Looking amazing, Mira!" Misty praised.

Mira giggled and sauntered up to her friend. "Your turn, Erza~! 

The redhead blushed before being escorted over to the chair. As she tilted back so that her hair could be placed a sink, she glanced over to Alshain undergoing a similar treatment. “How could this village afford all of this expensive material?”

“Thousands of years of trade, plus victories in many wars and smart investing. Our ancestors were not fools. All of the artisans that come and settled have contributed as well,” she explained. Then she smirked. “All of you are courting your respective Princes, correct?” Erza grunted a yes as the water and shampoo digging into her scalp made her head tingle. “I hope you don’t mind seeing open affection?”

“Meaning?”

“We don’t mind if you make out with each other or do other things to each other. The only thing not allowed is sex, and they can easily leave the party if need be.”

Erza’s body heated up at the implications. Lucy heard this and grinned, “Natsu’s gonna have some fun, especially when he sees us.”

“How did our blonde princess become so bold in public?” May giggled.

“When my partners are as affectionate, turning my body into their personal teddy bear, shame is something that I gave up on,” the blonde replied, getting a high five from the brunette.

Erza smiled as the assistants continued to work on her hair and body. As an hour passed by, they finally stepped away from her, allowing her friends to take a good look. Her attire consisted of blue silk, strapless bra with small sapphires dotting the cup, showing the tops of her large breasts and toned flat stomach. Around her waist was a matching hip scarf, with a metal bracelet wrapped around her legs. On her feet were a pair of blue heeled sandals. Her hair was wrapped in a matching braid while a tiara kept her hair out of her eyes. Blue eye shadow was applied to her eyes and a sapphire eagle necklace and her arms were decorated with several bracelets adorning her arms.

The first thing out of one of the gawkers’ mouths was Lucy asking, “Can we keep her like this?”

Alshain laughed as she stepped out, dressed similarly to Erza only emerald green. “You’re welcome to take these with you.”

“So what do you think the guys’ reactions will be?” Dawn asked with a giggle.

“Well, Brock will probably get a nosebleed, and Max will probably be embarrassed at his big sister,” Anabel answered before offering, “Shall we, ladies?”

Thanking the attendants, they were escorted towards the festivities occurring in the center of town. The party kicked off as the sun had set, casting the town in brilliant orange. In the center square, a large bonfire was burning, while tables set up for food and drinks were scattered around.

The whole population had shown up as this was a celebration of their princess’s coming of age. Women dressed in simple yet very sparkly outfits, while the men wore vests and various colored harem pants.

Ash was munching on a rib while Pikachu was nibbling on a cracker in his own open vest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max working on the glider with Brock helping while a couple of onlookers just stood there. “Max, you think you can put down your new obsession for a few minutes?”

“Can’t. My mind’s been going a mile a minute since I got my Bud. Been trying to slow it down, but imagine how much I can build out of this.”

Brock handing him some bread and milk chuckled, “You should take some time to look at the ladies.” As he said this, some of the girls walked by and giggled at him, making him blush and go into la-la land.

“Now, Brock, what would Suzie say, hmm?” Misty’s voice teased, prompting a nervous laugh from her friend.

Ash looked up and the rib in his mouth dropped to the ground. His girls were posed in a very seductive fashion with May draped over Dawn who was curtseying. Anabel was lying at her feet on her side while Misty looked like she was ready to begin dancing.

“Um… U-Uh… Wow…” Ash tried to form words but his brain was short-circuiting. Now he had been exposed to his girls dressing habits, but these outfits brought it to a whole new level. If he didn’t know what his hormones were before, these brought it out and cranked them to 15.

They giggled and sauntered over to his spot, gently removing his plate giving Misty and Dawn space to plop onto his lap. “Glad we got your attention,” Dawn giggled as they kissed his cheek.

“Um… you feeling alright?” he asked as the girls started to feel up his body.

May wrapped her arms around his chest. “Alshain told us that unless its something not kid-friendly, open affection is encouraged. So I hope you don’t mind.”

“Heh, never,” he chuckled before leaning back to kiss her. Turning to Anabel, he grinned and brought her closer. “So, you ready to show these ladies how we do it back home?”

“Trust me, I’ve seen some of them, they know how to dance somewhat, but I think they will be surprised to see us showing off!” She teased sneaking in a quick kiss.

Over with the male mages, Natsu was holding himself back from eating the bonfire and was instead using said flame doing fire tricks to entertain the little kids. He started to juggle the flames much to their delight as they hadn't seen many people actually controlling the flames like that. They then cheered when he ate it and burped it.

This was the scene where Lucy Erza and Mira came to him. When Natsu heard them and turned he was lucky he wasn’t handling any fire, cause he might hurt the little ones otherwise. The blonde laughed lightly as she sauntered over to her boyfriend. “Having fun?”

Natsu grinned and gave her a kiss. The kids made faces and giggled at the open affection. “Now I am. These kids are awesome.”

“Glad you think that, especially with so many impressionable kids here. Have you eaten anything that isn’t fire?” Mira asked.

“Had some great chicken and steak. They really know how to party! Almost like Fairy Tail!”

Erza chuckled and pecked his cheek. “Much more controlled.”

Natsu grinned and then glanced at the kids. “You kids wanna see a cool trick?” Turning to Lucy he asked her, “Do you trust me?”

The blonde nodded without hesitation. The dragon slayer ignited his fists and held them up to Lucy’s arm. Instead of burning her, the flames spread harmlessly up her arms and then over her body. She was hesitant at first, her body trembling as it traversed her exposed skin; Natsu wasn’t the best at self-control when it came to controlling his flames. But as it danced around her skin, it felt like she was in a large fiery blanket. She smiled deliriously as it teased and nipped her skin, warmth rolling over her like she’d laid down in the afternoon sun.

Erza watched in awe and admiration as the flames danced across her fellow lover. She was surprised when Lucy twirled around and allowed the flames to leap off her and surround the redhead. Accepting the invitation, she pulled herself closer and began to dance as well.

It was this scene that Alshain walked in a few moments later with a tall gentleman. “There you are, I see you’re enjoying the show. Fascinating that Prince Natsu is using flames when claims to be the Earth Guardian.”

Putting out the flames to the kids’ pouts, he turned to the princess. “I’m the flame dragon slayer, so I started as a Fire mage. When I got my powers, I can combine my magic and my Guardian power.” As he said this, he kicked up a rock and ignited it. 

“Amazing,” the man said.

“Where are my manners? This is Altair. Altair, these are the Earth and Metal Guardians, Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia, and their knights Erza and Mirajane.

Altair bowed respectfully. “It’s an honor to meet not only the Guardians but also the incarnation of our great matriarch.”

Mira had a gleam in her eye. “Oh? Alshain, is this gentleman who I think he is?”

The warrior had the decency to blush. “Yes, Altair and I are courting, but we haven’t done much since I’ve been training for my test. Now that I am an adult, I don’t need to hide it as much.”

Altair rubbed his head. “I didn’t think our princess would go for a guy like me. I mean, I’m not that smart or anything.”

“You’re winning over my mother, that’s important,” Alsahin assured. Glancing over at the altar, she smiled. “Speaking off,” she said walking over to where her mother was about to speak.

A loud drumbeat echoed through the festivities as Tarazad made her way to the podium, dressed in a gold plate mail bikini and her hair braided and woven into a ruby-encrusted tiara. Holding up her hands, the crowd began to die down eagerly awaited their queen’s words.

“Fellow citizens and guests of Ozad!” She bellowed. “We are gathered here today to once again celebrate the coming of age of one of our great warriors! It is special this year as our crown princess has passed her trials and I feel immense pride in welcoming her to the ranks of our warriors!” She glanced at her daughter who blushed at the praised as she bowed to the crowd. “Let the wings of freedom guide our them to glory! Now celebrate and be merry!” She ordered.

At that proclamation, the music picked up and the party got into full swing. The mages, well known for their wild parties, fit right in as they ate and interacted with the whole town. Grey created solid ice that made the flames shine even more while Gajeel made steel objects that he lit up and did wild tricks. Meanwhile, May and Anabel were with the dancers creating a show that mesmerized their onlookers, to the point that an impromptu dance-off commenced between the pairs. Off to the side, Ash and Misty were in a couples dance group with Alshain and Altair joining as well. The beat was very upbeat and it felt more like they were at a club than a party. Misty quickly swapped out for Dawn who was more bashful but easily got into it as she danced to their own slower rhythm. This continued throughout the night, with many not leaving until close to midnight.

Early next morning

Misty yawned as she sat up from her spot on the bed. They had basically collapsed onto the bed so they hadn’t had a chance to change out of their party wear. Grumbling once again about her early morning workouts, she gently crawled over Dawn who was nuzzled into Ash’s left side, grabbed her spare clothes and proceeded to the baths. The waters here were similarly fed by the geothermal springs and a nice steamy atmosphere greeted her. Stripping her gear off and unbraiding her hair, she cleaned herself off before stepping into the pool. Being the only one there, she took a couple of strokes before flipping onto her back. 

“One benefit I guess of being out this early, no one to bother you,” she said to herself. Glancing down at her legs, she put them together and watched them merge into the tail from before. Instead of the shimmering blue scales from before, they were clear white on top and a ruby red on the bottom. 

“Interesting… maybe it’s a reaction to my environment; this is much warmer and mineral-infused,” she noted as she saw that her arms and chest had similar colored scales. She willed her legs to separate and the scales disappeared. “So it’s my will that turns my legs, and the environment dictates the changes. Maybe if I was deeper I would have more fins or scales.” She merged her legs back and sank beneath the water, knowing she wouldn’t drown. With no one there the waters stilled and she closed her eyes to enjoy the ambiance. Minutes later, she saw small ripples across the water and she sat up to see her partners entering the bath.

“Misty?” May called out. “Didn’t realize you were still here.”

The redhead shrugged. “Too nice to come out at the moment.” She quickly dove and kicked her tail forward, before stopping in front of them.

“Having fun, Ariel?” Dawn teased as Misty sat on Ash’s lap, tail and all.

“Yeah,” she giggled. 

“Can’t imagine what being in one of those costumes would be like,” Anabel said trailing her finger up the scales. “I thought your tail was blue?”

“I’ve figured that my transformations are based on the environment. So with the warmer water and being a geothermal spring, my scales are red from heat while those not exposed are clearer,” Misy explained then felt herself shiver. “Ana, what are you doing?”

“Just tracing my finger up and leaking a bit of aura. Why?”

“‘Cause right now, it feels really good.”

May and Dawn grinned and snaked their hands down to her tail. Misty knew what was coming and instead of fighting it, she buried her face into Ash’s chest and tried to hold in her laughter as they massaged and tickled her tail, which caused her to shiver and spasm in pleasure. A few minutes later, after calming down, she wrapped her tail around them and pulled them closer. “I wouldn’t trade a thing for the life I’ve got now.”

Ash kissed her forehead. “Me too, to think this started ‘cause of a few bikes,” he commented, making everyone laugh. A few minutes later, they left the baths and dressed back into their normal clothes. Meeting up with the mages they entered the throne room with the queen waiting patiently to see them off.

“Thank you for your hospitality, your majesty,” Erza said bowing to the queen.

“Please, the pleasure is all mine. Let’s get you all fed before you leave.”

Before they could enter the dining room, however, a messenger came running through the doors. “Your majesty! Trouble at the gates!”

Tarazad narrowed her eyes, asking, “What happened?”

“The Avatar cultists! They’ve returned and they are attacking the village!”

“Order all our warriors to prepare for battle. Where is my daughter?”

“She’s already with our defenders!” The messenger revealed.

“Good!” The queen turned to the Riders. “I hate to ask, but would you be willing to lend us your strength?”

“Say no more! Come on, guys!” Ash ordered as they left the room. Outside they could see the fires of battle already burning.

“There are too many fronts! We need to split up. Pair up, and stay alert!” Ash ordered.

“RIGHT!” they shouted as they branched off to different sections of the city.

In one of the residential areas, Anabel’s arms glowed in an ethereal light while she hacked through the various cultists, who appeared to have no idea how to fight the extremely mobile mage. What also didn’t help was Grey peppering them from afar, his ice magic freezing them in place as multiple shots struck each one.

“I think we got the rest of them,” Anabel noted. “Let’s go help the others.”

Grey was about to agree when took a sniff of the air. “We got company!”

The empath turned to see a large middle-aged Asian man striding slowly towards them, clapping his hands and randomly chanting. He was wearing a dark blue kimono and gray hakama pants, with a round shield on his right hand.

Having seen his allies getting knocked down one by one, he narrowed his eyes at the two mages. “You! How dare you hurt my comrades! I, Gomon shall smite you, tea.”

“You’re the ones destroying the town,” Grey growled, firing off multiple shots. 

The large man blocked the shots with a giant swipe of his shield. “You think a few icicles will stop— GAH!” In the time it took for him to boast, Anabel closed the gap and kicked him in the stomach. “You bitch!”

The empath said nothing and struck him again knocking him away. Summoning a Light Screen, the purple wall caught him with a thud. She raised her hands, which glowed with psychic energy, and the wall bounced him back towards her. Her arms glowed in ethereal light before she slashed upward. The attack hit him twice, once from the slash and then a second from the ethereal energy exploding.

The man staggered back. “Stay still!” He held up his hands to summon his magic. A pair of manacles appeared and grabbed her hands before wrapping them behind her back.

“You like my little handcuffs? My magic is torture based. I’ve got so many tricks up my sleeve you’ll be begging me to kill you!”

Anabel thought back to Friedrich’s arsenal and giggled as she tried to break out of her cuffs. “I doubt you have THAT many.

Grey quickly fired off an Ice Lance, which was blocked, before turning to Anabel. “Can you still fight?”

“Yeah, he was dumb to take away only my arms.” She focused her Aura on her legs. “Ice the ground and follow my lead!” 

Not hesitating, Grey did just that, icing lane all the way past Gomon. With his sandals, he had no grip and quickly fell on his butt. Anabel quickly ran on the ice, using her Aura as a form of ice skates. She took a leap and launched both legs into the larger man as he struggled to stand up, causing him to scream as he slid further down the ice. Grey then created two parallel slides, letting them skate behind him The empath summoned another Light Screen, which then sprung the man up into the air. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Anabel’s leg and Grey’s ice-encased fists. Both strikes connected with a loud crack that sent the unconscious man back down to earth.

Landing on the ice, Grey smirked as he froze and shattered the cuffs. “That was awesome.”

The purple-haired girl nodded and followed the ice mage.

In the market area

May launched another kick at the woman in front of her. She was dark-skinned, with silver hair, and had a figure nearly as curvaceous as herself and even dressed like she wanted to, with a strapless bra, a white jacket, royal purple drapes, and high heels.

“So you’re one of the pesky flies we warned about from those Miracle Eye folks. Got to say, they make you out to be some boogeymen!”

 **“Vine Whip!”** May yelled as four leafy vines sprang from her arms and wrapped around her dark-skinned opponent. She pulled her closer and then kicked her back into a wall.

“Impressive. But do you think it’s just me,” she asked looking to the roofs. May followed her gaze and saw Max...and another of the woman? “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Briar, of the Avatar cult. And I can create clones to distract and destroy you.” As she explained this, two more clones appeared in front of the brunette, while the first clone summoned another two. Max quickly pulled out his new glider and took to the air.

“Hold still!” one of the clones shouted, anger flashing through her eyes.

“Let me think about that one, old hag… NAH! **TEMPEST WING!”** He reared back with his mechanical wings and snapped them forward. The quick speed kicked up a fierce wind, one that was much stronger than the Briars was expecting, and two clones were sent flying into the air with twin squeals of shock. He stepped on an air platform he’d created and leaped after them, with his staff out spinning over his head. He got between the three, smacking all three multiple times, before catching them on the edge of his staff. He flipped over and then send flung all three clones straight at the ground. The clones screamed as they crashed into the ground before they all disappeared.

“Heh, this thing’s pretty cool. Now I wonder what else I can make?” He said landing. Looking around, he scratched his head. “Wonder where May went?”

May and Briar’s battle had spilled into a florist shop. The brunette had retreated into the shop to give her time and think of a plan. Fighting multiple opponents even those that were weak was still an issue cause most of her spells needed time to charge up. Even her quicker spells still needed a focal point. Thus she fell back until she found this florist shop and activated her illusion spell before hiding in the back.

“Alright girly, I know you’re here,” the main Briar said.

“You come quietly, and we’ll make sure you’re the first sacrifice,” the happy clone said with a fake smile.

“Or not and we can torture you, either way works!” the other clone laughed.

May was hidden behind a large display of roses, glaring in Briar’s direction. However, before she could start thinking of a plan, everything went dark. A surface of smooth crystal began to spread over everything, rendering it all still and silent. Then, the plants arranged around the store began to glow, crystal flaking and falling away, before writhing and twisting before her eyes. The brightly colored blossoms, already in bloom, bloomed further, more and more stems and vines growing from their depths, made of materials colors she’d never even seen before. They bore thorns tipped with impossibly potent toxins, secreted sap that burst into flame or sparked with electricity. She saw seeds growing from places and surfaces that plants could never take root in, mushrooms that spread like wildfires, and more.

Then the vision was gone, and she crouched among the flowers again. Flowers that fell squarely into her elemental domain. She smiled, formulating an idea, and placed her sword next to some of the roses. The flowers grew out, stems branching out, and wrapped themselves around the blade, all the way to the hilt and binding it tight. Then, with a jerk, she yanked the blade free, cutting through the stems and flowers and soaking the sword with their juices. Instantly, the fluid staining the blade began to glow, sparks of electricity flaring up along the steel. **“Gold Rose Resin!”**

One of the Briars heard the crackling and didn’t react fast enough as she was zapped into submission. The clone and the original saw May dashing towards her. She spun around and whipped out the electrified vine to take out the other clone, electrocuting it and causing it to fall to the floor unconscious. Then the brunette lashed out her legs striking her in the stomach. As the dark-skinned cultist gagged and staggered from the surprisingly powerful blow. She then felt a vine wrapping around her and dragged her over to the brunette. Only one word escaped her lips, “H…how…?”

“When you choose to limit yourself, you ruin your chances of evolution,” May told her, “Sorry hon, no sacrifices today,” before shocking her opponent into unconsciousness.

Her brother flew in as Briar fell to the ground. Looking at May’s sword, he grinned. “You got a Tinker bud too huh?”

“That’s what it is?” May asked, looking at the vines. “Looks like I can make things out of plants. Guess we should start with that garden.” Glancing around the florist shop, took some money out and placed it on the counter before grabbing a couple of bouquets and packs of seeds. “This should do nicely to start.”

Max rolled his eyes and walked out. Grabbing his glider, he motioned his sister to hook herself onto an extra harness in front of him and then took off into the air. “Kind of feels weird to be in this position with ya.”

“Normally it’s me hugging you,” May giggled, “How’s the glider?”

“Not bad for a first run, if I had better materials I might be able to do more.”

May hummed as she watched the battles unfold. “Looks like everything seems to be under control, let’s take a break, I’m getting hungry.”

“Forgot we didn’t eat,” he said landing. Unhooking his sister, he sat down and watched the smoke of the battles beginning to die down, indicating their friends were winning. As he did this, May hugged him to her bosom.

“This is more like it,” the brunette sighed and they relaxed for a few moments. Several screams made her groan. “Duty calls,” she said standing up.

“Hey,” he said holding up a black wrapper. “Still got a few of these Snickers, in case you’re hungry.”

May gratefully took it and rubbed his hair. “You’re the best, bro. Come on!” She said devouring the bar and running on the roofs.

Max grinned and flapped his wings before gliding right after her.

Over at the park grounds, Alshain bashed one of the cultists in the head while stabbing another in the shoulder. She helped one of her comrades stand after he had been knocked down. Behind her, Mira in her Demon Sitri form blasted several more away. Behind them, Dawn was busy patching up everyone up while firing off Ice Beams to freeze attackers approaching.

“You’re doing great,” she told a female warrior.

“Thanks!” she got in return picking up her sword.

The bluenette nodded and stood up. She held Sylveon over her arm and powered up a pinkish-blue ball of Aura.

 **“AURA SPHERE!”** She thrust the ball forward towards a group of ten. The ball barrelled through them as if they were bowling pins. “And that’s a Strike! Drew would have loved that!”

“That was impressive, Dawn,” Alshain praised, “I didn’t realize you had combat skills like that.”

“You can thank my Pokemon for that!” She replied, only for the sudden agonizing screams of the defenders to prevent her from continuing. 

“What the hell?” Alshain asked in despair. “They were fine a minute ago!”

Dawn watched in horror as her comrades started to drop in agony. Most of them were holding their stomachs. “It’s magic! **SAFEGUARD!”** Her body glowed as her protective shield drifted over her like a waterfall and bathed her in a light blue veil. She was about to spread it to Alshain and Mira when she saw that the princess was already writing on the ground, while Mira was fighting through it.

She heard giggling and looked up to see a redheaded woman, with cat ears and large diamond-like stars in her eyes. She was wearing a black and white turtleneck sweater over matching leggings and short heeled shoes. The individual turned out to be Mary of the Avatar cult.

“Like it?” she asked, “This is my Black Magic, **Virus** ~ It’s funny how a simple little bug can take down an entire village. You know you should feel lucky.” 

“Why? Aren’t you doing enough damage?” Dawn growled as Mira struggled to stand.

“Well, I can always cause brain death if I really want. But where’s the fun in that? So much more fun watching them squirm~!”

Dawn wanted to make her retort, but words could not escape her as she watched everyone struggle to stand or even breathe. All of these brave warriors who fought to defend their homes, their families, and what they believed in for the sake of Okab, they would surely die a slow and painful death. And for what, some demented Mage’s sadistic pleasure?

But the thought of Mirajane and Alshain barely clinging to life in the face of this terrible magic was absolutely grueling. Mira, a true friend, a kindhearted ally who had been through hell and back, now unafraid to show her reputation as an S-Class in the heat of battle; the suffering she must have been experiencing was too much for Dawn to imagine.

And Alshain, despite her only getting to know everyone recently, the determined warrior’s inability to fend off this deadly spell was gravely concerning. This was the princess, daughter of the village’s leader, who represented the strength of Okab. If she had fallen here and now…

And to make matters worse, Dawn knew she too would fall under that spell once Safeguard wore off. Yet this wasn’t just about herself, or her friends, but also regarded those who might have to face this dangerous enemy if she lost this bout. Despite the horror seeing those around her in excruciating pain, she knew this truly was unacceptable.

She needed something, fast! Anything to put an end to this cursed Virus spell! Just then…

_ [Destination] _

_What the?_ Dawn thought, hearing a strange voice. The world around her went dark, and a golden orb suddenly loomed over her, filling the sky with its presence.

_ [Animancy.] _

_Ani what?_ She thought. 

_ [Agreement.] _

And then it was gone. The black void disintegrated as she returned to reality, almost no time passed. Looking down at her hands, she concentrated and thrust her hands forward. Alshain glowed first, then Mira then one by one the rest of the defenders glowed pink.

“What… what’s going on?” Mary stuttered as she could feel the hold on her magic falter. “My Virus Magic is being destroyed?” She turned to Dawn, whose eyes were glowing pink. “What are you doing!? Stop!”

“Your magic is focused on torture and death of your opponents,” Dawn began. “What’s stronger than death than life itself! This is what my new Bud can do! If you think you can kill my friends while I’m around, think again!” She poured more power into the healing spell, making it glow brighter. In moments, the virus was purged out of the defender’s systems as they coughed up a dark bloody mixture.

Mary looked scared as her opponents stood up and looked around frantically for an exit. “Um… this isn’t good, time to---”

“Ahem!” She froze as she heard two angry voices clear their throats. She mechanically turned to see Mira and Alshain with glowing eyes. Mary stuttered in fear, letting out a frantic scream as the two women promptly beat her to a pulp.

Dawn weakly grinned before collapsing to her knees. “Damn it… that was too much.”

Before she could fall further, Alshain saw her drop down, rushing over to her side and kneeling before her savior. Her hands gently grasped her body, picking her up with gratitude. “Thank you,” she warmly smiled, “You saved our lives.”

Dawn slowly gave her a thumbs up, barely responding, “No… need to worry…” before she felt her eyelids shut without a second thought, leaving her out cold from exhaustion.

Mira sighed, “Poor thing, saving us probably took it all out of her.”

Alshain proceeded to transfer the healer to her subordinates, ordering, “Take her to the medical wing. Treat her as if I was the one brought in.”

Knowing that Dawn saved their princess, they were more than happy to comply with the order. “You should be proud to have someone willing to do that for anyone,” she said as they rushed away.

“I’m proud of all of our friends. Now, we have a village to protect!” Mira said spreading her wings.

“Right! All troops! Move out!” Alshain ordered as they moved into the village.

In the artisan area

Brock swung his axe at the metal figure in front of him. The machine-like being grunted before punching him back. Brock felt the hit knock him back and noticed the last two hits weren’t as strong as before but this one felt like he got hit by a football player. Behind him, Gajeel fired off a breath attack before charging up a shot from Condemnation and fired. The Dragon Roar seemed to do little, but the gunshot caused their opponent to stagger.

“Okay, what gives? There’s no way our attacks have this much power gap!” Gajeel growled.

The metal figure laughed. “Perhaps an introduction is in order. I am D-6. My magic manipulates the laws of chance to cause despair. Do you think you can win with one blow against me? Imagine taking all the strength away from you at the moment of triumph, and then all I have to do is flick you. You can never truly have a final blow.”

“What does that mean?” Gajeel snapped.

“It means that whatever his magic is doing is manipulating the amount of damage we all deal out. That’s why your shot did more than your roar.”

“That’s stupid!”

“That’s RNG for ya. Somehow, Max and Drew have the devil’s luck!” Brock grumbled. Looking around the armory, he saw multiple pieces of body armor and weapons scattered about. Many were gathering dust, but otherwise in really good condition.

As he did so, however, the sounds of the other Rider clashing against D-6 fell away, as crystal began to spread out from his feet, washing over every surface and making everyone else vanish. As he stared at the armors, a lightbulb went off in his head as he turned towards the ground. “Armors out of Earth huh? Now that’s an idea.” He raised his fists and punched the ground. His arm sank up to his elbow and he felt the rocks forming into a familiar shape. Slowly pulling his arm out, it revealed a terracotta soldier, perfectly formed and ready to attack. The former gym leader quickly repeated the process until he had a whole squad.

D-6 kicked Gajeel aside and saw the soldiers bang their shields before lining up to fight him. “What the? How are you controlling these? How are you making them?”

“You can say your luck ran out,” Brock said. **“Incarnation Spell: Loyalty of the Unliving.”** He felt his power disconnect from the soldiers, leaving them to stand on their own as they raised their weapons. “If the odds are against me, then let’s just add the numbers. Now, Terracotta soldiers! ATTACK!”

D-6 took several steps back as the soldiers marched towards him, one thing on his mind. _What rotten luck!_

Moments later, the cultist lay beaten and battered on the floor, the clay soldiers standing at attention. Gajeel turned to Brock. “Yo, what the hell was that?”

“Remember Max’s little outburst in the temple? Looks like I can make robots or other sentient machines.”

“What?” Gajeel asked.

“I’ll explain later, come on,” Brock said walking towards the exit, the Iron Dragon Slayer following him.

With Erza and Ash

Erza, clad in her Flame Empress armor clashed against her opponent as they fought across the large training ground. The man in front of her was about her height with blonde hair and orange eyes with tanned skin and dressed in a noble’s white and black robes. In his hand was a glowing purple sword with a round rain guard and knuckle guard. There were also three belts that surrounded the blade itself. The redhead growled as she tossed the sword in her hand away, the blade rusting over as if exposed to the ocean.

“Your reputation precedes you, Erza Scarlet!” Jerome smirked. “But without your weapons thanks to my Dark sword, you’re just a dog with no bite.”

“I wouldn’t be so cocky! **CRIMSON WIND!”** She swung sword from the ground skywards. A trail of flames, powered by her Wind Magic, swirled into a twister and sped towards the cultist. The fierce winds surrounded him and he was forced to leap back while swiping his sword to dispel it. The flames disappearing, covered Ash’s approach as he slashed forward. The blonde barely dodged the electrically charged swipe, only to be struck from behind by a second Ash clone swinging a fiery sword from above, striking him across the chest.

“GAH!” Jerome cried out as the slash left residual burns. “How are you keeping your sword from rusting?”

“Aura is a shield, using my life energy to protect my body and anything I wield. As if a rusting curse could get through that!”

“Then I’ll make sure you burn it off!” Jerome challenged as their duel continued, even launching into the air.

As they battled, Erza stabbed the ground in frustration. “Damn it, my swords are being destroyed faster than I can replace them!”

Watching Ash fight, she noticed that he wasn’t being entirely truthful in his ability to negate Jerome. She could see a layer of electricity below the Aura, in the event the magic penetrated it. She had overheard some terms tossed around with the Friedrich and Drew. Words like physics, chemistry and other terms that went over her head. When she saw Max create the wingsuit out of the debris, he had done literally on the fly and with the tools he had on him.

Looking down at her sword, her eyes flashed and suddenly she was standing in an armory. Glancing around, she recognized her own armors and weapons standing proud and undamaged on various stands. Looking further ahead, she recognized less and less of them, the arrayed armaments stretching into the horizon and beyond, their appearances growing indistinct. As she admired the weapons, a small knife began glowing out of the corner of her eye. 

Blinking her eyes, she saw she was back in the fight. Looking down at her arms, she summoned her magic and requipped her Lighting Empress Armor’s armbands and summoned another sword. Pouring magic into it, electricity flowed forth, a current running through the blade.

Ash looked behind him and leaped towards Erza. The redhead nodded and both charged the blond man. Jerome blocked both attacks, his confident smirk slowly morphed into a panic. “What...How are you doing this? My Rust magic should be destroying your blades!”

Erza said nothing, before retreating and lashing out with a followup swing. Thanks to Ash’s swing from the opposite direction, her sword struck from above and shattered the blade.

Jerome staggered back. “No…! My weapon!” Before he could scream, both of his opponents swiped at him, slashing through his shirt and chest, unleashing thousands of volts into him, before he was then blasted away.

Ash resheathed Raikou and turned to Erza. “Let me guess you saw something in your head and came up with the electricity idea.”

“It felt like I was looking at a forge… it’s like I knew how to make it. But… I don’t understand it all.”

Ash smirked, “Then you’ll love science class. Lesson one: rust can be removed with electricity through a multi-step process. The Aura thing was a measure of insurance.”

“It seems I have a lot to learn.”

“We all do Erza,” yet the fact they were still on an active battlefield suddenly hit him at that moment. “But we shouldn’t be talking any longer than we already have. Come on, let’s find the others!”

The two sword wielders headed back to the palace where the battle was heating up.

In Front of the Palace

Tarazad, while amongst the heat of battle, was proving why she was the Queen as she spun around, sweeping her spear in large arcs to knock away the cultists closest to her. She swiftly raised her shield thereafter to block several magic spells coming her way. This moment allowed Misty, standing right behind her to conjure a water-dimension portal, unleashing a geyser of water at a large group approaching. The aquatic blast washed away and into the arms of the defenders.

“Amazing! You’re younger than my daughter, yet you can control the very ocean,” Tarazad praised.

“Thanks, but this isn’t entirely my power, I picked up this ability on our way here. I can call water from basically anywhere I want.” Misty summoned another portal over another group and caused a great deluge to fall on them, making them trip as if they were in a cartoon skit.

“I was wondering how you were fighting without a source of water.”

Misty said nothing, instead, taking a deep breath. **“HYDRO PUMP!” **She snapped forward unleashing a massive about of water that flushed away most of the remaining enemies. Coughing as she spat out the last bit of water, she grinned. “Haven’t gotten used to breathing with water in my lungs.”

“What?” the queen quickly questioned, unable to follow.

“Well, that same power also allows me to breathe in water. I think my lungs haven’t fully adapted to the change yet.” She looked over and saw Natsu and Lucy fighting what she assumed to be the leader in a dark blue and grey bishop’s robes while wearing a metal face. “I take it you’ll handle the palace?”

“Go! I’ve got things here!” Tarazad ordered. 

Misty nodded and summoned a wave of water leaping onto it. She charged forward, above the battling group, before allowing the water to crash down over the leader. She fell towards the ground, where a portal opened and deposited her next to Lucy.

“Glad to see you’ve been practicing with that portal power,” Misty praised spinning her trident.

“It’s been fun,” Lucy replied as she waved her hand over and let Natsu launch himself out of it and struck Avatar’s leader who was attempting to shield himself but the constant jumping around was making it difficult. “I wonder what else I can do?”

Natsu landed next to the girls, hoisting Urvan up. “These guys are pansies.”

The priest sputtered as he staggered to his feet. “This is… an outrage! Our power… was supposed to be on par with the Balam Alliance! We should have been members, but the damn Miracle Eye guild took our rightful place… But, if I destroy Fairy Tail and the famous Okab village, it will surely get their attention.”

“Try it! See where that will get you!” Misty said swinging her trident.

The priest started to chuckle. “You think I can fall so easily? Do you know why I wear this mask?”

“So we don’t have to see your ugly mug?” Natsu pestered him back, prompting a fist bump from Misty.

“No, you cretins! You see, I, Alok, the head pope of my illustrious Avatar Guild have made a pact with one of the Asakusa Battle Gods!”

“The what?” Lucy deadpanned.

“Surely you would have heard of them. The 18 Battle Gods of the former Asakusa clan were said to be unstoppable titans. However, to summon them, a small offering must be made.”

“Your face… you gave that up!”

“Indeed! I’m glad that I burned it to be blessed with this privilege!” Alok announced with a twisted, intimidating grin. Within seconds, menacing indigo flares of energy began to surround the cult leader’s entire being, engulfing him in a fiery chaotic aura. It was a clear sign he was about to make his move. “The time is now!” he would then call out boisterously, “COME FORTH, IKUSA-TSUNAGI!”

Springing both arms high to the sky, the flames converged above Alok into a pillar of light, shooting upwards fast before breaking apart. Its blue colors corrupted to a violet shade from the point where the magical brilliance dispersed, quickly darkening the village grounds. Not long after, a gigantic purple spell circle formed from the epicenter. Lightning of a similar hue crackled from storm clouds as the summoning was complete.

Starting with a pair of monstrous feet peering from the circle, a huge, bestial humanoid slowly descended out of the circle, crashing into the middle of the courtyard. It was easily 30 feet long in height, featuring a body bolstered with humongous muscles. The fiend’s strength was further proven by the massive sword its right arm wielded. Its frightening countenance was defined by a lion’s face with two devil horns sprouting out of its mane. This was Ikusa-Tsunagi, the Battle God.

With a glare of its eyes, the deity unleashed a massive roar that shook the city, with tiles coming off and the ground cracking from the force of the sound.

“That’s a battle god?” asked Lucy, slightly intrigued

“Finally, a challenge!” Natsu grinned cracking his knuckles. “I was getting bored beating everyone up.”

Misty closed her eyes and shook her head. “He may appear strong, but this is barely registering Erza’s level. If we transform, we can take it down.”

Lucy nodded and summoned her belt before taking her keys. “Hm...Let’s go with...ooh, I just got your contract. Let’s go Scorpio!”

Misty smirked, pulled out her belt and slapped her Change Starmie card into it, while Natsu rolled his shoulders and brought out his transform rings, his Hand author and his Earth Ring.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!**

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles Boss Theme 1)

With confidence, the three shouted in unison, “HENSHIN!”

**EVOLVE**

**EARTH PLEASE~! Don-DON DON-DON-DON-DON! DON-DON DO-DON!”**

**SUMMON: SCORPION!**

As the three Riders transformed, they got a look at Pleiades’ new Scorpio form. The top of the armor resembled a red Chinese martial arts shirt with an opening in the back exposing the black armor underneath along with a pair of metal shoulder pads. Around her waist was a long metallic scorpion tail wrapped around. Long black metallic leggings encased her legs, with metallic slipper-like shoes. Her helmet was red and white with red eyes and a black headband.

“Three more stepping stones on our path to glory! Get them, Ikusa!”

The lion beast roared and stomped towards them. Readying its gigantic blade, Pleiades thrust out her hands quickly. Sand spewed from her palms, creating a cloud that covered the three Riders. The beast swung hard, shaking the ground as the weapon made contact.

The tremors of the attack could be felt by nearby warriors who continued to fight back the cultists of Avatar. Alshain, not too far from the impact zone nearly lost her balance along with the foes she struck down. As the quakes stopped, she looked to the monstrous foe, commenting, “S-Such power! Can the village even withstand the shock of its attacks?”

However, as the dust around the sword’s strike zone cleared, there were no bodies or broken pieces of armor left behind. The deity paused, knowing it lost its prey. 

“Find them you stupid beast!” Alok ordered. Before Ikusa could, it felt a large kick to its chin. Draco had used the sandstorm to sneak a hit onto the god. He then dove back into it through one of Pleia’s portals.

Meanwhile, above them, three larger rifts tore through the sky, dumping huge amounts of water on top of them. Triton leaped out of the third, spinning like a drill and striking the middle of the monster’s spine. It roared in pain as it tried to swipe back at the smaller Rider. She fired off a Hydro Pump which caused the creature to bellow in frustration at the pressure.

“Ikusa, don’t let them push you around! Crush them!”

The god roared once more before stomping on the ground. Unbeknownst to them, Pleiades forged with a plan within the confines of the sandstorm. While Triton was distracting them from above, the underground Draco tunneled around like mad to weaken the sediment underneath.

“Good, keep it up, Draco!” Pleia cheered.

“So how is taking away the rock gonna help us?”

“We’ve only got three people, and despite our Guardian heritage, we don’t have the power to take down pseudo-gods yet, so we’ll have to fight smarter.”

“And the holes?”

“Leave it to me,” Pleia responded while turning around. She shouted, running back up the tunnel, “Just be ready to take him down!” Climbing out, she watched the giant roar and swipe at Triton, who even in the air looked like a sensuous siren as she swam from one water-based portal to another.

Dozens of holes appeared in the air, water pouring from them. However, under Triton’s direction, the streams held cohesion, shooting out in pillars from one portal to the next, linking them together. The Rider vanished into those streams, streaking through them in the air, swimming like a bullet around Ikusa-Tsunagi. She launched constant barrages of pressurized bolts of water in droves and peppered it from all sides, piercing its tough hide.

“That’s good Triton, now for my part!” Pleia said to herself. Concentrating, she focused on opening a portal underneath one of the legs. 

Just then, the Battle God’s eyes glared, as it knew it couldn’t afford to be pushed around like this any longer. Aiming its gaze toward Okab, a massive vacuum of pressure began to form around its demonic form, drawing in dark-looking particles of Ethernano, condensing into a fiery wave of energy forming in its mouth.

“Yes! YES!” Alok cheered in awe, “Destroy everything and everyone! Let your true powers cover the world in an era of darkness, in His name!”

Back at the portion of the battlegrounds where Alshain stood her ground, a high-ranking soldier fighting alongside her proclaimed, “Lady Alshain, the beast is up to something!”

“No… If it’s planning on annihilating the village,” she worriedly remarked, “We’re all doomed…”

Meanwhile, the bloody and beaten Mary, who was left lying on the ground after her beating from the princess and Mirajane looked upon the god with a nervous smirk. She asked herself, failing to keep a modicum of delight at the marvel of their summoned ally, “Um, Grandfather, do you intend for us to die too?”

Elsewhere, the other notable members of the cult found themselves in disbelief as they knew this would spell out trouble.

Just then, a violent force of black lightning began to emanate from the horns surrounding Ikusa-Tsunagi’s mouth. In-between the tips of the two, an electrical wave surged from one point to the next, forming a sphere of energy composed of the same hue.

Alok finally screamed, “SHOW THEM YOUR POWER! DO IT!”

Though the god had not spoken before, it’s voice finally bellowed in an unknown language, **“JUDICIUM: FILII LUCIS DEVASTATIO!”**

Just before it could fire, Pleias’ portal finally formed around its leg, drawing it in. The beast felt its limb fall through, struggled to keep its aim toward the village, as its mouth opened wide.

Much like the breath attack of a Dragon Slayer, a wave of chaotic flames expelled straight into the sphere of lightning energy, turning it into a gigantic beam of destruction that curved above Okab, proceeding to miss the intended target. The mass of Magic Power curved, eventually hitting and obliterating a mountain with ease. A couple more were caught in the explosive blast.

“Damn, that was close!” Draco admitted, knowing they dodged a massive bullet just now. “That’s it! We’re taking care of this jerk and fast!”

It was then that Triton flew around and activated Aqua Jet, with three twisters of water following her. She struck the beast in the side, the force of all the spiraling vortexes, tipping him over. Alok watched in horror as the beast landed on the ground, which collapsed thanks to Draco’s digging work beforehand.

The Guardians reunited and watched as the god roared in pain. “Let’s end this!” Pleiades shouted.

“You got it!” Draco said pulling out his Finale ring and flipping the hand author.

**DRAGON: KICK STRIKE SAIKOU~!”**

**AURORA BEAM: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**AQUA JET: MAXIMUM ENERGY**

**COMBO: AURORA JET**

Pleiades took out the Scorpio key and inserted it into her leg. 

**RED STINGER: OPEN**

Her right leg began to glow red. She leaned back onto it, while building up energy in both legs. Then, as one, all three leaped into the air, with Pleia and Draco doing a front flip before extending said legs. 

“HAAAAAA!” They all screamed, their attacks descending towards the giant god, the images of a dragon, shark and scorpion overlaying them. All three crashed into the god, barely getting a roar out before it exploded. The three Guardians landed outside the crater with a crouch.”

“Don’t underestimate scorpions, you’ll get stung!” Pleaidies shouted stretching her hands to the side.

Alok was frozen as his god was destroyed. “All this work, all of this power! This...can’t be possible!”

“Ahem!” A female voice cleared her throat. He gulped as Tarazad stalked towards him, with several of her guards. “Apparently it can. You’re under arrest! Your gonna be guests in our jail cell until the Magic Council shows up!”

Alok’s eyes behind his mask rolled up and collapsed.

Two hours later, the village as in the middle of cleaning up as the queen met with the departing Riders. Dawn having recovered from her exhaustion was on Ash’s back. 

“Thank you, once again for everything you have done for this village,” the queen said. “Especially you Knight Dawn, for saving my daughter.”

“She would have done the same,” the blue haired girl replied.

“Indeed,” Alsahin nodded. “Come I will escort you to the lifts.” She told them as they bowed to the queen before leaving, the guards saluting them as they walked past.

Minutes later they were at the wind powered lifts waiting for one to come up. Alshain turned to everyone. “I wish to apologize for my earlier behavior.”

“No worries, trust me, not the worst thing we’ve dealt with,” Ash assured her.

She turned to Erza. “That bracelet is important to us, use it well.”

“I will, thank you.”

Finally she regarded Dawn. “Once again thank you for saving my life. I hope you continue to save people.”

The lolita smiled and nuzzled into Ash’s neck. The lift came and they all waved good bye before descending down the lift.

“So Brock what’s our eta?” Ash asked.

“If we jog, we might get back home before sundown,” Brock offered.

“Race ya!” Natsu challenged taking off.

“Get back here flamebrain!” Grey said summoning ice to glide after him

“No fair that’s cheating!” Max yelled taking to the air.

Everyone laughed and followed after them. Erza took one more look to the sky and saw a proud eagle flying above the clouds joined by an entire squadron. She smiled before following them to keep them out of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Good got another out before the New Year. NS anything to add before we talk about the buds?
> 
> NS: Rise of Skywalker is not that bad and I ain’t gonna have my mind changed. :P
> 
> UO: The opinions of the authors are their own and not in anyway indicative of the truth. Anyway, here are the four new Buds received this chapter.
> 
> Dawn: Animancy. An offshoot of Mysticism, granted by the Sun itself. Animancy is a form of magic that protects and nourishes life, ranging from healing to strengthening and more.
> 
> UO: She can essentially be a full time white mage. Her first time was saving Alshain and an entire squadron, which tired her out.
> 
> Brock: The first of three Inspired Inventor buds, Brock has been granted the Specialization of Robotics, giving him insight into the creation of mechanical motion, programming and other self-guiding units.
> 
> UO: Can anyone say drones, Gundams and other robots?
> 
> May: The first Bio-Tinker of the group, May has the Specialization of Plant-life. This also includes fungus. Given that May already has supernatural power over plants, this gives her more insight into creating and growing plants that contain special properties, such as imitating the Resins that can be found in Dark Souls.
> 
> Drew: So you know the herbs and medicines in RPGS? That’s all her, plus other armors and weapons. If it’s natural, you will probably find that in her lab. However it comes with a catch that Friedrich will absolutely warn her about.
> 
> Erza: Erza’s Specialization is perhaps the broadest of any of the Tinkers so far; she has specialized in ‘personal equipment.’ This means that she can produce any sort of device meant to be worn, wielded or otherwise equipped by a single person. Very few limits on that.
> 
> Drew: So like Lucy’s Bud, her magic is now amplified to compensate. If you think her endless Storage circle is amazing now, just wait and see
> 
> Preview: Jude comes to the Riders with information about one of his old rivals. But in order to get close, they must delve into the world that none grew up in and one Lucy wants no part in again. As they investigate, a discovery puts everyone at the gala in danger. Can they prevent catastrophe?
> 
> Next Time: Under the Lights of Intrigue
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOSH


	32. Under The Lights of Intrigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Lucy's Father sends her back to the world she left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOSH
> 
> UO: Before I begin. I would like to say that I finally have a Discord ready to go. Hit me up for an invite it’s called Osprey News. NSG also has a channel called NorthSouth Smut Gathering. Both of us are on each other’s servers and we can be chilled about our stories and find out what we got going on.
> 
> Shameless plugs out of the way, Alright, one more original chapter before Edolas. Instead of explosive power, we’re gonna do a little…James Bond.
> 
> Natsu: Huh?
> 
> Drew: We’re doing undercover work.
> 
> Lucy: Really back in that world.
> 
> Drew: Unfortunately, sometimes saving the world involves subterfuge. Anyway *Checks list* Oh that’s a lot of disclaiming. UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem do not own Pokemon Fairy Tail, or any of the music played this chapter. They belong to *clears throat* Hiro Mashima, Nintendo, Rush (RIP Neil Peart)Santana, Eagles a

**Friedrich: That’s a lot of music.**

**Drew: I feel it adds character.**

“Speech”  
Text and Time change  
 _Thought and Lyrics_ **  
Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
Attacks/Spells/Techniques**

** Chapter 32: Under the Light of Intrigue **

Three days after the previous chapter. September 13th X784, mid-morning

Friedrich watched as the jointed, crab leg-like limb flexed and stretched, plucking and sliding along the metal string that he’d held out in front of it. Chuckling, he began attaching the rest of the strings properly. Before him, painstaking carved and shaved (and polished) from a block of wood for several hours, was what looked like the unholy offspring of an octopus and a guitar, countless brassy, insectoid legs playing a tune on them.

“So that’s what you’ve been doing?” May’s voice asked. Friedrich looked behind him and had to quickly hide his face because of the blush. The brunette’s outfit was certainly very bold for a girl of her age, with a grey sports bra that held back her still growing breasts while showing off her taut tummy and skintight blue yoga pants. She giggled. “Fried, I’ve told you this before, you can look.”

“Sorry, taught to respect women and well, you’re taken. And a lot younger than me.”

May hummed and sat on the table laying her head on her knees. “Don’t mind me, keep it up.”

He shrugged. “Not much to keep up at this point. I’ve already carved it and used Archive to imbue musical patterns into it. Now I just need to finish stringing it. I call it the Acoustic Chamber.”

“So, what’s the inspiration?” she asked, delicately touching it.

“Oh, just some videos that I watched back in high school. CGI music videos that had all these musical contraptions set up. This was one of them.”

May hummed as she observed the machine. Friedrich however had something else on his mind. When the team that’d left for Erza’s temple came back, he was bombarded with questions about their new abilities. With six new ones, including four from his favorite type, he was eager to know more about them, as well as to tell them in return. When he’d heard about May’s though, he became worried, but in the chaotic aftermath, he hadn’t had time to properly talk to her. Now this may have been his only chance to do so.

“So, I heard you got a Tinker bud, plants, right?” Friedrich asked.

“Yeah. You should have seen me in that flower shop. The colors, the plants, the energy that came from them. I made this really cool sap that electrified my opponent.”

He nodded slowly. “Pretty cool indeed. I’m actually familiar with that specialization. There used to be a villain in Boston, Blasto, who could Tinker with plants.”

“Why...does that not sound good?”

“Hm…well, as far as villains go, he wasn’t all that bad,” admitted Friedrich, shrugging, “Just made various drugs and stuff, got a bit into cloning, splicing animals and plants together. However, there was a precedent set before him. Little town in New York State, called Ellisburg. Some everyday place, kind of like Pallet in a way.”

“What happened, and why do I feel like I walked into a Twilight Zone episode?” May asked, her body beginning to shiver subconsciously

Friedrich snorted. “Sorry, just trying to set up the context here. Anyway, there was this guy named Jeremy Rinke. Average guy, lots of imagination, worked at a bank. One day, he gets fired. Another day, he Triggers, gains Master powers. He had the power to take any biomass and...recycle it, to create all sorts of monsters to serve as his minions. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that his creatures had the ability to reproduce. Within days, he was the only human left in Ellisburg, which he claimed for himself, as its king. Called himself Nilbog.”

May gulped. “Is...Is that what...my abilities can do? If I screw up?”

“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said gravely, “It’s not very unlikely. But that leads me to Blasto. After Nilbog, the PRT was VERY leery of any powers that could create life. Blasto, however, managed to stay on their relatively good side; he ALWAYS made sure that whatever he made would be capable of self-replicating. So yeah, as a Bio-Tinker, things can get awfully messy if you’re careless. If you’re gonna go for something big, make sure you have a way to control it BEFORE you start actually making it. Better yet, have a way to destroy it.”

“I guess that also means protecting myself against spores and such,” May sighed, now wrapping her arms around her legs. 

Friedrich patted her shoulder. “The fact you’re already thinking of the consequences is a good thing. Of course, you won’t be doing this alone. You Tinkers need a lab, and I’m gonna make sure you’re all set before I let you go.”

May’s smiled return before glancing over Friedrich’s shoulder. The inventor had no time to react before he was pulled down, as a body was flung by them.

*CRASH*

All activities in the guild stopped as they saw the carnage. Natsu, in one of the many guild brawls, had been flung away from the main area and, in a stroke of bad luck, smashed headlong through Friedrich’s invention, shattering the wood into a thousand pieces.

Drew hearing the crash from Makarov’s office rushed out. Seeing the carnage and see May and Friedrich knocked down, he rushed over to them. “Holy cow! You two alright?”

May sat up and rolled off Friedrich. “Yeah, who the hell threw him?”

“That’s what I want to know!” Friedrich growled, his eyes glowing menacingly. It temporarily dissipated when he turned to May. “Thanks for the save.”

Drew looked at the dragon slayer. “What the heck happened?”

The dragon slayer groaned. “Stupid stripper was bragging about his new ability and then one thing led to another…”

Drew rubbed his eyes. During training the previous day Grey had somehow awakened his bud. After consulting with Friedrich, they’d determined his ability was related to weapons. Specifically, the acquisition or proficiency with weapons. They tested it out on the various weapons they had and for the most part he was able to use them to combat effectiveness. However, the skill he had for them went away when he let go of them, so the first thing both Drew and Friedrich beat into his head is to find time to train with all of the weapons, even the smaller ones. 

What ended up happening was Grey was lording his newfound skill over the dragon slayer’s head as he compared to Erza's magic. Considering their rivalry, this led to at least three fights that Drew had to break up. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there to stop them this time.

The Fire Guardian looked at the wreckage and grimaced. “Oh man, this looked like it could have been awesome. Natsu dude why did you start that fight?”

The dragon slayer frowned and looked down. "This was Friedrich's?

"It was." Friedrich growled cracking his knuckles. "Now get up while I assess the damage. What I find will determine how much punishment you’re gonna get! That goes for you too Grey!" As he said this, May fired off a whip to catch the ice mage trying to sneak away.

Natsu looked down and picked up a couple of pieces. Almost instantly, his vision went from seeing the guild to seeing a large workshop appeared in front of him. The place seemingly began to deconstruct, from the shelves turning into plywood to the floor disintegrating into nothing, everything seemed to vanish in a blink of an eye. Then the space began to reconstruct. Each individual piece had detailed blueprints that he never realized he could read before. Blinking back to reality, he picked up the pieces and called out to Max. “Hey Max, you got your toolbox?”

“Uh, yeah?” Max said bringing it over. Natsu grabbed it and opened it up.

“Natsu, get away from my machine!” Friedrich growled, only for Drew to grab his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Just watch,” he told him. Friedrich watched as with amazing dexterity and speed; the dragon slayer quickly repaired the damage he could see. The whole guild watched as well, stunned at his untapped skill. Within moments, the music machine was back to its original shape. 

“There, I think I got everything. Friedrich, you might want to check.” 

The traveler shoved him aside and quickly started to inspect it. “...It’s whole again,” he said blankly, running a finger along the wood, “Not even a break. What the hell.”

“Friedrich, I think Natsu got his bud,” Drew theorized. “No way he could have known had to do this without experience, or outside help. Is there a Shard for construction?”

“Well, there was Big Rig, but he specialized in construction Drones. This is something totally different from Tinkering.”

“So...Master Builder I suppose?” Drew asked. “You do realize the irony in that?”

“Yes, I do.” Friedrich deadpanned which got snickers from the guild. 

“Enough talk, fire this bad boy up!” Drew encouraged.

Friedrich snorted, tapping the side with a knuckle. “Well? You heard him. Give us a tune.”

(For reference this video is the Animusic Acoustic Chamber video)

The spindly legs stirred for a moment, before moving into action, strumming strings and drumming against them. The guild began to quiet down as the machine began its sonata. They sat down, enraptured as the mechanical fingers plucked the strings, moving with organic grace despite its mechanical appearance. Dawn and Tori who were more into the classical instruments than their partners closed their eyes and began to absent-mindedly mimic the notes played with their hands. Tori having played the viola since she before she met Drew had played alongside his band since it formed. After some experimenting, they discovered that classical music harmonized with the metal music played by them and invited Tori into some of their sessions. Being able to play alongside her partners was a plus. 

Meanwhile, Dawn was brought back to a simpler time, when her and her mother played the violin together as a bonding experience, something she didn’t pick up again until she left the Pokemon world, due to her travels. When she came to Earth, she was pleasantly surprised at the amount of music that she could perform and added to the symphony their house produced daily. 

Lucy was swaying to the music, memories of a happier time when her parents had parties that she’d had fun at. She remembered the times she always stayed close to her parents because of her shyness and encouraged by her mother Layla to dance to the music and play with the other kids A gentle hand on her shoulder made her look up and see her father, a tear falling down his cheek. She leaned into him as the two reminisced about their late matriarch.

After what seemed like an hour, the song faded out, the notes hanging in the air. The spell seemingly broken; the guild erupted into applause. Friedrich rubbed his head in embarrassment and bowed in gratitude.

As the crowd broke up, Makarov and Jude walked up. “That was impressive, young man. I didn’t realize that music could be made by such a machine.”

“Oh uh, thanks? Mr.…” 

“Heartfilia,” Jude replied. “Lucy’s father.”

“Oh,” Friedrich straightened up. “Thank you.”

“My Apologies, Mr. Heartfilia, the chaos out here stopped our discussion. Natsu, Lucy, Ash, Misty, come back with us. Gabby this concerns you too. Friedrich, go punish Grey.”

“With pleasure!” The scientist grinned maniacally, stomping towards the ice mage, who started to shake in fear.

In the backroom, the group gathered around Makarov’s table. “So, explain what you told me before we were rudely interrupted,” Drew prompted.

“Right.” Jude nodded. “As you are aware, your music, despite some people not liking the style, have attracted some fanfare. One of these people happens to be a certain family that we are acquainted with, Sawarr Junelle.”

Lucy shivered. “That creep, really?”

“Unfortunately, fans come in all sizes,” Misty sighed. “As long as they are cordial, we can’t really do anything about it.”

“Right, anyway, apparently, his birthday is coming up. And he wants us to perform at his party in 5 days,” Drew told them.

“There’s more you’re not telling us,” Ash asked Jude.

“Yes. I believe that Junelle might have something that connects him to Yuzan at his manor. We need to find that evidence and take it to the Fiore government.”

“You want us to James Bond this? Alright then. Let’s go brief everyone and then get packed to go,” Gabby told them. “We also need to get formal clothes.”

As everyone stood up to leave, Jude called out to his daughter. “Lucy,” the busty blonde looked at her father. “I know you never wanted to return to this world. But please, for the sake of this mission, bear with it.”

Lucy nodded. “I will, father,” she answered, walking out.

Two Days later

After briefing all the Riders and shopping for formal outfits, they took the long train to town where the Duke’s manor was located before taking a carriage train up to the manor itself. The manor was huge, an indication of the wealth one of Fiore’s transportation moguls had. It was huge, at least three stories tall and about two football fields wide with a wide entrance courtyard. As the carriage pulled up, they were greeted by several servants and two older gentleman in pressed suits. One was an elderly man with grey hair, a small mustache, a wry smile and a cane dressed in a white suit and black pants. The middle-aged man had greying blonde hair, a small crown on his head and a dark blue suit with white shirt greeted them.

“Welcome Casa de la Junelle,” the older of the two began. “I am Durelle Junelle, Duke of the area and this is my son and heir Sawarr.”

“Greetings, oh I am so excited for the Guardians!” Sawarr gushed. Then he spotted Lucy climbing down with the assistance of Natsu. “Lucy Heartfilia! My bride!” he screamed, rushing towards her. Only to scream as two swords crossed in front of him.

Jude saw this and frowned. “Please back away from my daughter. Erza, Mira, let him go.”

The two S class mages continued to glare, until a look from Drew who was walking up told them to back off. He turned to the Duke. “We’re your musical act, pleasure to meet you. All of these people here are our guards and tech people. Do you mind if we go to our rooms, some of us don’t travel well?”

“Of course, we have plenty of rooms for you all. Please come this way.” 

They were all led through a massive entrance hall. It consisted of white marble floors, high vaulted ceilings and two glass chandeliers. In front of them was a large red carpeted stairwell.

“This is where the hor d'oeuvres will be served while you set up on stage. Come, your rooms are on the third floor.”

The group followed after them, with the servants taking their suitcases. As they walked down the halls, they were shown 8 different rooms, each with two queen size beds, red carpeting, gold walls and matching drapes.

“Each of you will be paired up together. Um...two of you might need to be paired up, though if Lucy doesn’t mind,” Sawarr began.

“She stays with me!” Natsu growled pulling her closer.

“Sawarr please,” Durelle scolded. “Now then, servants will bring you meals later tonight. We have a special guest tomorrow night, so I hope you brought some nice clothes!”

The Duke and his son soon left and they could all breathe. “What a creep!” Dawn muttered once they were out of earshot.

“Welcome to my world,” Lucy muttered wincing as she rubbed her arm. “Damn my arm is still sore!”

Drew snorted as he remembered why that was the case.

_ Two Days Prior _

_As the guild made themselves busy, and Friedrich was preparing for a mission, Drew was just casually shooting the breeze when a thought came up. “You know, Flu season is coming up, I wonder where we can get the shot?”_

_Friedrich shivered. “Don’t know but don’t give me any needles.”_

_Drew snorted. “So, the big bad Friedrich who can stare down a blood sucking vampire is scared of needles. Can’t imagine how you took the MMR and Polio vaccines.”_

_“With a lot of stress.”_

_“The what?” Makarov asked._

_“Nasty viruses. Measles is a very contagious bug that can spread through the air. Mumps attacks the lymph nodes and Rubella is like a constant cough. They put all three in one shot. Polio is a very devastating virus that can paralyze you. All of these are required shots back home among others in order to go to school. There are also Chicken Pox which cases rashes, diphtheria and all sorts of nasty bugs.”_

_“Hm...and how young do you typically get these?”_

_“Most of these does are given before the age of 5. And judging by the question you probably have never heard of some of these bugs, much less vaccinated against them?”_

_“Nope,” Makarov said._

_“Right, okay, master, can you call that doctor who helped you? Friedrich, I know I’m asking a lot, but can you help with this?”_

_“Yeah, sure, let me create them. Should be easy enough. **One Charge: Medicine."**_

_After gathering the guild around and explaining the situation, Polyrusica supervised the injections. With Friedrich’s charged up medicine the vaccines were combined into one needle each. Some people, notably Wendy and Romeo were naturally scared of the giant needles. Dawn helped them by holding their hands as they took their shots. Poor Wendy was a sobbing wreck afterwards, but the comfort of Dawn and Romeo helped her through it. The giant lollipop didn’t hurt._

_Others took it more sedately with notable exception of the two male dragon slayers. When the first needles failed to penetrate their skin, they immediately tried to escape leading to a merry chase around the guild that eventually caused another brawl that ended up with both Gajeel and Natsu being stabbed in the butt and thigh respectively. Happy was giggling at how silly Natsu was being until he felt a pinprick in his buttocks. He was sent screaming into the ceiling, no one paying any attention to him. May who had the needle laughed madly. “That’s for calling be chubby scaredy cat!”_

_After two hours of shots and examinations, everyone was feeling sore and looking at Drew with weary looks. “I’m sorry you had to go through this. But I assure you, that these shots will protect you from some of the nastier bugs my world has to offer. Thank you for your cooperation go ahead and return to your drinks.”_

End of Flashback

“Jude told me you got some of the vaccines, but that was to make sure,” Drew admitted. “Now then, let’s relax a bit and then see if we can’t scout this place out.”

Everyone separated and went to their respective rooms. The room pairings wound up being Ash and Drew, Brock and Max, Grey and Gajeel, Erza and Mira, Gabby and Tori, Anabel and May, Misty and Dawn and Natsu and Luc were in their own room.

As Lucy sat down on one of the beds after unpacking her dresses she groaned. “Now I remember one of the reasons why I hate these things. The men are all entitled pigs.”

“That bad huh?” Natsu asked sitting down on the soft bed.

“All this luxury, all of this excess, this isn’t me or my father. I might enjoy being ladylike, but if I had to be this way 24/7, I would rather die,” Lucy growled, plopping down onto the bed. “Though I will give them this, their beds are comfy.”

Natsu chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle into her chest. “You’re my princess not some chubby pretty boy’s.”

Lucy giggled as laid on her huge breasts. “Behave, we’re in a different bed. Count yourself lucky my monthly isn’t wrecking me today.”

Natsu grinned and captured Lucy’s lips in a kiss before they relaxed, the long journey taking their toll on them.

In Misty and Dawn’s room, the redhead watched her partner picked up her violin and check it for scratches. “Been a while since I heard you play.”

“Friedrich’s machine kind of inspired me, and I figured we could add something to the music if we needed to,” she said, taking her stance after checking her strings. Closing her eyes and placing the bow on the strings, the first two notes captured Misty’s attention as she closed her eyes to take it in. As the bluenette played the song, something related to Mozart according to her, Misty walked over to the bathroom and turned on the sink. Taking a little bit of water, she carefully brought it over to the musician. Dawn briefly opened her eyes to see what Misty was doing as the water danced around her. Smiling she closed her eyes again and finished her melody.

As the last notes wavered through the air, Misty hugged her closer. “I could spend all day watching you and Anabel perform. My sweet bunny.”

Dawn giggled in the embrace. Meanwhile, down the hall, Max and May had decided to do a little bit of exploring because they still had energy.

“Gotta be a kitchen somewhere," May muttered looking down the halls.

"You know in hindsight I get why Happy called you fat, cause your appetite matches. But I will admit he's gone too far," Max replied getting a depressed look from his sister. Happy had, two days prior, made fun of May's weight after she’d enjoyed a large meal with Ash and Misty. Unfortunately, it came during a particularly bad cycle for the brunette and as a result she ran out of the guild crying. Immediately, Drew, Misty and Ash grabbed the flying cat and laid into him because of his continued mockery to the other girls, especially May and Lucy. Natsu to Happy's horror, agreed he went too far and demanded the cat apologize to her. It was telling that the next day May didn't want to eat anything that really hammered home Happy screwed up. One tearful apology and a cuddle session by her partners soothed it over but it was still a sore spot.

"Both Drew and I eat a lot and we both know we need to work on it. But calling a girl fat because her genetics gifted her," she said waving her arms over her body. "Not cool."

"Only I get to make fun of you as your brother," Max grinned. May giggled at the teasing and ruffled his hair. Taking a sniff of the air, she licked her lips. “Found it, come on!” 

The siblings quickly rushed down the hallway and quietly entered the kitchen. It was massive, with many chefs and assistants bustling. Some were busy creating multiple meals for them and the others that were visiting, while others were busy preparing for what they presumed was the party.

One of the head chefs saw the two and marched over. “Can I help you kids? Otherwise, can you please leave we’re very busy.”

“Sorry, we smelled the food down here and thought we could take a look. This seems like a lot of food for the party,” May pointed out.

The chef groaned. “Tell me about it, we’ve got about 500 guests coming, which I assume you’re two of them. On top of that, we have very important guests coming tomorrow and we’re scrambling to make sure everything is perfect!”

“Whose coming that’s got you so frantic?” Max said ducking out of the way of a server carrying finger foods.

The chef looked at the younger boy. “I guess you wouldn’t know. The King and his family are expected; the Duke personally invited them. They actually accepted it this year!”

“So, you’re making sure there’s no poison in it, right? And making sure it’s up to their tastes.”

“Absolutely, so unless you want to help, please leave so we can do so!” The chef asked with a small edge

“Alright then where do you want us,” May asked running over to grab an apron for both her and Max.

He blinked, taken aback for a moment. “...Good then, I’m chef Gordon. For the next few hours, you will refer to me as sir or chef! Is that understood?”

“Yes chef!”

“Good!” A plate shattering caught his attention. “Oh my god!”

“C-chef Gordon, um…” the hapless chef shook, the rest of the chefs backing off.

“How many dishes have you broken today? Three!? I cannot believe you haven’t been fired yet! Why are you still here?”

The chef said nothing, cowering as Gordon’s face turned red. “You stupid fucking donkey! You have cocked up so many times during my tenure here I don’t even want to look at you! Get out!” the chef was frozen. “TAKE YOUR APRON! GET OUT! YOU’RE FIRED!”

The chef began to tear up and rushed out of the kitchen. He glared at everyone else in the kitchen. “What the hell are you staring at! GET TO WORK!” He turned to May and Max. “I hope you’re good on apps! Get your asses moving!”

The siblings quickly got to work, hoping his wraith didn’t come down on them.

Meanwhile, over in the venue hall, most of the group was now busy scoping out the hall with Sawarr bragging about the features.

“This place shall be magnificent for my birthday party. Look at all these chandeliers. Only the best crystal!”

Durelle snorted. “A bit excessive to my tastes. But this should serve your needs. I’ve heard your music can be a little...noisy.”

“Don’t worry, we got some softer music for a party like this,” Drew assured them. “So where are the tables and food gonna go?”

“The food will be brought out from the kitchen to the right here,” Durelle pointed out. “You will be performing over on the far wall here.” 

Drew and Misty walked over to where the older man pointed and looked out over the hall. The walls and ceilings went up at least a story. “I would be more concerned if we were playing some of our harder songs. Perhaps have a space for the dancers here. The tables can go between them and the space for socializing. I assume the guests are coming from the door we came in?”

Before the older man could reply, Sawarr stepped in. “Yes! That’s where everyone and their partners will be coming in. Of course, I as the main guest will be right in front.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “Alright, we’ll set it up tomorrow. Thank you.”

The two gentlemen left to check on other decorations. The Fire Guardian groaned. “What a bastard. If dad saw me act like this, he would cancel the damn party."

"Unfortunately, we're being paid for the gig, so we have to put up with it," Gabby pointed out. 

Drew grimaced. "I doubt it. These seem like the type to stiff us."

Ash walked around the hall. "So, this might be one of the bigger venues we've played at. The music might not reach all the way to the back."

"If its dance focused then the music shouldn't reach the food area," Drew noted. "I think the best idea is to have the tables closer to the food. Allow more room especially with the crowd."

"Or," Misty chimed in waving her arms out. "Move the tables closer to the wall and allow everyone the most room."

"Good call," Drew conceded. "Gabby can you go talk with the planner about this?

As they planned out their event, Grey and Gajeel had gone wandering around the place, laughing at the number of portraits the two men had of themselves hanging in the manor.

“Geez, they do like looking at themselves,” snorted Grey, “What, not enough mirrors?”

Gajeel laughed. “More like the mirrors didn’t want to reflect _that.”_

They gave each other a nudge...which then turned into shoving. Within moments, their laughter and grins had become manically strained as they butted heads. Their back and forth resulted in Gajeel shoving Grey into a large bust of one of the men. Said bust, instead of crashing to the floor and breaking into several pieces, folded back, revealing a button.

The Iron Dragon Slayer noticed this and stopped. “Huh, what do we have here?” 

“What?”

“What would a guy like him want to hide?” Gajeel wondered pressing the button. The wall next to Grey opened up. “Hello there. Keep watch, wolf boy.”

The ice mage grumbled as he went in. Inside the temperature had dropped considerably, the dragon slayer grumbling. At first glance, it looked like Friedrich’s lab, only it had more liquids and glass in them.

“What is all of this?” Gajeel wondered. He noticed a journal on the desk. “Wonder what secrets he’s got hiding here?”

Grey noticed a pair of maids talking down the hall. “Gajeel let’s go!”

The dragon slayer stuck the journal in his jacket and both boys bailed after closing the door before going to their room.

A few hours later, the group had met up after finishing their meals. May and Max groaned as they collapsed onto one of the spare beds. “That was brutal!” The brunette whined.

“How can a kitchen provide that much chaos. And the chef despite being nice was yelling at us all day!” Max moaned.

“Did you find anything out?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, the head chef told us the King and his family are coming.”

Mira widened her eyes. “Really? This party will be so exciting!”

“And security is gonna be airtight as a result,” Drew agreed. “Grey, Gajeel what did you find?”

“We found this journal; I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

“That’s because you can’t read metal head!” Natsu taunted.

“What was that tabasco breath?”

Drew ignored them and read the journal thoroughly. “This is Sawarr’s journal, looks like.”

_ June 28th, X784. _

_I heard my bride ran away. And my father-in-law refuses to tell me where she is. Damn that man, she’s my bride._

_ July 17th, X784 _

_My sources tell me that my bride is in Fairy Tail. Those degenerates shouldn’t be touching my precious Lucy._

_ July 28th, X784,  _

_I heard the Heartfilia manor was blown up. Poor Lucy, she must be so heartbroken._

“Ugh. This guy _was_ a total creep,” commented Drew, shuddering. After a few more obsessive Lucy entries he came across one that had him concerned.

_ August 8th _

_Father met with this woman who claims she can destroy Fiore and needed our support. Father declined, but I stopped her and said I was interested in what she had to say. When she mentioned she could get my Lucy, I told her I was in. Father hasn’t a clue_

_ September 3rd _

_Yuzan sent me the virus today, Father has no clue that he might be playing a part in bringing down the country._

“A virus...Gajeel, Grey, take me to where you found this!” Drew demanded. “Gabby, Natsu, Erza, Ash, Lucy, Misty come with us.”

A few minutes of ducking and hiding from the night guards, they approached the wall and Gajeel opened it. Entering the cold lab, they began looking around.

“What are we looking for?” Lucy asked looking at some of the books.

“Vials. Viruses need to be kept isolated and frozen before use. We’re also looking for ways for it to spread,” Drew explained looking along the back wall.

Natsu scanned the walls and then noticed a set of vials behind a glass wall. “I think I found them.” Walking over to them, he stared at what was written. “S...m...a...l-l...p...o...x?”

At each letter Natsu read off, Gabby and Drew’s blood ran colder and colder until their skin paled. “Everyone! FREEZE!” Drew ordered with everyone stopping in their tracks. “Cover your mouths! Now!”

The group quickly did so, Gajeel creating an iron mask, Grey freezing his mouth, Erza pulling out a cloth, Natsu and Lucy sharing his scarf, Misty using water to cover theirs and Drew and Gabby using their shirts. Carefully, the two Earth Riders walked their way over and nudged Natsu and Lucy back. “You think you can pop this open?” He asked Gabby.

The huntress nodded and carefully brought her knife up. With a steady hand she popped it up and held the door open. Drew reached in and took one of the vials and held it in his hands. “Grey...come here and freeze this.” The ice mage did so, making sure that the glass was iced up.

“Erza, I want you to take this, and carefully store this in your Requip space.” Drew said walking over to the knight.”

The redhead took and opened up the magic circle. “What is going on?”

“I will tell you, when we get back. Now let’s go,” he ordered.

The group followed him, worried at the serious expression on his face. Moments later, they were back in Drew’s room and the atmosphere was decidedly darker than before.

“Now that we’re all here, what is going on?” Erza demanded.

“We found the virus that Sawarr is using. It’s a virus from our world. And perhaps one of the oldest known. Smallpox.”

Tori’s gasps and the Aura Rider’s looks of horror was enough to tell the Mages that this was not an ordinary thing. Mira asked the question. “What is this Smallpox? And why is everyone so scared?”

“Smallpox was a virus that plagued our world for thousands of years," Drew lectured. "After a two-week period, the virus started by causing Flu like symptoms. Then it ramps up to the point pus filled lesions start appearing on your skin. Those blisters wreck your skin and leave intense scarring. It’s the luck of the draw if you contract one of the deadlier versions.”

Lucy shuddered. I can’t imagine living through it. Having all of those scars and even losing your sight?

“The virus itself had a 30 percent mortality rate, killing close to 300 million people in its last century of existence,” Gabby told them.

“Wait, you’re using the past tense,” Grey realized. “What happened?”

Tori smiled. “Thanks to a great vaccination program, the world declared the virus gone from the world in 1980. Considering the time, it happened, it was a miracle.”

“So why are you scared? Shouldn’t you have this vaccine?” Mira asked.

“That’s just it,” Drew rubbed his face in frustration. “With no virus in circulation, there’s no need to vaccinate people.”

“There’s another problem I just realized,” Brock realized. “There’s only two places that the Smallpox virus is kept in for research purposes. The VECTOR labs in Russia…”

“And the CDC in Atlanta,” Drew finished. “That can only mean one of two things. They created the virus, which is pretty likely to be fair, or they’re already on Earth.” He pounded his fists into the bed, gritting his teeth. “Damn it, I thought we had more time.”

“We still do,” Ash told him. “They haven’t made a move back home; we still have time to get resources and power.”

Drew nodded. “Right. We need to talk to Friedrich to create a vaccine for this.”

Dawn, who had been listening patiently stepped forward. “No, we don’t.” She told them. “Give me the sample, May and I can create the medicine. Give us a chance.”

The Fire Guardian stared at Dawn and May who stepped up to take the Lolita’s hand. “...Alright. Erza, I want you to supervise them. Let me know when we have the vaccine.” He checked his watch. “First thing in the morning. Get some sleep, we got a long couple of days ahead.

The group nodded and walked back to their rooms with heavy minds.

Next Day, mid-morning

Drew tapped the microphone in front of him. The sound reverberated around the hall. “Can you hear this?”

Tori who was in the back nodded and held up her thumb. Drew nodded back and motioned to Ash and Misty to warm up their instruments. “How’s it sound?”

Ash plucked the strings. “Sounds okay, not a lot deflection here.”

Misty on the keyboard pressed the keys in order. “Same here, but I think I should move over a bit.”

“You know Drew likes to move around, especially with the set list we got,” Gabby pointed out.

As they argued over positions, at the entrance to the hall, a small figure watched them play. Wanting to take a closer look she carefully made their way to the stage.

As Drew finished his argument, he turned around and sighed. “Okay, gotta calm down guys, it’s just one venue.” He looked up and saw a small green haired girl who couldn’t have been more than 8. “Hello there, what’s your name?” He asked kindly. The little girl stared at him and then quickly hid her face. “Oh, don’t be shy we don’t bite.”

“Hisui, dear? Where are you?” An older man called out. They looked up to see a middle-aged man in regal clothing looking around frantically with two guards. The man saw the girl and visibly relaxed. “Hisui there you are.”

“Daddy, these people play music!” The now named Hisui told her father.

“Oh?” The man looked up. “How delightful. May we listen to a song of yours?”

“Well, we were about to test a song out here. I’m sorry, you have us at a disadvantage, Mr.?”

One of the guards stepped forward. “Please use proper respect. You are standing in front of the King, Toma F. Fiore and the crown Princess Hisui!”

The band quickly bowed or curtseyed in respect. “Our apologies your majesty. Anyway, we would be happy to play. Why don’t you find a seat and we’ll figure out a song to play?

As the king and princess took their seats, Drew looked back at his bandmates. “So, what do you think?”

“Journey could work if Tori was here,” Ash offered.

“Don’t think some of their songs could fit the audience,” Misty countered.

“What about Rush?” Gabby pointed out. “Have Misty on keyboard, Ash can roll with his guitar, Drew can focus on vocals.

Drew smirked. “Alright, how about Subdivisions?” Getting nods from all three he stepped up to the mic. “You all set?”

The king and princess both nodded, with the princess fidgeting in her seat. Drew sighed and counted down from 5. On one he pointed to Misty.

_ (Rush: Subdivisions: Don’t own, don’t sue!) _

Misty played the first bars on the keyboard, sounding like it was a horn as she repeated the notes twice. On the second bar, Gabby joined in with the drums as the redhead added more notes with her right hand as her left hand danced across the board. On the third bar, Ash joined in with a steady rhythm, Drew tapping his legs in time with the beat. As the song built up, it began to sound like a choir with no vocals as all three instruments played in harmony. Then a sudden change into an almost angry stomp. Then after a few drumbeats, the original tempo returned with Drew stepping up to the mic

_Sprawling on the fringes of the city  
In geometric order  
An insulated border  
In between the bright lights  
And the far unlit unknown_

As he sang the first verse, he closed his eyes remembering his home was pretty much described in the song. Rush of course used Toronto as their inspiration but just about every major metropolis would be like this. As the beat continued, he watched Hisui enjoy the song

_Growing up it all seems so one-sided  
Opinions all provided  
The future pre-decided  
Detached and subdivided  
In the mass production zone  
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone_

Ash closed his eyes as Drew sang and knew this one was more about him. Even though he was popular with his friends, at school he was not exactly the most popular. They were unknown to the real destiny they had, believing Drew had no future. He scoffed in his head. _If anyone has no future, it’s them._ His thoughts were stalled as Drew ended the last line, prompting him to step up.

_[Chorus:]_

_(Subdivisions)  
In the high school halls  
In the shopping malls  
Conform or be cast out  
(Subdivisions)  
In the basement bars  
In the backs of cars  
Be cool or be cast out  
Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth  
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth_

Ash and Misty played off their solos as Gabby kept up the wild timing that was Rush’s library. Looking out at the audience, it seemed like there were more than just the royal entourage listening as some of the chefs and maids came out to listen. Drew paid them no mind as the sang went back to its original timing.

_Drawn like moths we drift into the city  
The timeless old attraction  
Cruising for the action  
Lit up like a firefly  
Just to feel the living night_

He scowled internally as he realized how many people would sell out their own people for money, just as the Junelles had for what would amount to nothing in the end.

_Some will sell their dreams for small desires  
Or lose the race to rats  
Get caught in ticking traps  
And start to dream of somewhere  
To relax their restless flight  
Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights…_

As Gabby went into a different rhythm to finish the verse, gazed onto the crowd as he pounded his feet in time. The crowd was grooving along as well, with Hisui running clapping happily and laughing.

_(Subdivisions)  
In the basement bars  
In the backs of cars  
Be cool or be cast out  
Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth  
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of YOUTH!!!”_

At the last word, all three instruments went into a crescendo as they all seemed to be cranked to 11. Drew stood and waved his arms as if he was a conductor keeping pace with all of the instruments. As the song wound down, he started he pointed at Misty and Gabby as if they were puppets as they finished the last notes. With one more keyboard note, and symbol smash the song ended and the crowd applauded loudly. Drew smirked and the band bowed. “Thank you! We’ll see ya tomorrow!”

He hopped off the stage and approached the king. “Was that to your satisfaction your majesty?”

“It was wonderful, but I must say, it was a little...energized for me,” Toma chuckled. “Hisui was having fun, isn’t that right dear?”

“YAY!’ The little girl cheered. “Is there more?”

“Not today, little lady,” Drew told her. “But we have more songs like that planned for tomorrow.”

The princess nodded and they headed off to wherever their rooms were. Before Drew could relax, May and Max rushed up Chef Gordon. “May, what’s going on?”

“That’s what I want to know young lady! I’m very busy!”

“This is important. You might be in danger.”

“Danger how?” Gordon asked.

“Not here, let’s go up to our room,” Drew told him.

Moments later Gordon had his head in his hands. “This...is complete madness. To use my food to poison the King and the princess…!”

“And then blame you for it,” May finished.

“I would never do a thing to the royal family!” Gordon snapped. “I gave 7 years to King Toma’s father before he passed and three years of serving under him before I left to form my own cooking company! I may not agree with the King but to consider treason…!”

“And they think they can get away with it because it’s going to be in the food that won’t be detected for two weeks,” Max growled.

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THIS!?” Gordon snapped. He took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

Drew sighed. “What we need to do now is that vaccine. And if it works getting it to everyone.”

On cue, there was a knock on the door. Dawn and May opened the door, wearing medical masks, the brunette holding a case with white medical gloves. Opening it and turning it around, she revealed several vials with needles that Friedrich had made for the bluenette.

“We worked all night for this,” Dawn explained. “But we have enough for three samples to test it on. But we don’t know if it will work as well as advertised.”

“Can you supercharge immune cells?” Drew asked.

“...I guess I can,” Dawn said slowly, considering. “Why?”

Drew took off his shirt and held up his arm. “Test it on me.”

“What? No!” Dawn denied. “This is a live viral vaccine.”

“Live?” Erza asked. “I thought these vaccines wouldn’t expose us to the viruses?”

“Vaccines work by exposing either a weakened form or a dead virus to our bodies. Once our bodies see it, they can adapt to fight it,” Drew explained. This is why I’m asking if she can supercharge it. Because this virus can still spread to other people. Dawn you need to make sure that once this virus is in, my body adapts to it quick.”

Dawn hesitated knowing how dangerous this could be untested., but seeing Drew’s face, her resolve hardened and took the needle, loaded up one needle. Misty cleaned his arm with a little alcohol, then Dawn approached his left arm. With a confident smile from the guardian, she jabbed it into his arm. The needle’s impact felt like a small pinch, the medicine taking a few moments before it flowed into his arm. Once in, she removed it and gave it to Natsu to destroy. She then closed her eyes concentrating on the new power she had obtained. Opening them, her eyes glowed pink, her body giving off a pale light. She placed her hands-on Drew and poured her power into him. The observers watched with bated breath as the vaccine did its work. He began to feel a little woozy, but was assured this was a side effect, as was the rash that appeared on his arm. After a few tense minutes, Dawn powered down and smiled. “Vaccine’s in, side effects are normal and passed. We’re good.”

“That’s all and good and all, but how are we going to make sure 500 people get the bloody vaccine?” Gordon asked impatiently.

Misty hummed. “Well, Dawn you think you can make this vaccine ingestible?”

“Now you're insane!” Gordon snapped.

“Maybe, with May's help. The issue is Hisui. This vaccine is only for older people."

Gordon growled. "All of you shut up!" The man got their attention. "Now I understand why you want it to be edible but if they don't eat it it’s a moot point. I can work with you to put the vaccine in our food to disguise it. But we need a fall back if that doesn't work."

Ash looked at Drew. "What if we use one of the songs as a dance tune. Something like Santana?

"That song? That'll work but the timing needs to be worked out. Ana this is gonna fall on you and Dawn. Dawn start injecting.

"Right," the empath agreed. 

“The dad might not know completely, but I don’t think he’s out of the woods. Grey, Gajeel, Max your gonna use the party to find their vaults and clean them out. We got one try to do this people,” Drew told them. “Da

“YES SIR!” They chorused and went to do their tasks.

Next Day Late afternoon

Drew finished putting on his dress shirt, black and tried wrapping his blue tie. “God damn it, why is this so difficult to put on.

Jude, who was watching him, chuckled as he helped Max into his own suit and walked over and adjusted it. “Guess not everything comes naturally to you.” This got chuckles out of everyone else there.

“Shut up, dexterity skills aren’t my forte. Anyway, let’s go meet up with the girls.”

The gentlemen all walked out of Jude’s room where some of the girls were already standing around. Gabby, who was going to be drumming went with a white button up shirt, black vest and matching skirt with short black heels. Misty was in a similar get up but had a blue vest. Their partners approached them and smiled. “You look nice. Wish you could be in a dress like the others,” Ash told the redhead.

“Yeah, well I don’t think a dress would work with our music,” Misty giggled. 

“Gotta say, you rock that suit, Gabby,” Drew praised.

“Yeah, it feels good, but it’s definitely not my comfort zone.” She nudged her head behind her. “Now Tori and Dawn? They look awesome.”

The two heard their names being called and walked over. Tori was wearing a dark blue and white lace bell shaped dress with black lace stockings, long gloves and matching shoes. Her hair was combed out braided to about shoulder length. Her face had dark mascara and lipstick, with a touch of blush. Dawn’s meanwhile was designed for dancing, with a red ruffled skirt, pink corset and red heels. She had a rose in her hair and her lips were a bright pink with matching mascara.

“Tori?” Drew whispered approaching his more withdrawn partner. “You look...beautiful.”

The brunette smiled the blush accentuating her pale features. “Thank you. I...saw this dress, and I couldn’t help it. It looked so natural to me.”

Drew chuckled and kissed her forehead. “It does...the entire look does.”

Tori beamed. “Then I guess I can be your gothic princess.”

“A perfect combo with the tomboy here,” Gabby giggled kissing Tori’s cheek. 

Ash meanwhile approached Dawn who curtseyed. “My prince, your date awaits.” The guardian laughed and kissed her. “Sounds lovely, shame I can’t dance with ya.”

“That’s why I'm her date,” Anabel said. To everyone’s surprise, the empath was in a purple dress shirt, jacket and pants as if she was crossdressing as a boy.

“Ana? You didn’t have to do this,” Ash told her.

“I know. But I feel some people might look down on more than one or two lesbian couples. Besides...you do it to.”

“I do it because I like spending time with you,” Ash assured her. “But it does remind me when I thought you were a guy.”

Anabel laughed at the memory. Erza and Mira walked up as they did so. Erza was in a golden flared out dress which had a form fitting bodice, long matching gloves and heels. Her hair was done up in a bun and with a strand covering her right eye and a bronze necklace. Mira meanwhile was in an ivory dress with black laces, white gloves and blue lipstick, looking every bit the model she was.

Natsu saw the two ladies and gulped. “Wow...I knew Mira was pretty, but Erza...you look really beautiful.”

Erza laughed, which made Natsu’s heart flutter. “Why thank you my prince. To think such a dashing man could marvel at such beauty.” She took Mira’s hand, who was serving as her date. “You have fun with Lucy, okay honey?”

“Speaking of, where is my daughter?” 

“Still in our room, she seemed a little nervous.”

“You all head down, May’s already in the kitchens. Tori, Natsu, come on,” Drew told them as they split off. Upon entering the room, they saw the blonde staring out the window, watching the guests, in a form fitting pink and white ballgown. Her hair was done up in a bun with a lacy headband while her arms were covered in long matching gloves. 

Jude watched her daughter then moved forward. Natsu looked to join him, but a gentle touch on his shoulder from Drew kept him back. He approached her and watched the crowd below in silence. After a few moments, he chuckled. “Your mother would be gushing over your dress tonight.”

Lucy giggled. “She would. She’d also be making sure your ties fixed, your suit’s clean and then making me barf from your kissing.” This made the older man laugh. 

He turned to Lucy and push a strand back. “I know this is not the best circumstances, but I’m glad we’re back on speaking terms. It hurt that I didn’t get to be a better father.”

“Daddy,” Lucy began making the older man’s heart swell. “You can stop beating yourself up. I forgave you.”

Jude smiled. “Thank you. Now I just wish I was the only man in your life.”

Lucy couldn’t help it, she full out belly laughed. “Daddy! Come on, Natsu’s not that bad! Better than Sawarr, at least.”

Natsu took this as his cue to approach them. He bowed respectfully holding out his hand. “Mr. Heartfilia, may I escort your lovely daughter?”

Drew had to laugh as Jude took Lucy’s hand kissed it before offering it to the dragon slayer. Lucy put on a posh act. “Why thank you good sir, may we enjoy the night.” Both of them shared chuckles at the joke and they walked arm in arm out. 

Jude sighed. “She’s grown up so much in so little time. Where did my baby go?”

Drew smirked as he took Tori’s arm, the brunette laying on his arm. “No idea, but you should be proud.” He said, walking out with Jude right behind them.

Heading down to the dance hall, they saw that it was already packed with many rich nobles conversing with each other loudly. Many of the men were ogling Erza and Mira, due to the fact their dresses didn’t leave much to the imagination. Meanwhile, some were chatting up Anabel and Dawn, the dancer’s outfit fooling a lot of people and get laughs out of Ash and Misty. 

The two couples finally sat at the table they were provided as performers and VIPs of Sawarr, with the boys helping the two girls into their seats.

“Would you like anything to drink sir?” A female voice asked.

“I would like some water…?” Drew looked up to see May smiling in a white chef’s outfit that clung to her body like a second skin. “Well hello May, didn’t think you’d be serving our table.

“I think Gordon assigned me to yours and the birthday table.” She said grabbing the water pitcher. “Birthday boy hasn’t exactly been keeping his comments or words to himself. What a creep.”

“Bear with it,” Drew told her. “Get through the night and Ash will make it up to ya.”

The brunette looked to Ash and Misty who both smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” Getting back to her professional attire. “We have hors d’vers in the back, and our meal will be ready soon.

The brunette walked back to the kitchen where the chefs were busy finishing the appetizers and starting the main course.

“Alright folks five minutes to apps. Birthday boy is coming down soon.”

May watched the servers finish up multiple pots of red tomato soup and pour into several bowls. Gordon walked over to her and pulled out a large vial. Thanks to work with Dawn and Gordon, they were able to create a vaccine that could be put into the food. “We only got enough for about 200. Not counting the serving staff. I hope Dawn knows what she’s doing.”

“She will, we just need to make sure the night goes as planned. I got the batch that’s gonna go the King.” She told the chef walking over to the chef.

“Hey,” Gordon called, out of the bustle.

“Yeah?”

“You got the heart of a chef. Don’t let people get you down for your habits. Use your love of food to make the best there is.”

May smiled, the clouds that had been in her mind clearing. “Thanks.”

“Right. Get that soup out!” He said returning to his chef persona.

“Aye chef!” May saluted picking up a tray.

As the party began to heat up and the main courses served, Sawarr taped his glass. “Attention everyone!” His high-pitched voice echoed through the hall. “I wish to thank you for coming to our home. I hope this night will be one to remember.” Internally, he thought with a grin. _A night to remember indeed._

Natsu watched the steak placed in front of him and desperately wanted to dig in. But a small glance at Lucy, made him calm down and dig in. Taking a bite, he hummed. “Steak isn’t as done as I like.”

“With red meat, you want a bit of pink. Especially steaks. Too well done, it turns to rubber.” Drew explained taking a bite. “Well Chef Gordon did some good work or at least the crew did.

Lucy was about to take a bite of her chicken, when Sawarr tapped her on the shoulder. “My dear Lucy, I hope you are enjoying this little soiree. I hope you don’t mind a dance soon?”

The blonde at least finished what was in her mouth. “If you must know Sawarr, I have a date. My boyfriend here.”

“Him? The plebeian? I heard you joined a guild, but surely you can do better than some rapscallions!

“I rather be with some people who are truly friends than those bought by their money,” Lucy countered.

Drew could see the tension and placed his silverware down, grateful he actually he ate fast for once. “Alright let’s calm down. You don’t want any bad blood before the music right sir?”

Sawarr turned to the musician with disdain. “You’re correct. I believe you’re on in about 20 minutes. I suggest you get ready,” he said storming off.

Drew scoffed and stood up. “Yes sir,” he said sarcastically. May walked up to him with a tray and a note. It was from Max, ‘ _Vault found. Two hours to crack fully. Will have already started once you received this note.’_ He looked to the brunette. “Tell him to proceed as planned. We’re about to take the stage.”

May nodded and walked back to the kitchen. Chef Gordon saw her approach and smiled. “Good job, young lady. You could make it as a chef.”

“Thank you, chef.” May said as she glanced behind her and sighed in sadness. Gordon saw this and patted her shoulder. “I know you wanted to be out there tonight. And I bet your boyfriend will make it up to you in the future. But what you did tonight saved lives. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”

May nodded. “So, what will happen to you once he’s caught?”

“Well, that’s a bloody good question now ain’t it? But I’ve done alright for myself, maybe I can finally open my own company.” He turned away. “We only got desserts left, I think your boyfriend won’t mind if you dance with one of your partners if you hurry up.” He said smirking as he felt the young woman’s breasts against his chest and heard the rapid fire thank you.

Up on the stage, Drew tapped the microphone. “Thank you all for coming to this party for Mr. Sawarr Junelle. Happy Birthday!” He said throwing up in his mouth as the crowd applauded. “Now to open up the dancing a bit. Hope you enjoy.

(Start Hotel California by the Eagles)

As Ash began to strum very slowly, sounds of a desert air began to fill the air. Anabel and Dawn came out onto the dance floor first, followed shortly by Natsu and Lucy who looked very hesitant to be out there with him. But as the notes carried through the hall, the two seemed to settle into their own world. One final strum played before Gabby and Drew timed in with their parts.

_On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair_

_Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air!_

_Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light_

_My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim_

_I had to stop for the night!_

Drew knew this song by heart. It was one of his dad’s favorites. And it was also one of the first hard songs he’d learned how to play. He didn’t even need to stare down at his guitar and instead focused on the crowd. The music swayed them into the beat and the waltz.

_There she stood in the doorway_

_I heard the mission bell._

_And I was thinking to myself_

_'This could be heaven, or this could be Hell!_

_Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way_

_There were voices down the corridor_

_I thought I heard them say!_

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

_Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)_

_Such a lovely face_

_Plenty of room at the Hotel California_

_Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here_

Ash smirked as he strummed along the beat. He watched Anabel and Dawn slowly dance closer to him while Mira and Erza quickly enraptured the audience.

_Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends_

_She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends._

_How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat_

_Some dance to remember, some dance to forget!_

As the appropriate lyrics passed through the halls, Sawarr glared at Lucy as she danced happily with Natsu, who looked extremely comfortable swaying with the music. He then glanced at the King, who watched with a bright smile as he and his daughter swayed to the music.

_So I called up the Captain_

_'Please bring me my wine_

_He said, "we haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine_

_And still those voices are calling from far away_

_Wake you up in the middle of the night_

_Just to hear them say~!_

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

_Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)_

_Such a lovely face_

_They livin' it up at the Hotel California_

_What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis_

The beat changed, but the dance never slowed as Drew’s voice took on a darker tone.”

_Mirrors on the ceiling_

_The pink champagne on ice_

_And she said, 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device_

_And in the master's chambers_

_They gathered for the feast_

_They stab it with their steely knives_

_But they just can't kill the beast!_

_Last thing I remember, I was_

_Running for the door_

_I had to find the passage back to the place I was before!_

_'Relax' said the night man_

_'We are programmed to receive_

_You can check out any time you like_

_But you can never leave!_

With the last lyric, Ash went into one rock’s most famous solos as the rest took a back seat. When they had calmed down from their adventures in the Pokemon world, Drew suggested he take up the guitar as another way to channel his endless energy. At first, his lack of patience made it difficult, but Drew in a show of restraint helped him tremendously. Misty, who had dabbled with her bass guitar on some nights when she was alone at the gym helped as well. It then became a bonding experience between the Guardians, with several nights spent next to the pool or in the garage when the boys weren’t gaming, or Misty wasn’t training. When Gabby started learning the drums about four months into this, they realized they had something and began to cover a lot of songs progressively getting into the more metal songs but still doing songs like this. As the song faded out and ended, the dancers stopped, and the watchers clapped at the performance.

Drew bowed slightly. “Thank you. That was Hotel California. Now we’re gonna go a little harder so I hope you got the energy.

As the next song began to play and the patrons began to get into the groove, up in Junelle’s office, Gajeel and Max were busy drilling underneath the lock dressed in blackout robber gear. “Two tumblers left,” Brock called out watching a video screen. “Grey, keep icing the drill.”

“God damn rich people, they have banks! Stupid Vault!” The Iron dragon slayer kicking the lock.

“Easy!” Max yelled. “These things are delicate! We don’t destroy them carefully the door’s gonna get jammed.”

“Fourth tumbler broken. One more come on guys!”

“Fuck this!” Gajeel shouted tearing into the lock. The force was enough to snap the last tumbler and pop the door open. “Jackpot!”

The boys shined their flashlights into the vault. There were at least full shelves of stacks of Fiorean currency and another wall with pallets of gold bars and at least three boxes of jewelry, money from railways and other goods that would more than likely be confiscated.

“Haha! If I knew you guys would be getting money like this, I’d join you sooner!” Gajeel laughed as they split the cash and gold into various circles to be distributed to the group afterwards. After cleaning the vault out, they quickly raced back down to the party, stripping out of their robbers outfit and into their suits and slipping into the party.

As the band ended their song, Drew glanced and saw the boys sneak in. _Time for the last part of the plan._ He nodded to Misty, who placed her guitar down and walked off the stage. The redhead watched as the couples took a break from their dancing as the musicians reset and sighed.

“Sounds like you’re looking for a partner?” May asked teasingly. The water mage turned around to see the brunette in a Pink and black flamenco dress and matching heels and a pink rose in her hair. “May I have this dance senorita?”

“Of course,” she said taking them out onto the floor. Dawn and Anabel moved next to them and the couple smirked at each other.

Drew saw this and grinned before counting off and pointing to Ash.

(Into the Night by Santana and Chad Kroger)

The first two notes echoed through the air as Drew and Gabby clapped their hands and drumsticks in the air. The two couples began to spin, Dawn and May twirled around in their partners hands before clapping in time with the beat. Stomping a couple of times, they spun back into their embrace. On stage, Drew grinned as the first lyrics filtered through

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell_

_It was love from above, that could save me from hell_

_She had fire in her soul it was easy to see_

_How the devil himself could be pulled out of me_

As the lyrics flowed, he started to match the tempo, with May and Dawn showing why they were among the best dancers as they leaned on their partners

_There were drums in the air as she started to dance_

_Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands_

_And we sang_

As the chorus kicked up, Dawn clapped twice on her wrist. Underneath her sleeves were two vials of dusted vaccine that once airborne would be easily sucked into the body. She then began to twirl like a ballerina as May wrapped an arm around her, leaving Misty and Anabel to dance for a spell, the empath holding the redhead close in a show of boldness from her.

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay!  
And the voices rang like the angels sing!  
We're singing:  
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay!  
And we danced on into the night!  
Ay oh ay oh  
Ay oh ay oh  
And we danced on into the night!_

By this point, the whole hall was mesmerized by the song to notice the dust surrounding them. Hisui saw the dust though and reached up to it take it in.

 _Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place,  
You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces.  
_ [ _She was_ ](https://genius.com/Santana-into-the-night-lyrics#note-16760079) _spinning in circles with the moon in her eyes,  
No room left to move in between you and I!  
We forgot where we were and we lost track of time,  
And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night.  
And we sang:_

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay!  
And the voices rang like the angels sing!  
We're singing,  
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay!  
And we danced on into the night!  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
And we danced on into the night  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
And we danced on into the night_

At the last lyric, Ash hopped off the stage and started his solo, with all four of his girls dancing around him. Dawn and May draped over their boyfriend as he rocked out, oblivious to the world around them. Meanwhile, Anabel and May put on a show as they salsa danced, with Dawn’s dress fluttering in the created breeze. As the solo wound down, Drew’s clapping rang out as the blue haired dancer began to twirl faster and faster building up for a finale.

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell,  
It was love from above, that could save me from hell!  
She had fire in her soul it was easy to see  
How the devil himself could be pulled out of me!  
There were drums in the air as she started to dance,  
Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands!_

_And we sang:_

As the chorus kicked in the final time, Dawn unleashed her magic into the air, making sure the vaccine spread to everyone in the room. Once satisfied, she finished her dancing with May as they did what the song did.

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay!  
And the voices rang like the angels sing.  
We're singing:  
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
And we danced on into the night!  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
And we danced on into the night!  
(And the voices rang like the angels sing)  
Ay oh ay oh  
Ay oh ay oh  
And we danced on into the night  
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
Singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
(Ay oh ay oh)  
And we danced on into the night_

As the music faded out, the crowd cheered for the band and the dancers who all bowed or curtseyed in respect. Sawarr though clapped louder and continued after everyone finished. “My that was such an impressive performance. But now, as the Birthday boy tonight, I have one more event planned that will serve as a grand finale.”

Drew put his guitar down. “And would that be?” He asked jokingly said. “A donation drive? A new train line?” His demeanor hardened. “Or perhaps, treason?” 

At that word, whispers began to breakout among the guests as Sawarr scowled. “Me, treason? Absurd, our family has been loyal to this country for 10 generations.”

“Ah, but here’s the thing, greed can do quite a number of things. Especially when you covet someone’s girlfriend so much, you team up with a known terrorist!” Drew accused, holding up Sawarr’s journal,

“How did you…!” Sawarr paled at the sight of the book, but quickly regained his composure. “It doesn’t matter,” he declared as the crowd’s whisperings grew louder. “You’re too late. Tonight’s dinner will be the beginning of the end of Fiore! Unbeknownst to you all, I put a special little present in the food we ate tonight.” He swaggered over to the king. “And if you want to survive, I suggest you start being a little nicer.”

As if to emphasize this, he grabbed the princess’s arm. The little girl screamed. “DADDY!”

“What did you do?” Toma ordered, his expression darkening.

“Son, what are you doing?!” Durelle asked, going white.

“Father, what I did was merely secure our future. A future ruler of Fiore!” Sawarr laughed. “As for what I did, some of this went over my head, but the way Yuzan explained it, this little virus called Smallpox is really contagious, highly scarring and very deadly.” He laughed. “I just made everyone carriers, and now if you want the cure, I suggest you cooperate.”

With the crowd panicking and whispering to themselves, Drew smiled and chuckled, making the man confused. “You’re right, a virus such as Smallpox, is deadly. Deadly enough to be written in the history books. But it’s because of its deadly nature, that eventually, some brave man found the cure, through complete accident as most discoveries tend to be.” He explained. As a historian, he knew this story very well. Edward Jenner, a late 18th century scientist had found that some of his farmhands had been exposed to a milder form of the virus and became immune to the deadlier version. He eventually coined the term vaccine, from the Latin word vacca, meaning cow, because the virus cowpox was the origin of this immunity. “In the hundred years since, immunization efforts crossed borders, crossed oceans and finally, something happened that never seemed to be possible before. Eradication of the virus.”

“What’s this story have to do with it?” Sawarr demanded.

“Simple. Vaccines typically need a copy of the virus to allow our bodies the knowledge to fight them. Thanks to our efforts, everyone here is protected and the virus is destroyed.”

As the crowd cheered for their efforts, Sawarr snarled. “HOW? Wait? You found my lab? THAT’S BREAKING AND ENTERING!”

Toma stood up and ordered his guards into position. “Sawarr Junelle, you are under arrest for high treason. Let my daughter go! NOW!”

Sawarr snarled and then snapped his fingers. Several troopers appeared making the crowd start to panic. “I think not! She’s my ticket out of here!” He laughed as he crashed through the window.

Drew cursed. “Take care of these guys! Natsu, let’s go!” He called out to the dragon slayer. 

“I’m coming with you! I have a score with him!” Lucy told them as they approached the window he went out of. Looking up, they saw him climbing up the wall. The blonde took out Mutsuraboshi and held it up to Natsu. “Pull me up. We need to cut him off.”

“Good idea!” Drew told them. “You go up, I’ll see if I can’t flank him!”

The dragon slayer propelled himself and Lucy up, the blonde using her chains as a makeshift ladder. Landing on the roof, Lucy shouted. “SAWARR!”

The middle-aged man stopped, his arm adjusting his grip on the princess. He turned around and held up a familiar shape. “Stay back!” He demanded. “I know you know what these do. Any closer and I jam this into her neck! What would people say if you attack her royal highness?”

“What is wrong with you?” Lucy asked. “You throw away everything for what? Money? Power?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” The man glared at Lucy. “It’s all because you spurned my advances! We were this close to being a husband and wife, and then you run away to join a guild and now you’re with that dirty mage?”

“Hey! I cleaned up pretty good!” Natsu shouted.

Ignoring the dragon slayer, Sawarr continued moving closer to the edge of the roof. “You were raised a lady; you shouldn’t be fighting like this. Give up these illusions of magic.”

Lucy was about to speak, but she noticed on her left that Drew finally climbed up onto the roof. He motioned for her to keep stalling as he took off his shoes and crept on him. “You’re jealous of Natsu? Good. He’s ten times the man you are. The women wouldn’t even give you the time of day.

“I wouldn’t touch any of those barbarians, even if some of them look great on my arm. “That’s very old school of you,” Lucy frowned. Then she gazed at Hisui, smiling softly. “Don’t worry sweetie, we’re gonna get you out.”

“O-okay, nice lady!” The little girl quivered only to be held tighter.

“You be quiet, brat!” He looked at Lucy. “Throw down your weapons and come with me, or this little girl’s is gonna be gaining a few extra muscles!”

Before he could taunt her further Drew got in range and put him in a nelson hold, knocking the memory out of his hand. “Got ya! Hisui run!”

The princess instantly rushed to Lucy’s side, while Natsu immediately charged at the man. Sawarr screamed as all three were tackled off the roof. The metal Guardian screamed as she rushed over to the edge. “NATSU!” Gazing over the edge in fear, she then sighed in relief. Someone, probably either May or Gordon, had moved the giant cake outside and conveniently all three had landed on it. 

Drew coughed and groaned. “No, I’m alright, Lucy, thanks for asking!” He reached down and took a piece of cake. “You know for being a bastard, this is good cake,” he said to the now unconscious Duke.

An Hour later, the Junelles were being led away in handcuffs and crowd was being escorted back to their hotels. 

“Ow ow, easy!” Drew groaned as Tori healed his back. “I got speared off the roof. I feel like Goldberg’s most recent victim.”

Tori finished her healing and carefully sat down next to him. “Well at least the party was fun while it lasted.”

“Yeah, but I owe both of ya a dance,” Drew said easing his way onto his feet. He watched Lucy approach holding the memory Sawarr had. It was a brown and gold-colored Gaea Memory, with a bee angled in such a way that it formed an H. “Hornet, huh? Wonder how this would have worked. Well Friedrich’s gonna like this.”

Toma and Hisui walked up to the three, the princess hugging Lucy’s legs. “On behalf of the Fiore royal family, I humbly thank you for saving not only my daughter but all of Fiore from a potential catastrophe.”

Drew hummed. “You’re welcome, but catastrophe hasn’t been completely been averted. This one might be done, but his benefactor is just looking for a way to ruin your country.

“I see,” Toma hummed. “Perhaps we can talk more at your guild or when this calms down.”

“Ask for Makarov, he can set up a meeting for us your majesty. I’m just glad everyone’s okay.”

“Indeed,” the king said watching his daughter gush over Lucy and Natsu. “Hisui darling, say good night to your friends, it’s getting late.”

But I’m not…*Bwaaa* tired,” the little girl yawned as she was scooped up by a guard. 

“Thank you again, we’ll be in touch,” the king told them before turning to his carriage.

Drew sighed. “Hey Natsu?”

“Yeah?”

“Good job today,” he told them. Looking around he smiled at his friends. “All of you. This could have been a disaster and we pulled off an operation like this stealthily. Maybe there’s hope for more of these in the future despite your reputation.”

Gajeel and Grey smirked and pounded their fists, Anabel gave Dawn a kiss on the cheek while May squeezed her little brother. “Also, Natsu?”

“Yeah?”

Drew responded by kicking him in the stomach, lifting him up by the waist and then slamming him through a table to everyone’s shock. “Next time, LET ME GET OUT OF THE WAY!” He adjusted his tie. “I’m good, let’s go home.”

Lucy watched the group depart before kneeling down to Natsu to help him up. “For all your faults Natsu, I’d still choose you anytime.”

“Thanks Luce,” he said sneaking a kiss in on her. Not satisfied with the quick peck, she started making out with him.

After a few minutes, May called out to them. “HEY! LOVEBIRDS! LET”S GO!

The two broke up and giggled before Natsu scooped her up and rushed after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER
> 
> UO: Well that was something. So, we got two new buds to reveal. Natsu showed one, and we will show Grey’s down the road.
> 
> NS: Right you are!
> 
> Natsu: Now this one is fairly unique, even among buds. One could argue that it originates from the Mystic, or the Inspired Inventor. However, rather than gaining knowledge for creating new things, Natsu has become supernaturally skilled at construction. As long as all the parts or materials are on hand, he can rapidly assemble them into the final product, whatever that may be.
> 
> UO: So ironically, he can now fix what he broke. Anyone say Lego Master?
> 
> Grey: An extremely simple, yet effective bud from the Supernatural Combat power, Grey has been granted mastery (or at least a large amount of skill) over all types of weapons.
> 
> UO: So that means he’s now Erza’s student. Or teacher whatever. Point is, he’s got new weapons skills
> 
> Preview: As life goes on in Magnolia, a portal to another world sucks the guild away and now a new threat emerges on the other side of the mirror
> 
> Next time: A world beyond! Edolas awaits.


	33. A World Beyond: Edolas Awaits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As plots are planned, a new threat emerges from the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOSH
> 
> UO: And that's why Natsu can't skateboard unsupervised anymore.
> 
> ?: Wow, as if some people's limitations weren't steep enough given the world's current situation. *Sighs.* I swear, Natsu, you and Katsuki sometimes make me look like a saint. Not like that's anything to compare, but… seriously?
> 
> Drew: Do I even want to know? *Looks at the lockdown* Why are we stuck here?
> 
> UO: I'M NOT GETTING SICK!
> 
> Erza: *cough*
> 
> UO: WE HAVE A 2319! STRIP HER AND ISOLATE HER!
> 
> Erza: What? *Masked men tackle her and puts her in a glass bubble naked* LET ME OUT OF HERE!
> 
> ?: As I said. As if some people's limitations weren't steep enough. *Groans* So much for that and a normal remainder of my pre-grad college semester… NS? A'ight, where is he?  
> NS: I don't leave the house anyway, not much has changed. I'm more annoyed that I probably won't be getting my job interview for a longer while.
> 
> Lucy: *sneeze* Wait… It's allergies!
> 
> UO: I believe her, I've had them too.
> 
> Erza: WHAT?
> 
> UO: Roll her out to the Sun Room.
> 
> Ash: Isn't that where the glass windows are that go out to the public space?
> 
> UO: Yep!
> 
> Ash: You're evil.
> 
> ?: Ash, my dude, I've known Oz for a good while now, before and after I started becoming a part of this process. We're all evil in accordance with our own devices. Anyway, might I choose who does the honors since my birthday was a short while back, or shall I do it myself?
> 
> UO: Knock yourself out.
> 
> ?: Sweet! Hmm… What to choose? Eh, I'm doing this the old-fashioned way. *Flips a coin.* It landed on tails, so I'm choosing someone. A'ight, no problem! I'll probably have the chance to do it myself when the time is right. Okay, someone who hasn't done it yet… Ah, perfect! Hey, Cana! The floor is yours!
> 
> Cana: *Hiccup* UO-kun doesn't own Pokemon, Fairy Tail, *hiccup* or Kamen Rider. He would be a billionaire otherwise…
> 
> ?: *Stares, then snickers, holding back a laugh.* Okay, in hindsight, I wasn't expecting her to be drunk. Joke's on me, I guess, but it'll do.
> 
> UO: She's always drunk.
> 
> ?: Correction, 80% of the time, so I thought otherwise! But, again, it'll do for a first-time go. Anyway, excuse me while I "nope" my way to the supermarket. We're out of Sprite and pizza. *Pulls out a dimension gun, firing it.* I'll be back in… ten minutes. Call me if you have any requests before then. *Heads through the portal as it closes.*
> 
> UO: Joy. *Hears Mira sneeze* GET HER OUT OF HERE!"

"Speech"  
Text  
 _Thought and Lyrics_ **  
Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
** **Attacks/Spells/Techniques**

**Chapter 33; A World beyond; Edolas awaits**

Unknown location far from Magnolia, September 20th X784

In a castle in the remote northern Taiga forests of Fiore, near the border of Seven, stood a huge black stone castle, overlooking a large river. There were four sets of fortified walls each one extending further out from a three-story tall keep covering nearly a square mile in area. On its outermost wall, stood six huge towers each draped with two flags. One was a dark purple with a six-pointed eye that looked to be falling from a stream of blood. The other was a black and crimson flag with an image of golden fangs over a planted sword. This was the headquarters of the anti-magic guild Miracle Eye, now the unofficial headquarters of Yuzan's forces in Fiore.

As storm clouds gathered overhead, Paul was walking towards one of the largest rooms in the castle, the stateroom. Opening the large stone doors, he watched as a couple of medical troopers observed Yuzan trying to regain her full mobility. Her fight with Friedrich had done more damage than she realized. When his Overdrive countered her attack, it had snapped her leg in three spots, requiring surgery to even get the leg back into place. If that was her only injury she might have been back in the game sooner if not for more serious injuries. The punch that sent her flying cracked several ribs and the landing nearly crushed her spine. It had taken several surgeries to repair the damage even with her increased healing and only in the last week had she been cleared to rehab.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen," Paul mocked as Yuzan took three shakey steps. "I've seen weaker pokemon get back up faster."

"Shut _up!"_ Yuzan hissed as her knees gave out. "That...Beast nearly _killed me!_ And it wasn't like _you did any better!"_

Paul winced as pain shot through his chest. During the Sun Village raid, he had encountered Friedrich too and had almost died to him as well, leaving a permanent scar from chin to near where his heart was as the fire from the traveler's finisher left third-degree burns behind the Rider armor. "Be thankful we're still breathing; despite my fire resistance, his attacks still scarred me.

Yuzan struggled to take another step. "That man is _a demon in_ human skin. _If he is meant to become a Rider,_ then we may lose."

"Is that why you holed up here? I always knew mages like you were a weaker breed," said a very smug accented voice. The two Generals turned to see a tall blonde man in a dark green dress uniform with a red ascot. On his left hip was a long thin blade while on across his back was a metal cylinder.

"Adolphus," Yuzan growled. _"What are you doing here?"_

The blond man scoffed. "Other than it's my castle you crazy broad. Your... guests... have arrived.

For the first time, Paul noticed Yuzan smile as she hobbled over to her chair. "Bring them in~~!"

Aldophus bowed and left. Moments later, he came back with three people, two men, and one woman. The leader was a tall dark-haired man with a very condescending smirk. He wore a tattered dark-furred jacket over a v-neck shirt. In his hands was a large black book. On his right was a tall blue-haired man with a large scar across his left eye and two silver cross earrings His attire consisted of a full metal chest plate armor with two blue pauldrons and a pair of dark blue pants with metal boots. The lone woman had a seductive smile on her face. Her pale, voluptuous figure was clad in a leopard print blue and black kimono that hung off her arms, revealing very large breasts and two tattoos on her shoulders. Completing her dress were a pair of green stockings, and her head bore a white hairband with two golden horns jutting out of her purple hair, and a horseshoe-like mark adorned her forehead.

The leader bowed slightly. "General Yuzan, Guild Master Adolphus, it is a pleasure to meet my fellow purveyors of chaos. I am Mard Geer, guild master of Tartoros. Joining me are two of my Nine Gates of Tartoros, Silver," he pointed to the man who nodded, "And Seilah. We have much to discuss," he said, sitting at a table that had been brought in.

As everyone sat down, or in Yuzan's case, helped into her chair, Paul made an observation. "You look like someone I fought. Something Grey or whatever, he was one of our enemies."

Silver gazed back at him impassively. "A coincidence, I'm sure."

"Forgive Silver here, let's just say, he's been unable to keep up with the news. He's been six feet under for a while," Mard said chuckling.

"Wait, you brought him back to life?" Aldophus asked. "That's very Black magic."

"Well, I _am_ a Demon. You see, our guild consists entirely of Demons. Seilah here is one of my strongest, while Silver was resurrected by another of my demon hoard, Keyes."

"So what _do you propose..._ we do?" Yuzan asked.

Mard waved his arms. "Well, we all share a common goal. To destroy all magic, especially here in Fiore. My master, E.N.D, will be pleased. I propose we unite our three forces to destroy all our enemies, and crush them beneath our heels.

"E.N.D?" Paul asked.

"Yes. You see, the greatest dark mage in the world, Zeref created E.N.D as his greatest demon. We, the Nine Gates of Purgatory, were all created to carry out his will."

"Zeref… _Isn't he a god in this world?"_ Yuzan pondered.

"Yes," Seilah purred. "One of the greatest Dark Mages ever to walk this lowly world. He created many of the weapons that are used throughout the world. The Tower of Heaven was one such weapon as was the demon that helped you in the Sun Village little girl."

"Little _girl?"_ Yuzan growled. "I nearly _killed three of the Riders._ If they aren't defeated, _they will destroy us all!"_

"And was it a Rider that did this?" Mard chuckled. "I must say, the Riders must be strong to paralyze both of you."

Paul grimaced. "No, it was one of their comrades. Friedrich, I think his name was. He...somehow he was able to copy many of our abilities and turn them against us."

Silver spoke up. "If he's that strong and allied with the Riders, then there is a good chance he's also training them. Which means we may not have much time before they get too strong."

"Patience Silver, if we continue to do what we're doing, we will fight them eventually," Aldophus revealed. "But as is, I have the tools necessary to make their magic...worthless!"

This got everyone's attention. "I think i misunderstood what you just said. You have a way to disable magic " Paul asked.

"Yes. I have in place in one of our...facilities, an antimagic tool, capable of disabling even the most powerful of mages. All of our prisoners haven't been able to use their magic since we built it. As for individuals, Silver would you mind helping me demonstrate?"

The man raised an eyebrow and nodded being directed to the other side of the room.

"Strongest attack you got we haven't got all day" Aldophus taunted.

"You're asking for it," Silver grinned, gathering up his magic. The amount was intense, shaking the floor as it gathered in the man's mouth. Feeling he built up enough, he said his spells name. **"** **ICE DEVIL'S RAGE!"**

Like a cannon, the beam fired across the floor, freezing the floor and walls. Aldophus stood still and grinned, only placing a gold demon-like wrist band on his wrist. The attack hit him dead on, causing an explosion that shook the castle.

Silver coughed. "Well, you said to give your best, sorry if it leaves you a bit cold!" As the smoke cleared, everyone, even Silver's widened in shock and the ice mage's jaw dropped. There in the middle of the impact zone, with ice all around him, was Aldophus, looking no worse than before, and covered in a glowing energy that melted the ice.

"Like it my friends? May I introduce you to the Black King Bar," the guild master held up the golden device. "Upon activation, it uses your own energy to negate magic targeting you and any significant imprisonment spells for 10 seconds." As the glow died away he continued. "However it takes a small bit to reactivate it and its daily limit goes down a second per use. We've been able to hold it for at least five seconds. It needs at least 24 hours before a full charge can be attempted again."

"But five seconds in the middle of a fight is long enough to negate powerful attacks," Seilah realized. "Any spells that need multiple seconds to hurt you can be nullified."

"An item that defeats magic? _Do tell,"_ Yuzan grinned.

"I believe I can also interest you in some non-magical items that will be perfect to destroy the magical world." Aldophus grinned.

Mard chuckled and then laughed loudly. "This is perfect. Your armies Miss Yuzan, our powers, and Miracle Eye's research, we can destroy anyone!"

"The question is who do we target first?" Paul asked.

"It's simple, Paul, _anyone associated with Fairy Tail!"_ Yuzan giggled as the three leaders began to laugh in unison, the unholy alliance being forged.

Miles away, Lucy's Apartment September 20 X784 early morning

Lucy yawned as she woke up in her comfy bed. Stretching her arms out, she felt two strong arms keeping her pinned to the bed. On her right was Erza, her scarlet hair shining in the morning sun. The covers had slipped under her shoulders, revealing a strapless scarlet bra that exposed her bountiful mountains and slender arms. On her left was Mira, looking as beautiful sleeping as she did awake. Her hair was out of her ponytail and spilled like a waterfall down to the large, rounded mound that was her shapely ass, clad in a silver negligee.

Lucy had invited the two to her house mainly to unwind and to help make Mira comfortable being around the two without Natsu. Said dragon slayer pouted when he was told he couldn't come, but all three kissed him and promised they would get to enjoy something like that soon. The blonde blushed as she remembered Mira treated her like a hugging pillow, even making out with her. When Erza wanted a turn, Lucy's nose bled as Mira quickly took the redhead's lips and made out with the red head like it was going out of style. Once they seperated, they pinned the blonde down and turned her into their own personal teddy bear.

Sitting up and climbing out of their strong grip, Lucy strutted into her kitchen, not even caring to put on her robe as she strolled into the kitchen to make some eggs for her guests. She hummed a little tune her mother taught her as she popped in some bread for toast, almost like a porno housewife. As she plated the eggs and pulled bread out, a pair of gentle hands reached up and grabbed her breasts firmly, digits sinking into plush flesh. Lucy gasped as her legs wobbled. "M-Mira!"

"Morning, Lucy," the model whispered, squeezing the blonde's huge breasts. "I couldn't help myself, you look so good doing this."

The blonde moaned at the attention, her body shaking in delight. "T-Thank you."

"My goodness, your whole body is bouncy, I wonder if we can make them bigger~?" Mira asked playfully, wondering aloud while grabbing the large melons. "Oh well, Erza is running a bath. You're getting the princess treatment honey."

With a small heave, Lucy was hoisted up onto Mira's shoulders. The blonde didn't even fight it as she was quickly brought into the bath and laid into the bubbles.

"You okay Lucy?" Erza asked gently.

The blonde hummed merrily as the bubbles covered her head to toe. "I could stay like this all day," she sighed, the affection making her mind slow to a crawl.

"Maybe some other day," the redhead said seductively. "For now though, we could use a bath too."

The two S class mages stripped down and joined their partner in the inviting waters with Mira sliding in behind her and Erza finishing the sandwich with her large breasts squishing Lucy's own. For a few moments, the three bathed in silence, the heat relaxing them before they started to scrub each other, especially Lucy down. A half-hour later, they climbed out and threesome went to Lucy's vanity and plopped the younger girl down. The blonde blinked as Mira stood in front of her. "Close your eyes, we want this to be special."

Lucy nodded and closed her eyes. Fifteen minutes later, Mira stepped back. "Alright Lucy, go ahead."

The blonde blinked her eyes open and stared at the mirror noticing the delicate-looking girl in front of her. She was dressed in a white and yellow plaid corset, which exposed a tasteful (though still sizable) amount of cleavage, complete with a flared ruffled skirt that came down to the knees. The girl's blonde hair was done up in a bun with a matching bonnet. On her arms was a pair of soft elbow-length gloves and on the feet were two thigh-length stockings and mary-jane shoes. On her face was a bright blush, golden eyeshadow which made the girl's eyes pop with innocence and yellow lipstick. It took Lucy a few moments to realize the girl was her.

"That's...me?" Lucy whispered.

"I know you have had some bad memories of dresses like this. But I saw Dawn's dress and I wanted to see you in it at least once," Mira told her gently. "My sister would have loved to do this."

"You miss her a lot don't you," Lucy asked back, careful to not move.

Mira nodded tears dripping down her cheek. "You two would have loved each other."

Erza patted her old rival's shoulder. "She's with us in spirit Mira. Never forget her." She turned to Lucy. "Do you like it?"

Lucy couldn't even deny it, she looked pretty. "Yes."

"Good, come on, we can head to the guild."

The two S class mages helped Lucy up after dressing in their normal attire and guided her carefully down the stairs and then towards the guild. As they walked, the men gawked at Lucy's attire getting her to giggle internally at their reactions.

"Well, it seems we're not the only ones with the idea," a male called out coming up from behind them. The three girls turned to see Drew walking up with Gabby and Tori. One look at the brunette and they could see why he said that. Tori was in a similar outfit to Lucy, save for the colors which were black and blue with darker gloves and leggings. They also noticed her face had pale foundation and black eyeshadow.

"Tori? You look great," Lucy commented. "What's with the dark colors?"

"Back home there's a culture called gothic and well, I decided to go with these colors. Dawn kind of put me on the lolita path though. So don't be surprised if i start dressing like this." She scanned the blonde. "You look like a runway model though Lucy," the brunette praised

The group of six made their way through town as the girls talked about various things. Drew who was out front glanced at Lucy. "So, how were your contract negotiations?" He was referring to Gemini, Scorpio and Aries, the celestial spirits that had fought her during the Nirvana mission and requested to come along.

"They went well, Scorpio was a real help at the Eagle village," Lucy explained. "Aries was so adorable especially with Loke helping her. And Gemini worked out."

"Yeah? So that's what...Nine? Whose left, Capricorn, Libra and...Pisces?"

"I guess so. But I don't know where they are," Lucy said looking downtrodden. "What magic do you think they would have?" She asked her fellow Zodiac holder.

"Hm…" Drew thought. "Well Libra is the scale. So maybe gravity magic. Pisces is the paired fish so maybe water-related. When I got my Viscount form my fishing knives changed to an anchor and chain. As for Capricorn, no idea."

As they approached the guild, Natsu came out with Wendy. The dragon slayer took one look at Lucy and blushed. "Um, Lucy? That infiltration mission was two days ago."

The blonde giggled. "I know, but you know I can't say no to Mira. Like it?"

The dragon slayer nodded rapidly.

Erza walked up and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Now Natsu, you should take care of Lucy here. I would be very upset if this dress got ruined.

The dragon slayer grinned and scooped up the blond who giggled at his energy. Mira sighed. "They look so adorable, and I feel like I'm intruding."

Drew smiled. "Nah, you're not. Otherwise Natsu would be focusing on just Lucy." He snuck a kiss onto Tori making her squeak before doing the same to Gabby making her blush. "You just need to show a little assertiveness."

"Speak for yourself," Gabby mumbled.

Mira watched as the three took their usual spot at a table near the bar while Kinna set out some breakfast for all 3. As Drew took a bite, he glanced around. "Anyone seen Friedrich?"

"I think he went on a mission with the Thunder God Tribe," Dawn called out, talking with Wendy. The young dragon slayer had been a popular hit with many of the guild members but especially the Aura girls. Dawn, in particular, had started to treat her like a little sister, something the young girl appreciated, and she'd even started to emulate her with her twin ponytails.

"Bet he got bored and wanted to tag along. Wonder what he made while he was gone?" Gabby asked.

"Probably something that might get Tsuki frustrated. That will be funny," Drew chuckled.

"The benefits of having siblings that work together," Tori shook her head. "I wonder what she's doing?"

"Probably having difficulty with history," Drew shrugged.

Back on Earth

Tsuki sneezed as she was working on some of her homework. Next to her, a dirty blond-haired kid around 14 years old looked up, asking, "You alright?"

"Yeah, damn, I thought Drew's allergies were bad."

Said person looked up from his computer as he finished his essay. Turning around and getting up to stretch, his full appearance was a striking resemblance to one of Drew's friends in the photo shown to Erza some time ago.

Evident by a short haircut, hazel-blue eyes, and a fair-colored skin tone, this was none other than Steve, the only other male from that specific picture taken.

Drew, who happened to be nearby them, added, "Something about people talking about you might set it off."

"Oh yeah, that old Japanese superstition," Steve nodded. "Happens all the time in anime."

"Ani...what?" Tsuki asked.

"Wait...you've been living with Drew for six years, and you've never heard of it?" Steve asked incredulously.

"Um…does Pokémon count?"

"Oh, definitely! I mean, it was a game first, but I wouldn't have known without the show. Ah, good times."

"Steve," Drew spoke up. "Tsuki's parents probably didn't have access to these shows before they passed. And considering her interests, maybe she wasn't into it." He hoped that was enough to cover up Tsuki's real history, at least.

He then fanned his hand in front, replying, "I gotcha, I gotcha. I know it's not for everyone, don't worry."

"Wait, is that the thing with the tentacles and humongous breasts?" Tsuki realized.

Steve sighed, slumping where he sat as Drew facepalmed, "Not this argument again."

"Yeah, definitely not," the other mumbled, wishing it wasn't easily confused with the actual medium. Even for Steve's age, there were some things he felt were left undisclosed to him until the time was right. But he knew such was the internet, for better or for worse.

"Anyway, Tsuki, history project now."

"Aww, I hate history. It's not even right!" Tsuki pouted with her arms down toward the floor.

"Um, what?" Steve asked, wondering if she was somehow delusional.

"She's not the biggest fan of these interpretations!" Drew hastily covered. "Come on, I already finished."

The three grabbed their history books and started on the project about World War 1, yet the younger boy couldn't help but ponder about Tsuki. Though he felt it was still possible that they would likely get along at some point. To him, she seemed like an interesting individual, after all.

"By the way, before we go on, I just thought about how cool it'd be if I knew some magic, wouldn't it?" Steve quickly asked with a smirk.

"It would, wouldn't it?" Drew said, looking at Tsuki with a knowing look.

Back on Fiore

Tori and Gabby laughed as the images filled their head. As the day wore on, the usual chaos in the guild built up. Natsu, in a rare form, was more content snuggling into Lucy, which grossed out his normal antagonists, Grey and Gajeel. Lucy didn't even mind, his warm body surrounding her lulled into her a euphoric state. Dawn walked over and gushed at Lucy's look of content. "It feels good letting go of control for a bit huh?"

The blonde nodded, idly shifting her weight. "Yeah, it does. But I still like to be my own person."

Natsu kissed her neck. "Not complaining here."

Before Dawn could ask, the guild doors slammed open startling everyone. Everyone turned to see Friedrich and the Thunder God tribe looking like they went through the wringer.

The traveler sighed. "Mission's done."

"Jesus Christ, you look like you went 12 rounds with the Terminator after flying off Nakatomi Plaza," Drew said aloud as they staggered over to where Dawn and Tori sat to patch them up. He turned to Mira. "Mind getting them something hard to drink."

"No one's gonna get your references, Drew. But yeah what the heck happened?" Gabby asked worriedly.

Friedrich groaned. "What didn't happen?" he asked sarcastically. "This damn mission was a crapshoot."

"Better make that a pitcher," Drew muttered to Mira. "What could have caused you this much pain on an investigation mission?"

"Because the mission was more than freaking advertised!" Friedrich snapped sitting down at the bar.

"So...start from the beginning and let's not do any of the Rashomon Flashbacks."

"Alright, so, turns out that the guy who hired us didn't exactly have the backing of his village. They were pretty much all anti-magic, and a Dopant was blowing up their crops."

"So racism...great…" Tori muttered. "Who was the Dopant?"

"That's just it. It turns out that the user was someone whose girlfriend was tortured for being a mage," Evergreen chimed in.

"She was lynched?" Gabby gasped.

Natsu asked, head cocked to the side, "What does that mean?"

"It means that people took justice into their own hands. Or in this case, they decided that since they were an affront to their way of life, they were automatically guilty," Drew rubbed his eyes. "The Southern US did it a lot pre-1970s and there may still be incidents of that. Great...how much hatred was there?"

"Nobody tried anything while we were there, but there was a good deal of 'you're not welcome around here' from pretty much everyone except the kids. As for the girl, well, she didn't die at least. Some mystery bastard smashed up her arm, something fierce, and the Dopant was taking it out on the village for being less up in arms about it than him. Not that I can blame him."

"So...what exactly happened that caused you to be like this?" Misty asked, trying to get the story back on track.

"So, turns out the Dopant was her boyfriend and when I found her I decided to try and heal her. And now I know how you felt when I knocked you around," Friedrich muttered.

"Yeah, not pleasant...wait, how the heck did you get a concussion?" Drew asked.

"I used an ability that lets me pull injuries from another timeline and then take the victim's injuries. Concussion was one of them."

"You want some Advil?"

"Please!" Friedrich groaned. "Right, um...oh yeah, we had to deal with a hypnotist of some kind, who was also a cultist. He managed to get both the boyfriend and local muscle man who apparently were good friends and he took control of the muscle man's jealousy. Also apparently he took out the head guard and blended in. He probably incited them to attack the girl. Fortunately, we were able to smoke him out and leave him to the authorities. Also, Master?"

"Yes?" The old man replied.

"It was Miracle Eye again; we need to get this information to the council."

The master nodded and began to write out the message to the council. The rest of the guild returned to normal, with its energy quickly rising. Drew placed the Advil and a tall glass of juice on the counter."This first, then the alcohol. We know how these work."

"Yeah, I get it," Friedrich mumbled, swallowing the pills. "You know what I miss right now? A nice orange soda."

"Damn right, Root Beer and Dr. Pepper as well," Drew chuckled. "So, did you get the Memory from that Dopant?"

"What do you take me for?" Friedrich scoffed, pulling out the Memory. "That's...sixteen Memories I've managed to score, thanks to our efforts," he said with pride

"Man, it's like you're setting up your own armory, which I think you have as well," Drew replied placing the Hornet memory down.

Friedrich hummed in agreement as he pulled out all of the memories he had acquired and laid them down. Then, gazing down at them, he frowned and began arranging them by color. Lucy, having finally broken free of Natsu's embrace walked over and picked up a random memory.

"It's hard to believe these things create the monster we've been fighting," Lucy wondered looking at the Fist Memory. "How does Gabby keep her form?"

"Her driver can filter the harmful effects.," Drew chimed in. "However if it breaks we would have a hard time fixing it without Friedrich or Brock."

"Why? It's not like you can make more right?" Friedrich asked curiously.

Drew shook his head. "One, I personally don't know the process. Tsuki plays it very close to the chest on this subject, supposedly a Royal Family secret. Two, even if I did know the process, the machine or spells or whatever they used is currently lost. The only reason I know it even exists is that I asked Tsuki, and she assured me that it's in one of the Temple Vaults. And before you ask, would you want something that valuable out in the open?"

Friedrich shrugged, staring at the memories. "Out in the open, no. But having it accessible would make things a hell of a lot less difficult. I could make one myself, but there's still the issue of making it distinctive and also reformatting the Gaea Memories to remove the need for a filter in the first place. Not to mention…" He paused. "Nevermind, that part probably won't be too hard."

Drew hummed as he took a sip of his drink. As Friedrich pondered the Memories, he heard ice being shaken in a mixer. Looking up, Mira was humming a happy tune as she mixed a particularly bright cocktail and poured it into a glass. The man stilled his eyes locking onto the drink as red, pink, and yellow all swirled together in almost vaporous wisps.

There was a bang as he shot to his feet, pushing his chair back. "That's it! I've got it!"

Before anyone could ask him what he was talking, he turned and ran for his lab, cackling with glee.

"...I think that head trauma did more to him than we thought," Drew mumbled. His musings were cut short when the unmistakable sounds of church bells began to chime.

"What the? It's not Sunday is it?" Gabby asked.

Drew placed his drink down and looked around as the guild had stopped fighting each other and began to celebrate wildly. "It's not, what the heck is going on?"

Mira who was already beginning to set up more chairs. "Those bells signal that our Strongest Mage Gildarts has home."

"Where has he been all this time?" Tori asked curiously.

"He's been on a solo mission for the last three years. Him coming home means he's finished it."

Before more could be explained, an announcement rang over the town. _"Attention Citizens of Magnolia. Gildarts Clive has entered the city. Please head to your designated zones as the Gildarts Shift begins!"_

"Gildarts shift?" Drew asked. As he asked, the ground began to shake and in a moment of panic, those not familiar with the procedure such as Drew, Lucy, and Wendy rushed out the door. They watched as the buildings shifted around, raising and lowering like a complicated puzzle box.

Friedrich heard the commotion and popped his head out, looking slightly irritated. "What the hell is going on?"

"Apparently, their strongest guild member is home, and they're treating him like a king," Drew added.

" _Our_ strongest guild member," Natsu corrected him, grinning, "You guys are members of Fairy Tail too!"

"Well, we definitely need a power ranking with him here. So what's with the shifting around?"

"Well, his magic is very powerful, and if uncontrolled can cause accidental property damage. So it's best he comes straight here," Mira explained as the buildings stopped moving forming a long depression that linked up with the guild entrance.

A few minutes later, a lone figure walked into the building. He was a middle-aged, brown-haired man in a dark cloak that was opened to reveal a scarred muscular chest. His oblivious face scanned the room as Mirajane walked up to him. "Welcome back, Gildarts!"

The man gazed at her. "Who the hell are you and where am I?"

"Silly man, it's me, Mirajane! And you're in Fairy Tail!"

Gildarts blinked and chuckled. "Guess a lot of stuff changed huh." He looked around and saw Natsu being held by his scarf by Drew. "Hey Natsu, long time no see!"

"Gildarts! Fight me! I got some new tricks to show you!"

Drew pulled him back. "He literally just got home, let him rest alright!" He noticed the older man's gaze on him. "I'm Drew Smith, one of the many members that have joined since you left," he said, putting out his unoccupied hand.

Gildarts humphed and brought out his left arm. Or what was left of it. As he pulled it out, his arm was paler than normal. Further observation revealed that his left leg was also paler and to everyone's shock wooden, meaning something ripped both off and destroyed them. Looking at his right arm and legs, there were scars but the arms were still functional.

Everyone in the guild stared at the arm and leg with shock. Gildarts noticed the stars and chuckled. "This is the price of pride and underestimating my opponent. Master," he looked for the older man and caught his eye. "I'm sorry master, I failed my mission."

This single sentence reverberated throughout the guild. One question echoed through their minds, _'What could have defeated Gildarts?'_

Makarov hummed, "I see. I'm just glad you're alive and relatively well."

Gildarts turned around, "Natsu, come by my place tomorrow, I'll explain everything there. New guy, you can bring your friends over, I got some questions of my own." With that, he walked up to the guild wall and without breaking a stride, smashed straight through.

The guild slowly recovered from their shock and returned to their drinks. Drew released Natsu's scarf, only to get a punch in the shoulder.

"I wanted to fight him!" Natsu whined.

"And I have no doubt he would have put ya in the ceiling. This is why information is vital. Otherwise, we get Friedrich'd."

"I don't like that I'm a verb now," Friedrich grumbled. "Especially in _this_ context. So what do you think caused those injuries?"

"Don't know, but we need to know about it. Ash, Misty, you're coming with us to talk to Gildarts."

"Something that could be the world-ending threat we fight? Yeah, we need all the help we can get," Misty grumbled only to get a comforting arm around her waist.

"We'll take them down, one way or another."

"It's the 'another' part that concerns me," Drew mumbled.

That Night

_Natsu sat along the riverbank, enjoying the nice sunny day while watching the rod in his hand closely. He felt his line pull and with a cheer began to pull it in, a younger Happy helping him. After a few moments, a large bass popped out of the water and over his head. It landed on the ground in front of a young girl. Said girl had snow-white hair and deep blue eyes that matched Mirajane's. But instead of the model's motherly appearance, this girl looked more boyish while still retaining her charm._

_"Natsu, Happy, there you two are~" the girl called._

_(Play Zelda's lullaby)_

_"Hey, Lisanna," Natsu waved as Happy flew into her arms._

_The girl sat down on the bank and nuzzled into_ _him. "It's nice being like this, husband and wife._

_Natsu blushed, remembering her promise to be married in the future. "Yeah, I guess so."_

_Lisanna placed Happy down and stood up. "Natsu, if I ever disappeared would you come find me?"_

_Natsu gulped and stared at the water. "Yes, I would."_

_Lisanna started to backstep. "Well then, come find me!" She giggled as she started to glow._

" _Lisanna? Where are you going?"_

" _Find me Natsu! Hurry! I'll disappear soon!"_

" _What do you mean? You died!"_

" _Come find me! And then we can save the world!" She shouted as she vanished._

Waking world

"LISANNA!" Natsu screamed, almost leaping out of his bed breathing heavily as his memory flashed away. His eyes regained focus as he looked around and realized that he was in Lucy's bedroom. He calmed down and covered his face. _Lis...are you still alive?_

"Natsu?" Lucy's sweet voice sounded in his ear. Her arms wrapped around his chest and she leaned against his back, reminding the dragon slayer she had nothing on, while he wore a pair of white jeans. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I had a dream. It was about Mira's sister…Lisanna."

"Mirajane's sister?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She died…about two years ago, this week."

"Oh, Natsu," Lucy sighed, hugging him tighter. "Were you two close?"

"Very," Erza chimed in, reminding the two she was there, dressed only in a red and white flannel shirt. It was two sizes too big for the redhead as it covered her entire body and held in place by two buttons under her breasts, showcasing her entire body. "They were inseparable when the Strauss siblings joined our guild. She even helped hatch Happy, in fact."

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"It was a mission that went wrong," Natsu revealed. "They went on a mission to defeat an S class beast. Elfman tried to take it over, but something happened to him and Lisanna got caught in the crossfire."

Lucy held him tighter. "She wouldn't want you to be sad she's gone."

Erza pulled him back to rest on her breasts and rubbed his hair lovingly. "She was a light in our guild. To see it snuffed out hurts us all. Mira and Elfman changed afterward, to the point that they became the way you know them today."

"That's just it, I just had a dream where she told me to find her. Is she alive, I need to know!" He looked outside and saw the faintest hint of light and sighed. "I need to go soon, Drew wants to talk to Gildarts.

"When do you have to be there?" Lucy asked.

"Um...about 11?"

"That gives us three hours, Natsu~~!" Erza said seductively. "Just relax, and let us melt your stress away.

The dragon slayer grinned before turning around and nuzzling Erza's breasts, which got the girls to giggle at how childlike he was before they drifted off back to sleep. The next thing the dragon slayer knew, they heard shouting through the door.

"What the?" Natsu grumbled.

Lucy blinked and groaned as she recognized one of the voices. "That sounds like my landlady! Damn it!" She groaned, rolling out of bed and grabbing her robe. Moments later, she opened the door and saw Drew arguing with a short middle-aged woman.

"Look, we just wanted to talk to our friends, Lady!" Drew snapped back.

"And you four were too loud! It's bad enough that they were screaming so early!

"Excuse us for wanting to see our friends this early!"

Friedrich sighed as he stood off the steps. "Geez lady, calm down it's too early for this."

Lucy stomped her foot. "HEY!" The two who argued turned to her. Lucy regarded Drew first. "Good morning, Natsu will be along shortly. Ma'am, what is going on?"

"These hooligans were waking me from my beauty sleep. Your rent will increase because of this!"

"You can't legally increase someone's rent without informing them beforehand!" Drew pointed out. "On top of this, we haven't done any damage!"

The landlady huffed and stomped away. Lucy turned to Misty who was watching with an amused smile. "What happened?"

"We were looking for Natsu and we naturally thought of your place first. When we came to, the landlady was griping about early morning visitors and it got...heated." The red gazed at Lucy's look. "Did we disturb anything?"

Lucy blushed. "N-no! Natsu should be along in a minute."

"Or right now!" The dragon slayer grinned from behind her, kissing her cheek and wrapping his strong arms under her expansive bust. "See ya, Lucy!"

The blonde watched the group depart, Natsu joining them, before heading back inside herself.

Natsu led the group towards where he sniffed out Gildarts. After about 20 minutes, they found the place on the outskirts of town. It was a modest one-story stone home with a wooden roof. The overgrown weeds and cracked facade of the house made it evident that the home had been long unoccupied.

"Geez, did anyone _try_ to maintain this place?" Drew asked, trying to step around the large weeds.

"May would be having a fit over this. She'd have a weed killer in her hands in an instant," Misty concurred, thankful for the foresight of wearing jeans as the weeds brushed against her legs.

Ash approached the door and knocked. A few moments later, Gildarts opened the door. Seeing his guests, he gestured them in. "Been a while since we had a proper talk, Natsu."

"It's been three years. I've been itching to fight you and show you some new stuff I learned," the dragon slayer declared happily. Looking around, however, his bud abruptly called out for him to fix the place.

Gildarts hummed and scanned the group. "I see. By the way, where's Lisanna? I figured she would be hovering all over ya!"

His attempts at a joke failed as the dragon slayer looked away. "Lisanna died two years ago," he sighed, "You've missed a lot."

He stilled, eyes widening. "That's…my god. No wonder Mirajane's turned all sweet. Holy shit…what else have I missed?"

Drew patted Natsu's shoulder. "Why don't you use your Bud and help pick up the place. Get your mind off it."

Natsu nodded, quickly went to the walls with tools in the bag Friedrich had made for him.

Gildarts stared at the slayer with a disturbed expression. "The Natsu I know would be destroying my house."

"Like he said, a lot changed," Ash said sitting down. "So...what happened to your arms and legs?"

Gildarts rubbed his face with his good hand. "Where do I even begin? I was doing fine on my 100 Year quest. But up in Mt. Zonia, I ran into…a black dragon."

"A black dragon?" Natsu asked, "There are dragons still around?"

"Yes. I thought I could beat it. I was a fool, these limbs are my reward for my arrogance."

Ash whistled. "Damn, and here I thought Dawn and Tori's back injuries were bad."

"At least they can walk, I thought they were gonna be paralyzed," Misty reminded him, before turning her attention back to Gildarts. "How did you survive?"

"I managed to drag myself back to the nearest village, they patched me enough to come home. Guess I'll have to find a place to make new prosthetics," Gildarts sighed.

"Well, we don't have to worry about that," Drew smiled glancing at Friedrich. "I don't even need to ask if you got an idea how to do that?"

"Nope, give me about...15 minutes."

As Friedrich began to doddle out designs, enlisting Natsu to help, Gildarts stared at Drew, Ash, and Misty. "By the way, who in the world are you?"

"Well, this is gonna take a bit, so get comfy," Drew told him. "So, what would you say, if I told you, none of us save Natsu, are from this world."

"I tell you, your nuts and what proof do you have?" Gildarts asked.

Drew motioned to Ash who brought his Pokédex. Then he called out Lucario and Pikachu while Misty called out Staryu. "Use that and point it at one of the pokemon."

Gildarts humored him and held it up to Staryu only for him to jump when a female voice chirped.

 _Staryu, the Starfish Pokemon._ _If its body is torn, it can grow back if the red core remains. The core flashes at midnight._

"What generation is that entry?" Friedrich asked while working on the foot of the leg prosthetic.

"Diamond and Pearl. So it's the fourth."

"What...magic is this?" Gildarts asked, nearly throwing the Pokédex away.

"No magic, electricity. We come from worlds where magic like yours are relegated to stories and other myths. Ash Misty and their friends are from a world that can catch and train them to be the best. I'm from a world where technology has made it easier to run our loves. Your tech levels here are over 300 years behind ours from what we've found."

"So...what exactly brought you here?" Gildarts wondered as he felt like this was the tip of the icebergs.

So Drew began explaining the story of the Guardians. How they were once part of the same world before a giant cataclysm. How they were guarded by the Guardians and Knights, how it was Drew's job to find them and about the belts themselves. They also explained how they got here, what the threat was to this world and the current adventures they had gone on. By the time their stories had ended, Friedrich and Natsu had finished the prosthetic.

"Different worlds, different magic. And even stuff that we could only dream of...my god, am I out of the loop. So, as these Guardians, how strong are you?"

"At our current level, we've been able to beat at least two Guild Masters, plus Laxus and a couple of other threats. All of them using those Memories we showed you," Drew said with pride. "But in Friedrich's eyes, we were too inefficient in our training."

"Inefficient nothing, you were wasting your talents!" Friedrich snorted as he brought the limbs over to a repaired table. "Alright, hop up."

The older man did so and Misty helped pop off the prosthetic and clean the stump. "Jesus, whatever monster did this was ruthless."

"He was," Gildarts muttered as Friedrich lined up the leg. "So what's your story, since you know so much about what these guys do?"

"Well that's _another_ long story!" said the other man cheerfully, fitting the metal limb onto the stump and strapping it on securely.

"Cliff note it!" Drew groaned.

"Well, I originally came from the same world as these guys," began Friedrich, using his middle finger to point at Drew, "But ended up in another world, stuck in the body of some weird older guy. Did some time there, then eventually decided to move on, built a teleporter and wound up here. After that, I fought some Dopants, met these guys and decided to stick around for the foreseeable future." He tapped the false leg. "Try standing."

Gildarts stood up from the table and felt the metal leg out. "Wow, this is...amazing."

"Better than some of the prosthetics soldiers use," Friedrich commented. "Now the arm."

"So, what exactly do you do?" Gildarts asked him.

"In a nutshell, he's a walking library," Ash replied.

"More than that," Friedrich glared. "I can put a set amount of charges each day into a given field of knowledge or technology, and am then granted ideas on how to create things related to them, better than should be possible by our world's standards."

Gildarts hummed. "Well, that is impressive. But...this dragon that made me a cripple, it's beyond your power level."

"You've never seen us fight, how can you be so sure?" Drew demanded.

"I was nearly killed by this dragon and I barely scratched him, what can your Rider armors do against that!?" Gildarts snapped. "Don't go looking for this dragon! He's out there doing god knows what! That means you Natsu!"

"Well, I'm a dragon slayer! I say we can take them down! We just need to get stronger!" Natsu confirmed before rushing out with Happy.

Friedrich shrugged. "We probably can't beat him right now, it's true. But as humans, isn't it our job to reach up and strike down those mightier than us?"

"For your own good, don't try to fight this guy!" Gildarts pleaded. "I nearly died as cannon fodder."

"Especially since you would have died never knowing your daughter," Misty told him as they walked out.

"Wait!" They all stopped at his cry. "I…have a daughter?"

"Yes, but she has her own reasons for not telling you. And I'm not gonna tell you her identity either," the redhead replied as they left the man to his thoughts.

"Why did you tell him that?" Ash asked as they got further away from the cabin.

"Cause I know what it's like to lose a parent in front of me. I also don't want him to just throw away his life when he has someone precious waiting for him. But she's too scared to walk up to him."

"Who is it?" Ash asked curiously.

"It's Cana," Drew answered. "There are now five brown-haired members of the guild, myself, May, Cana, Wakaba and now Gildarts. Of those five, only one of them has parents we don't know."

"And she also confided in me shortly after we left the guild yesterday," Misty added. "She feels she's not worthy to be acknowledged as his daughter yet."

The group digested the information, then Drew glanced at Friedrich. "So, I guess we need to step up our training. What do you suggest?"

"Well, now that you guys have a foundation, it's time to expand it," Friedrich offered. "Ash, for example, why not consider adding lighting to your actual basic attacks or even using it with your speed to do multiple types of attacks. Misty, I think you and Juvia should trade notes on magic. She can actually become it, perhaps you can do the same. Natsu, I'm surprised he hasn't learned to mix his two magics yet. Earth and fire can create molten material. As for you Drew, Propulsion, why haven't you tried it, buddy? Also, I think you can create remote mines and your ignition skills could use work."

Friedrich continued to outline the various training methods they could learn and use unaware of the chaos to come.

Next Day

Tori and Gabby walked along canals towards the guild. Drew had gone ahead to talk with the others about training scheduled for the following day and wanted to get some ideas in. As they strolled hand in hand, they spotted Carla flying towards them.

"Whoa Carla, what the heck?" Tori asked catching the flying white cat.

"Carla!" Wendy shouted, Happy flying over her.

"Carla, what did I do? Was it the fish?" Happy asked tears forming.

Gabby looked to the dragon slayer. "What happened?"

"We were talking about the day the dragons disappeared with Lucy. Carla yelled something about the dragons and then rejected poor Happy's fish," Wendy explained.

"That's just it you tomcat! You don't have the power to protect Natsu from what's coming!"

"I like to think he can defend Happy quite well," Gabby retorted. "Why are you so gung ho about this?'

"If he knew what he was really brought here to do, he would have been kicked out of the guild long ago!"T

"What do you mean Carla? I was hatched and raised a member of this guild!" Happy cried.

"See!" Carla pointed at the blue cat. "You don't even know who or what you are!" She huffed and turned away, leaving Happy to cry in anguish. It was on this scene that the mysterious mage Mystogan arrived.

"Mystogan? What are you doing here?" Tori asked.

"Jellal!" Wendy screamed, tackling him in a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"Hello, Wendy. I would love to say I am happy to see you, but I came to warn you to leave Magnolia."

"Leave? Why?"

He turned skyward, causing the others to do the same. "The Anima system that threatens Magnolia can not be held at bay anymore." As he said this, the clouds began to circle, like a hurricane was forming. "Now Magnolia and all in it will be destroyed!"

Tori and Gabby gasped and ran towards the guild. "We gotta warn the guild!"

Wendy ran to follow them, but Mystogan grabbed her arm. "I can save you and you alone, for the sake of our friendship."

"No!" Wendy told him, shaking herself free. "Fairy Tail gave me a home after Cait Shelter vanished! I'm not abandoning it!" She quickly ran to catch up to the two Riders.

IAs they rushed towards the guild hall, at said guild it was a normal day, with arguments, laughter and food shared. Mira and Elfman were dressed in a blue dress and suit respectively. "Where are you two going?" Drew asked, walking up to them.

"Oh...it's close to the anniversary of Lisanna's death, we thought that we would go say hello, drop off some flowers at her grave."

"Be careful, it feels like it's gonna rain soon."

The two siblings nodded and walked off with Drew watching. As he looked to the sky, he noticed the clouds beginning to circle. "That's weird."

"What's up?" asked Friedrich.

"The sky. It looks like a hurricane or a Tornado is forming. But that's impossible, we're too far inland for the former and it's the wrong time of year for the latter." Drew turned to Max. "Yo, Max, is the weather feeling off to you?"

The younger boy walked up to them and looked at the sky. "No, I do think we have a system coming in later. But it's not that strong." Then he frowned. "Actually, everything feels normal. Way more normal than anything that could make clouds look like that…"

Moments later, the ground started to shake, catching people off guard. "Okay, that's not normal!" Drew commented, "First a hurricane, now an earthquake?!"

Max looked at the town and gasped. "LOOK!" He pointed at the buildings, which were trembling and vibrating erratically. Brick by brick, they began to crumble and collapse, but instead of falling, the pieces instead shot up into the air, heading for the vortex over them.

Drew whirled around to watch the guild stop whatever they were doing when they heard the rumbling "EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE!" Just then the guild hall began to shake and slowly began to be sucked up piece by piece. May, seeing her brother, rushed over and hugged him. Ash meanwhile gathered his team around her and hugged them close, with Misty throwing up a small sphere around them in a small effort to protect them.

Friedrich and Drew watched the rest of the town be pulled in and saw Tori Gabby and Wendy approaching. He saw their panicked looks and whispered to himself, "I love you." He tossed out his hands and a firewall erupted around the guild.

The wall went up, knocking the girls off their feet. The three watched in horror as the guild was sucked up into the sky. As they watched, they didn't realize until Gabby was off the ground that they were being sucked up to.

"Gabby!" Tori screamed, trying to pin her down, only for her to get pulled up with the blonde.

As she moved, however, the vortex in the sky above abruptly vanished, leaving only a black sky. The sun loomed over her, dreadfully close and burning bright.

It pulsed, transmitting countless impressions and streams of information that all culminated in one idea.

[Arcane.]

And then it was gone. However, in that instant, Tori realized that she could see what was _really_ going on here. All the Ethernano in the atmosphere and saturating the very matter of the town was being sucked up, converting into its raw form as the sky devoured it all.

She threw out her hands, concentrating, and the overpowering pull of magical power lessened, a bubble of stillness forming around them that diverted the upward force of the stream away from her and Gabby.

Moments later, the vacuum slowed down allowing them to land on the ground. Both earth girls dropped to their knees, shaking and trying to keep tears from falling.

Wendy stared around at the ruins, wide-eyed, a heavy weight in her gut. "It's gone…it's all gone! Why wasn't I sucked up too!?" Out of the ruins of the guild and yawning with a big roar, came Natsu, who had apparently been sleeping.

"GAH! What the hell? One minute I was sleeping, the next minute the whole guild's gone!"

"It was because of the Anima," Carla said flying in. "The reason why the guild was swallowed up was because of the world on the other side, Edolas."

"Edolas?" Tori asked with Gabby still in shock.

"Yes, the same world myself and the Tomcat come from. You see, we are the reason it took the guild away. In Edolas, magic is a finite resource. The King of Edolas created the anima as a way to steal this world's magic. But the King was not getting the desired results as someone kept sealing the portals away. Evidently, this one was too big to be contained."

"So what were you doing here then?" Natsu asked.

Carla turned away. "I believe we were the indirect cause of this. We were sent here six years ago for a mission of our own."

"What was it?" Gabby asked, snapping out of her stupor.

"I can't tell you," Carla told her only to have a knife put between the eyes.

"GOD DAMNIT! OUR FRIENDS MIGHT HAVE BEEN KILLED AND YOUR NOT GONNA TELL US!" Gabby screamed, her eyes bloodshot with tears. Only Tori's calming hands made her reluctantly drop the knife.

Carla recovered and glared at Happy. "Even if I wanted to tell you, I would not. Especially since this birdbrain refuses to remember!'

"How was I supposed to know anything if I never even heard of this Edolas!"

"That's the problem, our mission and our guide to Edolas was imprinted in our eggs. You need to remember that mission, you buffoon."

Natsu stared at the glowing sky. "We're going to go rescue our friends! Guardians are meant to save people right? Then let's go get them back!"

Carla humphed. "Fine! But there are conditions." She held up her paw. "First, going back is considered illegal so we need to disguise ourselves. Second," pointing at Happy. "No more asking what the mission was, especially him. Third, we're going in blind, cause I was never there to begin with. Lastly, and this is important. if...IF we betray you all, then Natsu and Wendy, you must kill us!"The dragon slayers nodded and the two flying cats hovered over them. "Very well." She looked at Gabby and Tori. "I don't know how you're going to get up there."

Tori wrapped her arms around Gabby and raised her staff. "I got it." Her staff glowed a pale blue. She summoned the mana around her and caused it to lift under their feet. With a little push, they quickly caught up with the flying cats and sped towards the glowing shield. With the amount of power they had, they quickly burst through, entering the tunnel to the unknown world of Edolas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter
> 
> UO: And we start with a bang. Plotting in the background and now the Edolas arc. This will be fun to do with our ideas. Also, we have a new bud there. NS?
> 
> ?: Wait, Oz, Steve getting a cameo? Damn… I'm touched, man. You really didn't have to do that for me, but thank you.
> 
> UO: No problem.
> 
> ?: Heh, I'd say that's the best birthday gift yet this year. Which, for the record, was March 12. But yeah, before we get the newest bud ability out of the way, I think it's finally time to unveil just who I am. You guys good with that?
> 
> NS: Yeah, sure.
> 
> UO: Yeah, go ahead!
> 
> TEMP: *Throws off my cloak and mask.* Well, hello, everyone! The name's TempestMaskVortex, a combination of a couple of names I go by elsewhere. People mostly refer to me as Tempest or Temp, and I've helped Oz and NS with some of their fics since a certain point last year. And yes, I'm the unnamed figure who popped up on occasion. It started with Nakama 31, but it's only because I wanted to express my joy to the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime. I guess it turned into a habit, though.
> 
> Natsu: Hey, I got plenty.
> 
> TEMP: That you do. So yeah, all you need to know is that, plus I'm in charge of Drew's friend, Steve, who you saw in today's chapter. Anyway, time for Tori's bud explanation! Take it away, guys.
> 
> NSG: So! Today, Tori received a power from the Mystic, and quite a broad one at that: Mana Manipulation! In short, Tori can now sense and direct the magical energies that exist in the world, both as part of nature and within the body. She can directly shape these energies in order to form magical effects and spells, without having to go through verbal, somatic or material components to do so! Of course, these things can help her give her better concentration so that they succeed, since she needs to at least feel like she knows what she's doing.
> 
> UO: So essentially think Raven from Teen Titans. Which brings up a natural question. What will happen if she doesn't have the natural energies that other worlds have? We have a solution but we won't reveal it here. Let's just say we don't need to worry about it.
> 
> Preview: The other side of the anima drops the group of five in a world on the brink of Civil War. With Lucy and Gajeel joining them, they must fight back, all the while a new Rider makes themselves known.
> 
> Next time: Make Peace with Your Past, Columbia!
> 
> I have a Discord as does NS here. Hit us for invites! I run Osprey News, he runs the NorthSouth Smut Gathering. We don't mind fans at all and we're pretty easy to get along with.


	34. Make Peace With Your Past, Columbia!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The freed Riders encounter the world beyond the anima and encounter a familiar problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...Swoosh?  
> UO: Um...Where is everyone? Yo! Guys! Where is everyone for this set? We got cleared to go back to work, right?  
> Izuku: OH, THANK GOODNESS!  
> UO: What’s going on?  
> Izuku: This giant magical sphere just opened up and swallowed the entire set.  
> UO: Everyone?  
> Tori: No, we’re fine. No idea where Lucy is…  
> Gabby: …or Tempest and NSG.  
> *Suddenly, a distant guitar screech can be heard in the fabric of space-time as a wormhole suddenly opens up. Out of it comes Tempest, landing feet first on the floor in a cool manner.*  
> TEMP: Phew! Alright, that takes care of that erra— WHOA, MY GOD! The hell did I miss!?  
> UO: Too much. WHERE IS NS?  
> TEMP: You’re asking me? I was busy in the Dragon World since I needed King Kai’s help.  
> UO: And why didn’t you get the Dragon Balls?  
> TEMP: Because I somehow ended up in Age 791. Y’know, year of the Shadow Dragons?  
> UO: No, because I have no knowledge of non-canon events.  
> TEMP: HEY! It could still be canon! If the “End of Z” is still supposed to happen after Super, then… Ah, forget it. I’d rather you see for yourself next time I go dimension-hopping there. Someone in our world would’ve turned 30 today, so the Dragon Balls are noted on my to-do list. But I digress, I got no clue as to where NS is.  
> NS: I just finished up my new fic over on AO3, The Marvelous Silver-Tongue. And damn straight I’m plugging that.  
> TEMP: Right, this we did do. Okay, so, what about Lucy?  
> UO: No idea. Start the show, I need to do a headcount.  
> Gabby: UnitedOsprey1991, NorthSouthGorem, and TempestMaskVortex don’t own Pokémon, Fairy Tail, or Kamen Rider. They would be trillionaires otherwise and the pairings they have would be canon.  
> TEMP: Maybe I wouldn’t push my luck with making canon pairings, but fair enough.

"Speech"

Text

_Thought communication and Lyrics_

**Super Mode/Form Change/Belt/Monster**

**Attacks/Spells/Techniques**

Chapter 34: Make Peace With Your Past, Columbia!

Continuation

_Where am I?_

He couldn't feel anything. It was as if his body had been melted down into a solid chunk of rock.

_I can still think. What else can I do?_

His powers pulsed in his mind, almost all of them locked away behind a muting wall of crystal. _What the...Aw crap, did we just end up in Edolas? Son of a bitch, I got sucked up and crystallized! I gotta get free and do something! Damnit, all this power and I get sidelined just like that?!_

With immense effort, he forced his eyes open, looking through the crystal, and saw Drew less than five feet away, but totally immobile. _He's the only one I can reach. Maybe I can wake him up._

Focusing his Magic felt like stirring a bowl of cold molasses. It was as if his power had been completely spread out across the crystal, and mingled with everyone else's, but slowly, he managed to gather up a little bit of it and sent out a pulse. _Drew!_

Feeling nothing at first, he thought he failed. Then, he heard a gasp and coughing. _Drew! You're alive!_

 _Fried?_ Drew coughed. _What the...heck happened? Last I remembered…. I was keeping Tori and Gabby from getting into the guild._ He concentrated and focused his aura out.

_What are you doing?_

_Just because I'm not an Aura user...doesn't mean I didn't pick up some tricks,_ He explained. He let out a sigh of relief. _Good. They're not here. That fire wall I threw up stopped them._ He turned to Friedrich. _What is going on?'_

 _You want the full truth? We just became part of something called the anima. We're in a different world, and until Natsu and the group that ain't here saves us, we're stuck here._ Friedrich explained.

 _Wait not here?_ Drew thought-scanning again looking for familiar energy signatures. _Wendy isn't here, Natsu isn't, where's Lucy and Gajeel?_ Drew asked confused.

_The celestial spirits saved Lucy and something about the Dragon Slayers saved Natsu and Gajeel. Problem is they've got no magic to use because the world we're in has no Ethernano in its atmosphere. Hence why we're in this crystal so they drain us and get magic._

Drew groaned. _Great. Well, we have one thing going for us. The Guardian energy we all have is completely internal. So they can still fight and can still call out our elements. Barring that, I think the armors can restore that connection temporarily._

_You think?_

_We tested the energy part out, hence why I want them to be good at not relying on this energy. I like the fact we're branching it out._ Drew explained. _As for the armors, we have never had a chance to test that. But we do know that our energy is like fuel in a gas tank, albeit a large one and one we can increase. If we run out, we can't get more without rest._

Before Friedrich could ask further, they heard a door open and four figures walked through the door. The leader was an older man with white and red priests robes holding a magic staff. On his head was a priest's hat that had a downward facing bow and arrow. To his right was a large humanoid panther that towered over the others with a large scar across their eye. He was wearing a form fitting metal plate armor and a large sword on his right. It was the woman on the left who gave Drew and Friedrich a huge shock. She wore a very revealing outfit, consisting of a halter-type breast armor and matching bikini bottom with a white cloth hanging from her hips. On her arms metal armbands and leggings. What had them so horrified, however, was the fact that she looked _exactly_ like Erza. But there was none of Erza's solid, dependable compassion; only cold, ruthless superiority. Shocking them even further was a satanic Robin Hood, with dark green and red armor. The metal vestments on his hat and chest indicated he was someone high-ranked. The man in the robes approached the Anima that contained the trapped Mages. "This...this is perfect. All my plans, they're close at hand.

"Your majesty," the Erza look-alike spoke. "It is very impressive and I hope this will allow us to use magic again."

"Not forever," the king muttered. "Ten to 15 years at the most. With your help," he glanced at the archer. "Captain McQueen, we could store the magic forever."

" **My mistress will be pleased to know you have taken this initiative, to suck away the magic of Earthland. Without those damnable Riders, the other world can fall."**

The king nodded and was about to speak again when the door opened again revealing an older more wild-looking man. "Your majesty, the troops are ready to depart."

"Good. I want that despicable Fairy Tail destroyed this time. Erza, go with him, and make sure they remember the name Fairy Hunter," the king ordered.

"Yes, King Faust!" she nodded, marching out of the room.

" **I shall go with her; no one has stood against us."** McQueen bowed before following the redhead.

In the crystal, Drew looked at Friedrich. _Who the heck are these guys? This feels like some multiverse BS._

_...You're not far off. This world has no magic, or rather it ran out. Unless they get another infusion through the anima. Everyone that is native to Earthland has someone here. Mystogan is an example; he looks like Jellal because he is the Jellal of this world. Faust, the King, is…Makarov._

_So I guess that means Fairy Tail too?_ Drew concluded.

_Yep, but right now we can't do anything._

_Can you project us to at least talk to them?_ Drew asked desperately.

 _I could if I knew where they are,_ Friedrich grumbled.

_Probably for the best at the moment. If there is a Fairy Tail here, then I suspect they will find it on their own._

_The question is can they avoid getting caught?_ Friedrich sighed.

Here, Drew chuckled. _That is one thing I know they can do. Gabby, well if she can keep Natsu in line, she can basically hide in plain sight._

Outside, far from the castle

Gabby sneezed, ruffling the leaves that she was covered in. Tori looked at her brunette partner. "Bless you."

"Thanks, damn allergies. I thought Drew had it bad."

Tori giggled. "I'm sure he would laugh."

"Focus, you two," Carla ordered. The Exceeds, once they were in Edolas, had to land to prevent magic from being seen, hence the need to put on the leaves. "If you don't keep it down, we're going to get caught.

"Carla, I can basically disappear if I want to, we'll be fine. What I want to know is why is everyone spooked by you and Happy?"

As they walked from their landing point and took in the floating islands and large waterfalls, they had run into several travelers. One look at the small cat creatures had them panicking and bowing profusely before rushing off in terror shouting something about Exceeds. Carla shook her head. "I…have no idea myself."

"I'm not that scary am I?" Happy asked as they strolled along, his stomach groaning in hunger.

"You scared the living daylights out of them. And if we're supposed to be quiet, tell your stomach to be quiet!" Natsu told his friend.

Gabby hummed as she took out her camera and started snapping the scenery around. Tori took in the sights. "We don't get stuff like this back home. Air's so clean, the water is pretty. Shame we can't get floating islands back home."

"So they can crash a Boeing or the Space shuttle into both?" Gabby joked getting both to laugh

"What's a Boeing, and a Space shuttle?" Wendy asked, tilting her head through the brush.

"Oh yeah, you weren't here when they explained it. Apparently, their world can go into space and fly all around the world without Magic," Natsu told them.

"Preposterous. If man were meant to fly, they would have wings like us," Carla scoffed.

"Believe what you want, but our world has some amazing tech. But...the price of progress is high," Tori said sadly. "Pollution, hunger, ecological destruction. There's...not as much beauty in the world. Thankfully, there are people who want to protect it, but not as much as we need. I just want to protect wildlife." She looked at her belt. "And these powers will help me."

Gabby patted her shoulder in sympathy as they kept walking. Moments later, as they walked by a river, a large fish sprang up out of the river. "Sweet! Lunchtime!" Natsu called, rushing up to it! **"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"** he winded up, attempting to bean the fish monster in the jaw. Only to see to his shock, his fist sinking into the monster's body and then bouncing off before he landed on the ground. "What the? My Magic is gone!"

"We need to run! We don't have any magic here!" Carla warned as they ran shedding their disguises. Gabby turned around and pulled out her bow. Pulling the strings, she fired a bolt right at the fish's head going through one of its eyes. It roared in pain as the Mages rushed away.

Once sufficiently distanced, they stopped to catch their breaths. Natsu looked at his hands with concern. "What the heck happened?"

"There is no magic in the air," Carla explained. "Or rather, no Ethernano. Without it, no one can create magic. But that doesn't explain why she could." She pointed at Gabby.

"Our Guardian energy is completely internal," she explained. "We essentially have a large tank in our bodies. With proper management, we could go for hours. Drew believes our Rider armors can restore and maintain that connection."

"Unfortunately, with a finite source, once we run out, we can't use any more until we rest at least s while," Tori continued. "Natsu can tap into it, Wendy, unfortunately, can't."

Natsu clenched his fists and concentrated his non-magical energy. His fist glowed brown and red before igniting. "NICE!"

Wendy pouted. "I wish I could do magic…"

Tori patted her head. "I'm sure we'll find a way. Come on, we need to keep moving

Minutes later as they walked through a forest of mushrooms, they stepped one of them which quickly absorbed their steps like a spring.

"Whoa!" Natsu called out.

"What is happening now," Carla moaned.

"This doesn't look good, guys." Happy chimed in.

As the other looked down in curiosity looking for a way to avoid going flying, Gabby groaned and grabbed Tori. "Drew would be about 5 seconds from laughing at what was about to happen." The mushrooms sprung back launching the large group straight into the air. They landed on another taller mushroom which bounced them across the canopy until they all crashed into a pumpkin-shaped building.

"Ow…" Gabby moaned, Tori's body lying flat over her as she protected her from the fall.

"I don't want to fly anymore," Wendy cried.

"That's enough for me today," Carla grumbled in agreement standing up.

"Where are we now," Natsu asked, stretching out his body.

"Looks like some sort of weird warehouse," Happy commented.

Looking around, Carla sighed. "Though we are past the point of hiding, I guess some new outfits to blend in won't hurt."

The girls quickly looked for something to wear. As Wendy rummaged through the bins, she caught a glimpse of Gabby helping Tori out of her corset, leaving her in a lacey black bra, garters, and gloves. Carla spotted this and scowled. "You two should be ashamed of changing in front of a guy like this."

Gabby glanced at the cat. "We've changed in front of guys before, but I suppose for Wendy's sake." She turned to the Dragon Slayer. "You mind keeping your back turned?"

"Sure," he waved, flipping around.

Tori found a dark blue overcoat which she tossed over her undergarments and pulled out a pair of matching knee-high boots. Concentrating, she summoned a medium-sized ball of magic, which carefully placed her lolita outfit inside of, and shivered. "I feel like a stripper in this."

"You're fine Tori. Here, I found a top" Gabby told her holding up a dark blue tank top and black pants.

"At least I'll be okay against the wind," she grumbled, putting it on.

Gabby meanwhile grabbed a mesh top over her sports bra with an open brown vest and dark leggings. "I feel like a proper rocker girl," she grinned, adjusting her top.

Happy had found a metal mask and green cape. He looked to Carla and had hearts in his eyes, as the white cat had dressed herself in a turban, red vest and baggy pants. "I suppose this will have to do."

"Oh yeah, you look amazing, my fine feline," Happy gushed, making Carla turn away with a small blush.

As Natsu put on a red coat, he glanced out the window and gasped. In the distance, there was a familiar emblem hanging from a large vine.

"What did you see?" asked Wendy, sporting a red school girls outfit, black skirt, brown thigh highs, and her hair kept in twin ponytails by two horn-like ribbons.

"Fairy Tail! They're alive!" Natsu cheered rushing out the door.

"Wait, Natsu!" Gabby called out, sprinting after him, Tori and Wendy following behind.

"I knew they would be okay!" the Dragon Slayer explained, "They're in disguise too, but I know that emblem anywhere!"

"Wait for us!" Happy screamed. "This disguise is too heavy!"

"Honestly!" Carla grumbled.

They reached the building quickly and gazed at the guild building. Entering the building, the Dragon Slayers saw to their amazement every one in the guild was seemingly okay."

"They're okay!" Natsu sniffled.

"It doesn't seem like it was that bad," Wendy said assuredly.

"Does something seem off to anyone?" Happy wondered.

"What are you talking about, they're fine."

Before Natsu could step forward, Gabby held out her hand. "They're right."

"Huh?"

"Look at Juvia over at the request board," the archer pointed out. Gazing over, they saw the blue-haired Mage standing next to a much thinner Nab, only she was dressed strangely. Instead of her blue raincoat and Russian hat, she wore a tied off white shirt with a red tie that exposed her midriff, black skirt, and clear leggings. Her demeanor also was different, looking more haughty.

The group of six hid under a nearby table. "I don't know what you're talking about," Natsu told them.

"Do you honestly think Juvia would be so bold to look like that at the moment? The sarong is one thing but this hentai school girl outfit is another thing entirely," Tori asked him.

The Juvia lookalike turned to the rest of the guild. "Well, boys, I'm off. Sorry about that."

As she walked away, a male voice called out to her. "Juvia my beloved! Wait! If you're going out can I come with you?

"Is that the stripper?" Natsu asked. Indeed it was Grey only he had a bulky coat and he was acting like a love-struck teenager.

"How about you take some of those clothes off and get a summer wardrobe," Juvia said brushing him off.

"What the heck is going on?" Natsu screamed. They watched as a more confident Jet verbally beat down a sadder Elfman while Nab rushed off to a job. A more gentlemanly Macao and Wakaba lifted up a drink. "Cana, would you like to have a drink with us?"

Cana, who was in a flowing white dress and hat as if she was going to church, giggled. "Don't be silly you two, I've never had a drop of alcohol in my life.

"It's like we stepped into the Twilight Zone," Gabby theorized. "Everyone is acting almost like a mirror to the people we know.

"HEY! You under the table!" A familiar voice called out. They looked up to see...Lucy? The blonde was wearing a black leotard with one sleeve removed and a metal gauntlet on the other that was zipped partially down to reveal her cleavage. On her legs was a pair of black thigh-high boots. "Get out of there!"

Knowing they were caught, they all crawled out, the entire guilds focus on them. The blonde took one look at Natsu and grinned. "Good to see ya Natsu!" And to the group's shock, she grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. "How about a little Screwdriver Crush!" She grinned as she strengthened the hold.

Natsu though returned the grin. "You want to play rough?" To her shock he stood back up, jumped, and crashed through a nearby table, the impact forcing her to release him and shocking the guild into silence.

Gabby chuckled. "You do realize this isn't the Lucy we know right?"

"Which means I can fight back!" Natsu said getting back up.

"You...actually fought back...About damn time!" 'Lucy' replied.

Before they could continue fighting another voice cut through. "Lucy, stop picking on Natsu!" The voice revealed to be a blue-eyed, white-haired girl in a purplish-blue dress, white gloves, and skirt that emphasized her rear and legs.

Natsu turned at the sound of the voice. "L...Lisanna?"

The familiar face turned to Natsu. If one were paying attention, the girl's eyes gained one of surprised recognizance. Before she could react, the dragon slayer and Happy leaped up and tried to hug her, tears in her eyes. Only for 'Lucy' to knock him away. "Don't touch her, you creep!

Carla humphed. "Even though they appear to be our guild, not everything is the same. Take a look at her." Wendy and Tori looked where she was pointing only to see a blue-haired girl that looked like Wendy. Only she was taller and much more filled out. "Whatever this world is, it changed people and possibly not for the better."

"So this is more multiverse than a Mirror world," Tori mumbled.

As the guild started to know the newcomers, Lisanna had slipped behind a door and fell to the floor, covering her mouth, tears flowing. _They're here! Why? I thought I wouldn't see them again. But I can't leave this Mira and Elfman._

"Lisanna, was it?" Gabby's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Y-yes. And you are?" the blue-eyed Mage wondered.

"Gabriella, call me Gabby. You know where we came from, we had two people that look like your brother and sister, who lost their own sister in an incident from two years ago."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that," Lisanna spoke.

"It's funny that in this world, there are three Strauss siblings and in ours, there's two."

"Yeah, funny that," Lisanna nervously laughed.

"I mean there's these flying cats people are scared of," Gabby wondered.

"Why wouldn't people be scared of them?" Lisanna asked. "They're supposed to be some sort of gods like creatures. But looking at...them, they don't appear to be Exceeds."

"Exceeds being the species name?" Gabby deduced, to which Lisanna nodded. "They couldn't be that strong, I barely can feel Happy and Carla's energy when they fly."

"You can...sense their energy?" Lisanna asked.

"It's a trick I picked up from some of the people I train with. We can all sense internal energy to a degree. Some are better than others," Gabby explained. "Anyway, thanks for clearing a couple of things up." As she turned to leave, she looked over her shoulder. "By the way, I know your secret."

Before Lisanna could respond, there was a loud commotion. Nab who had sprinted out and came back was panicking. "THEY'RE HERE! THE FAIRY HUNTER IS HERE! AND SHE BROUGHT THOSE THINGS AGAIN!"

The whole guild began to scramble in preparation. Tori turned to 'Lucy,' "What's going on?"

"The fairy hunter Knightwalker is on her way here! Because the King declared all guilds illegal, we're technically a Dark Guild!" the blonde explained. She turned to Levy, who was wearing a leather top and skirt. "How much time do we need to move the guild?"

"Ten minutes, maybe 8," Levy said, already working on the spell.

"Let me help. Gabby, Natsu, stall them!" Tori asked.

The Dragon Slayer grinned, summoning Urvan. "One distraction coming up!"

The two Earth Riders rushed out to see what they were dealing with. Multiple armored human soldiers marched forwards, mixed with a multitude of shadowy figures. In the sky was a red-haired woman that looked like Erza, leading a small contingent of flying troops.

"Well, we found Erza!" Gabby grumbled. "And she's not the wimp you think she is."

"Sorry! I thought she would be, and now she looks like she's gone off the deep end!" he said cocking back Urvan's shotgun.

"Hold the ground I'll keep her occupied," Gabby told him, pulling back her bow. "Have a taste of rebellion! **PIERCING LIGHT!"** The arrow expanded before it flew off her bow. Knightwalker, seeing the arrow approach her to her surprise, dodged the arrow, and glared at the origin of the arrow.

"How is she using Magic?" Before Knightwalker could wonder further, she heard screams below. Natsu, in an effort to clear them away, had slammed the ground with Urvan and kicked up several rocks before launching them at the charging troops below. "They're both using Magic? How?!" she snarled.

Natsu knocked aside several human soldiers before staring at the Troopers marching forward. He grinned and kicked the ground. Two pillars sprang up and without a second thought crashed together, squashing them to pieces. He laughed as he punched another soldier in the head.

Gabby continued to fire into the air, making sure Knightwalker never got a good angle of attack until Wendy rushed out. "We're ready to go!"

The archer nodded and called out to Natsu. "Time's up! Let's go!"

The Dragon Slayer nodded and called on his energy again. He punched the ground, which created a large fissure that forced the ground troops to stumble and fall on their butts. Natsu grinned and raced back to the guild hall. Moments later, the structure began to glow. Knightwalker spied the glowing of the building and pointed her weapon at it. "STOP THEM!"

The ground troops rallied by her cry charged forward, looking to capture the guild. Just as they reached the door, the guild vanished as if they weren't there."

"Son of a bitch!" Knightwalker cursed as she landed. "They got away again!"

"So much for the great Fairy Hunter," a snide male voice taunted. Knightwalker scowled and spun around to see an effeminate blonde-haired man in pink armor. "Sugarboy, what are you doing here?"

"I came to help you on your quest, but it seems like even the great Fairy Hunter can't end them."

"It is not my fault. Somehow, some of their Mages could use Magic," Knightwalker snapped. "And I don't mean with weapons, honest to God's Magic!"

"Surely, you jest?"

"No, somehow the Dragon Slayer was able to fight! And so was that girl who kept firing at my troops. They destroyed those troops McQueen gave us!"

"Hm...indeed. Listen, we need extra security for the Lacrima we're about to use. Let my troops find them."

Knightwalker growled and flew off. Sugarboy stared at where the guild was before ordering his troops away.

Miles away, the Fairy Tail guild landed in a clearing. Natsu was in awe of what they did. "That was awesome! You were able to move the whole guild!"

"It was nothing. But what is going on? You look like our Natsu and Wendy, but they aren't the same," Lucy noted, frowning at them.

"We're from a different world, our friends got sucked up by this Anima Magic," Gabby explained, "We're trying to find them."

"They would probably be in the Royal City," Mirajane told them. "But that's a death sentence especially if you're a Fairy Tail member."

"Why?" Tori asked. "They appear to treat you like some sort of criminal?"

"We are," Mira said softly. "The king banned all Magic guilds and had the knights destroy them all. We had many guilds before, but one by one they were crushed. We're the only ones left, so we now have to flee every time they come for us. Knightwalker has been at the front of every fight since.

Gabby sighed and started towards the door. "Come on." To the guild's shock, their visitors followed without question.

"Wait, you're not actually gonna fight them?" Lucy asked them incredulously.

"We need to save our friends! And if they're in the Royal City, then we're gonna save them!" Natsu boasted.

"Why? They are too powerful!" Lucy protested. "We'll just be captured and killed."

"Then you're already dead," Gabby replied to their shock. "Your running around is only delaying the inevitable. Freedom is the right of every person." She began to walk out and stop. "You know where I'm from, there was a country that was originally the colony of a powerful kingdom that got more and more power-hungry. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore and rose up."

"What happened? Did they get destroyed?" Lucy asked in frustration

"Nope!" Gabby said cheerfully to the guild's stunned silence. "They won, and today that country is considered one of the most powerful in the world. And in their founding document, they put this line, "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

"Meaning?" Lucy asked.

"It's a person's god-given right to rebel against perceived tyranny and do what's right for their future," Gabby told her while walking out.

Tori, who was waiting outside, smiled and walked with her. "You took that from National Treasure."

"No, that was the direct line, Cage used a more modern interpretation according to Drew," she replied.

"What country were you guys talking about?" A surprise voice called out. They turned to see Lisanna walking up to them. Her siblings were watching in shock as she walked up to the group.

"Lisanna, what are you doing here?" Gabby asked.

"I...don't know...something in me told me to follow you. Your right, we can't just stand around and wait for our demise," she said turning to her siblings. "I'm sorry, this is something I need to do."

"Please! Don't go!" Mira cried as Elfman pleaded.

"It's not safe! Come back, Sister!"

"Elfman… Mira…" She shook her head. "It's not about safety, it's about our future. I'll be back, I promise!" The white-haired girl turned and walked towards the Dragon Slayers.

Lucy who was watching this groaned. "Well, you guys need a guide so I'm coming with you. We might need to get Lis here another weapon. There's a place nearby we can get some weapons from a dealer who owes me."

The group of six left, the guild watching in concerned silence as Mira dropped to the ground. "I...feel like I lost my sister again! And she's not coming back!" She wailed as Elfman hugged her.

A few hours later, they stopped along a river to rest. Lucy looked over. "It's another hour to the town and then another couple of days to the city on foot. I have a contact that can help you get there."

As they sat down, Lisanna leaned against a tree. Moving her right arm, she brushed against something in her pocket. Looking down, she slowly pulled it out to where she could barely see it was a ring.

_What am I doing? Why did those words inspire me? This is crazy! Why do I have this ring?!_

"Lisanna?" Tori asked, sitting next to her. It had gotten warmer so she popped some of her jacket buttons off revealing the top of her chest and shoulders.

"Yes?" Lisanna quickly answered, shoving the ring back in her pocket. "Tori, was it?"

"Yeah. So what made you come with us? I could see everybody, even Lucy, was a bit too scared."

"I...don't know. I...had this weird dream last night. I don't know why I remember it, it felt like...something was gonna happen today," the Edolas girl told her, looking down.

"Sometimes our dreams tell us things," Tori explained looking up at the sky.

"You never did answer my question. Where did that quote she said come from?" Lisanna asked.

"We know it because it's in our country's founding document," Tori revealed. "Our Declaration of Independence. We severed ties with our previous king and have our own nation."

"I...see…" She mumbled. What could she say to that? Before she could ponder this further, Lucy announced they were ready to leave and they fell in line afterward.

An hour later, Lucy stopped on a cliffside. "Here we are, the black market for magic weapons, the city of Louen."

Looking over the cliffs, they stared at the stone pillars that made up the town. Despite the size, there wasn't as much activity as they expected.

"Why aren't any people out?" Happy curiously asked, his large eyes scanning from one side to the next.

"If this is a black market, it's better to not draw attention to them," Gabby replied. "Considering the crackdown, I'm not surprised."

"Come on, there's a guy who owes me a favor," Lucy told them, leading them down the hill.

As they entered the town, Gabby and Tori noticed that even for a black market the town was unusually quiet. Many of the buildings were boarded

"Guys," Gabby whispered, pulling out Sagittarius. "We might be in some trouble soon."

"We're already in trouble," Lucy snapped back. "We're wanted fugitives and we're in the open. I have no idea why I'm even here!"

"Then go home!" Natsu growled, surprising everyone. "You're not the Lucy I know. She would stare down dragons if she had to."

Lucy, in front of her, then scoffed. "You're definitely not my Natsu, anything outside of cars he's a coward."

Before they could come to blows, Tori stepped between them. "This is not helping! Lucy...sorry what's your last name?"

"...Ashley," the blonde mumbled.

"Ashley, where is this shop?"

The Edolas native pointed to a tunnel that led underneath the city, showing a much larger market area hidden from view. Approaching the shop of choice, the shopkeeper clearly recognized Ashley as he stuttered out his welcome. Using her more crass nature, she was able to get Wendy a wind launcher and Lisanna a staff for free. As they left the shop, Natsu complained that he was hungry. Realizing none of the travelers had eaten since they landed so they headed towards a diner, the large group definitely attracting attention.

As Natsu stuffed his face, Wendy looked at Ashley. "Where do we go from here?"

Lucy finished what was in her mouth. "It's another three days to the capital. We need to leave before the army gets here.

Natsu paused his eating and looked outside. "I think we're too late, I can feel several large footsteps coming. And I don't think it's entirely human."

The group rushed out of the diner and saw multiple knights and several shadowy troopers. One of them was a large metal robotic creature with a large jetpack on his back.

" **Citizens of Louen. I am Starlight Soyuz,"** the creature spoke with a deep Russian accent Gabby figured. **"By order of King Faust, we are searching for fugitives from the law! Comply and you will only face hard labor."**

The group rushed out to see the knights pointing their weapons. "This is the Edolas Army. Surrender or we will be ordered to use force."

Gabby took Wendy's canon and pointed at them. "How about option 3!" She said twisting the cylinder and then throwing it at the guards. The cylinder smashed open unleashing a large tornado that blew the human army away. "Move!" Everyone ran away with the shadow troopers giving chase. With their head start, they were able to get away and hide in a building.

As the troopers and the knights searched nearby, Ashley groaned. "We lost them, but now we're stuck here!"

"Surely there must be a way out of here?" Carla wondered.

"Not that I know of," Ashley replied. "Best we can do is wait until the heat dies down."

"Or, barring that, me and Natsu can tunnel our way out of here," Gabby muttered.

As they planned their escape, they heard one of the troopers shout, "Found you Fairy Tail!"

"What? Let go of me!" A familiar female voice growled.

"That's my voice!" Ashley shouted.

"Luce?" Natsu asked as they stormed out of the door. Indeed there was another Ashley out in the street being harassed by the shadowy soldiers. Before they could react, she broke free from their grip and held up her hand.

"Wait!" Wendy cried out. "You can't use your Magic here!"

" **OPEN GATE OF THE SCORPION! SCORPIO!**

To their shock, the half scorpion appeared out of her celestial gate. "Rockin!" The spirit laughed as a twister of dust spewed from the tip of his tail and blew the troopers away.

"Later little lady, got a hot date with Aquarius!" The scorpion grinned as he faded away.

Lucy turned her head and gasped. "Guys? You're alive!" The Celestial Spirit Mage rushed over and hugged Natsu. "Oh my god, I thought that anima got you!"

"Luce," the Dragon Slayer whispered, squeezing her tighter. "How did you avoid the Anima?"

"And why are you using your Celestial Magic?" Gabby wondered.

The blonde grinned, "Oh! So for the first part, Hologorium saved me and teleported me away from the city. As for the Magic, I met Mystogan who gave me these," she held up a bunch of pills. "These allowed me to use Magic."

"Why not use your Guardian energy? I mean your reserves should last you until we get home," Tori asked.

"Wait, I've been using different energy?" the Metal Guardian asked shocked.

"Yeah, that's how me Tori and Drew are able to bend the elements and it's an extension of the Aura Ash and his team use."

Lucy pouted. "Here I thought I could save you guys for once." She looked beyond his shoulder and saw Ashley. "WHAT? How is there another of me?"

"That's what I want to know," Ashley wondered. "This is your girlfriend you've been bragging about? I've seen better."

"What was that?" Lucy snapped. "For your information, I'm one of his girlfriends!"

Gabby and Tori groaned as the two blondes bickered. Behind them, Lisanna watched the argument, a pain in her heart. _Natsu...has multiple girlfriends? I mean...I did...die…but does he remember our promise?_

Before the girls could start arguing, Soyuz landed down the road and had a large squadron following him and spreading out.

"Lucy, you have your weapon right?" Gabby asked, reaching into her skirt pocket.

The Celestial Mage grinned and held up her arm. To everyone's shock, a small tip of metal popped out of her hand. "I had two groups harass me over the darn thing, so I decided to hide it in my skin. Also, I think you'll like what me and Loke came up with!"

Gabby nodded and swung her belt over her waist, Natsu and Tori doing the same.

"What are you doing?" Ashley asked.

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!~ SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!~**

"Our jobs," Natsu declared holding up his fire ring and clenching his fists. "HENSHIN!"

**FLAME…PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI~!**

"HENSHIN!" Tori and Gabby echoed.

**ORION**

**KAMEN RIDE: S-S-SIRIUS**

As her fellow Riders changed, Lucy pulled out Aries' key and thrust it to her right. As she raised her hand, she started to draw out her speech. "Hen~shin!" As it reached above her head, she twirled it around so the key's point faced down. She slotted it into the top of her belt before twisting it three times, causing the belt's faceplate to flip over, revealing the Aries symbol.

 **WINDING. AND.** _**UP.** _

Lucy spread her arms and let the armor flow over her. When the glow died down, she was in her Aries form but the armor was much different. For starters her pink armor had darkened, with a layer of black down her chest, It was topped off with a carnation pink skirt over matching knee-high boots. Her arms were adorned with light pink gloves on which were two smaller shields, which she snapped forward to reveal that her weapon, Mutstraboshi, had connected to them to form a pair of yoyos. Her helmet's eyes flashed bright green.

" **Kamen Rider Pleiades: Aries Syzygy!"**

Draco whistled, "Damn Pleia, you look awesome!"

The blonde blushed behind her mask. "Thanks, Friedrich came to me after he tweaked out belts. Loke and I determined that if our connection was really strong we could use it. Right now I can use him, Aries, Taurus, and Aquarius."

" _Sorry, let's do our best,"_ Aries chimed in.

"Less flirting, more fighting," barked Orion, firing off two different arrows.

As the battle commenced, Soyuz frowned. **"I thought there would be no Riders. No matter! Men capture them alive! Especially the Dragon Slayers!"**

Draco heard this, growling his retort, "You want us? You're gonna have to kill us!" He pumped Urvan's handle, then swiftly kicking him to the ground. Several rocks sprang up upon impact as he followed with a swing of his axe, smacking them with a mighty blow and sending them hurtling towards the group, before they shattered, hurling shards of rock into the charging group. The shards, jagged and formed into spikes, tore into the front line, shredding troopers like tissue paper, just in time for the ones behind them to catch the next volley of shotgunned rocks.

Pleiades shrugged off her shields, causing them to slam together around the end of her whip before she swung. She waded into the crowd, her new yoyo slicing arcs through them all, using her elbows and feet to catch the line and redirect it in whatever directions she needed. She spied one group approaching and threw the shield past them, only to then hook it back and crush their skulls

"This is awesome!" The metal guardian cheered. "Aries, if this is your powered-up form, I can't imagine how the others are!"

" _Sorry I can't be more useful!"_

"It's alright. When we get out of here, we'll practice!" Pleia assured her.

Off to the side, Ashley watched the Riders strike back against the menace that had given them so much trouble. "This...is insane! How are they doing this?" Her momentary distraction allowed a chain-wielding trooper to throw a chain whip at her only for Sirius to slide in front of her, catch the whip and pull it forward. Their screams were silenced by a shot to its skull by Orion.

"Ashley what are you doing? Get to cover! We got this!" The Water Rider demanded.

"You guys are nuts!" she screamed back, "How is this all possible!? who are you?"

Orion stabbed one of the troopers that had crept too close from behind her. "We'll tell you later." They heard a rocket going off and saw Soyuz taking off and charging at Draco. The transformed Dragon Slayer raised Urvan to block it, only for the Dopant to increase his thrust and carry him into the sky.

" **Hope you enjoy a flight in our friendly skies!"** Soyuz taunted, as Draco's motion sickness reared its ugly head. The Dopant laughed as he dragged him higher and higher into the sky, almost past the clouds. **"Now fall!"** He released the Rider's collar, letting him drop.

However, he miscalculated. The moment he was let go, Draco's nausea vanished. "Big mistake!" he roared, the green ring on his left hand flashing, as he flipped the hand on his belt and slapped it with the dragon-shaped ring on his right.

**DRAGONFORCE. RISE…**

Then, flipping it once more, he pressed his left hand to it.

**HURRICANE! BYUU!**

A large, glowing emerald circle flared open beneath him, wind swirling around it. As the Mage fell into it, he slowed as magical essence flashed and sparked while he sank through it. The black part of his coat flaked away to reveal bright green, the tails slimming down into something more akin to a fancy suit. When the circle reached his legs, however, they vanished altogether, bursting into two torrents of air.

**BYUU!**

They merged together, forming a serpentine dragon with glowing green eyes. It roared, spreading a pair of wings, which lit up with the same light before shattering, the dragon dispersing. The shards of those wings shot towards Draco, merging with the magic circle and shaping themselves into a pair of thin, clawed legs.

**BYUU BYUU BYUU-BYUU!**

The gem that made up his helmet splintered, forming a thinner, spiky, grinning maw.

Laughing with exhilaration, Draco flipped himself over, and a pair of wings flared out from his new legs, bringing him to a stop. "You want to fight like a dragon? Let's go!"

" **POTSDAM ROCKET!"** He thrust his hands forward, resulting in two rockets to ignite from his wrists and launch at the flying Rider. Using his newfound maneuverability, Draco flew underneath the rockets. The two flew around and came back for another shot at the Dragon Slayer, which he used Urvan's blasts to destroy, both creating a big explosion.

"My turn!" He coiled up his legs and poured energy into them. "How about this!? **FIRE DRAGON'S TORNADO KICK!"** His legs shot out in a blur, striking the beast's midsection with a flurry of motion. As he did so, short but intense bursts of wind blasted out, cutting into its metal hide.

" **GAH! Fucking cur! The king will enjoy taking you apart!"** snapped the Dopant as he flew at the Rider again. From the impact, a shockwave burst out.

On the ground, Lisanna spectated the fight from inside the building they landed in. Watching Natsu above, she smiled gently. _He really has grown, hasn't he? Two years feels like a lifetime ago. I'm glad he...moved on…"_ She dropped her hands to her pocket. Feeling the weight in her pocket, she pulled it out fully, revealing a black back with a gold outline. Closing her hand around it she remembered how she got it.

_Two nights prior_

_Lisanna blinked her eyes open. She remembered falling asleep, yet she didn't feel like she was in the guild anymore; the sky was clear, clean. Sitting up, she realized she was in a lush jungle, with many exotic flowers around her. Noticing she was dressed in a light t-shirt and shorts she crossed her arms in an effort to form some form of modesty as she walked through the underbrush, her body unconsciously swaying._

_After a while of wonder and cutting through the bushes, she came upon a crystal clear pond._

" _This is amazing…" she said aloud. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. From the other side of the jungle, she spied four animals, a bird, a rabbit, a cat, and a fish in a flying bubble._

" _Oh, hello there!" Lisanna giggled as the animals surrounded her demanding her attention. She petted them as best as she could. A small cooing was heard. She and the animals looked up and saw a white dove flying down and landed on her head. The other animals backed away in respect as she gently took the bird into her hands and nuzzled it. "Why hello, you're very pretty, where did you come from?"_

_The bird cooed before it flew from her hand to a woman that had suddenly appeared, landing on her shoulder._

" _Columbia knows how to pick them," the woman said her eyes closed. "I find it strange that it picked a dead woman, Lisanna Strauss."_

_(Play Baten Kaitos OST: To the Garden of the Moon Butterflies in the Moonless Night)_

_Lisanna stumbled back. "W...who are you? How do you know my name? And what do you mean, a dead woman?"_

" _My name...is Tsukihime, the princess of a fallen kingdom. As for knowing your name, you have been chosen to become one of my knights. As for being a dead woman, I know the truth."_

" _What? I'm just a normal girl from Edolas…" Lisanna tried to argue only for Tsuki's hand to raise and stop her in her tracks._

" _No…you're from Earthland…and being a Rider proves it."_

" _How?"_

" _Because the team you are on has four of your old guild members. Do you remember? Grey? Erza? Your sister, Mira? Natsu?" Tsuki pressed._

_At the mention of the last two names, the kind-hearted girl sat down and tears began to form. "YES! They were my family! I thought I died when the anima took me! But their Lisanna died so I just took her place, I didn't want to make them cry! How can I go back?!"_

_Tsuki let the girl cry for a few moments, watching as the kitten walked up to the crying girl and nuzzled its head against her thigh. Lisanna looked down and gently scooped up the cat to hug. "I understand...more than you know," Tsuki began. "But think of this...as a way to reconnect, to return to your home." She looked around and pointed at a spot off to the side. "Look on the other side of this lake._

_Lisanna looked up and gasped in horror. Whereas healthy trees greeted her before, halfway across the pond, the trees suddenly died off, as if burned by a fire, embers still faintly glowing and smoking._

" _What...what happened?" she asked._

" _Your 'death.' The trees represent your life force. The fact you're living a dead person's life means you've essentially burned half of your life." The white-haired girl looked away, appearing ready to cry again. "But don't be disheartened. Look closer."_

_The Take Over Mage looked and saw in the burned-out remains of the jungle small signs of life were beginning to sprout. "You, making the choice you're about to make, is giving life back."_

_Lisanna watched the forest sway in the nonexistent breeze. "Becoming this...Knight, will I see Natsu and Mira again?"_

" _I guarantee it."_

" _...Okay...what do I need to do?"_

_Tsuki smiled and held up her hand. The white dove that was on her shoulder landed in her palm, glowing as it did so. When it died down, it revealed a white belt face, set with two gate-like doors in the center with forest green accents. Folded over the belt face were two white wings designed to open up._

" _This belt, the Columbia Driver, will help you, along with your Animal souls."_

_Lisanna looked down at the animals surrounding her. "So these are my souls…they're cute…"_

" _One last thing before I leave; I hope you don't mind sharing," Tsuki added, winking as she began to fade._

_She blinked. "What about my belt?"_

_"In time, you will know." Tsuki's voice faded out before the light blinded her. When her vision cleared she was sitting in her bed. Looking down at her sheets she saw the belt she was given in the dream._

_"Columbia, huh?" She wondered, hearing the bird coo in delight._

End flashback

Lisanna watched the fight unfold, clenching the rings. Up above, the fighting had intensified as Draco slashed through the Dopant with a large gust of wind. The whirlwind kicked up by the slash caused more damage to the flying Dopant.

" **GAH! Why the king needs Dragon Slayers, I will never know. If they intend to capture them, he's gonna get them in pieces."**

"You wish," Draco growled. **"Fire Dragon's Storm Bringer!"** He thrust the head of the axe forward, with the barrel of the gun glowing green. Pulling the trigger, a large cone of wind energy blasted forth, shrapnel mixing with the tempest. The Dopant roared in pain as the speeding rock struck them in the shoulders, chest, and legs. The impact caused the rocket on Soyuz's back to sputter for a second before reigniting.

 _ **Damn, this body won't hold up,**_ thought the Dopant, glaring down at the ground. Spotting Ashley and Wendy out in the open helping the Riders fend off his men, he grinned.

Draco spotted it and growled. "What's so funny?"

" **I wonder if you can stop multiple attacks?** **KATUYASHA BARRAGE!" **Out of his back, thirty rockets fired going in multiple directions. While some headed towards Draco, the others headed towards the ground at the two non-Riders.

"WENDY!" Draco screamed as he sliced through the rockets.

The tiny Dragon Slayer looked up and froze as the rockets got closer, her eyes locked on her impending doom. Ashley, seeing the rockets moved to be with Lisanna but at Draco's call saw Wendy frozen. Before she could react, Lisanna bolted out.

 _Got to make it!_ She thought frantically. Unknown to her, deep down, something was growing. Her heart, pounding with adrenaline, pulsed. _Can't let down my guild again._ A pulse of energy caused her to slide in front of the frozen slayer and crossed her arms. _Natsu! I'll SURVIVE!_ She screamed in her head unleashing a humongous burst of energy that disrupted the missiles.

" **WHAT!?"** Soyuz screamed.

"Lisanna?" Ashley asked in confusion, resolving to get answers.

"Lisanna…" Orion began.

"Is a Rider?" Sirius finished.

Miles away, Drew snapped his head up. _You feel that?_

 _Yeah, what the hell is that?_ Friedrich wondered; he wasn't the sort to sense energy signatures, but he could definitely feel it.

Drew looked to the west in the direction he felt the energy come from. _That's the energy of a new Rider. Those who are Riders can feel them awaken and apparently if the amount is high enough, others can too. If there's a new Rider, then those who are free aren't far away. Which means we can pinpoint them._

_That's a Rider awakening? What kind of power are you holding back? And are you sure that's not a Guardian?_

_Trust me not even the King would miss that. When this fight is over, we're gonna project to them. Unless you got a way for us to watch it?_

Back on the battlefield, Draco landed next to Wendy. "Lis...Lisanna?"

The white-haired girl turned her head as the glow died down, revealing a white belt buckle with forest green accents and wings over it. "It's been...so long, Natsu."

"You're…alive…? How…?"

She quickly requested, "Perhaps after we kick this beast's butt," placing the belt over her waist and slipping on a black ring.

**DRIVER! ON!**

(Play Kamen Rider Vulcan Theme)

"Now...let me show you the power the beasts of the wild can bring!" She exclaimed, slipping on a green ring onto her right hand and raising it above her head. She slowly began to spin her arm down and to the left, then brought up her left hand going the complete opposite way. All the while, she spoke a very familiar phrase. "Hennnnnnn~SHIN!" She crouched down onto on her right leg, bending down and holding her arms as if they were ready to strike like a puma. She snapped up, slammed the ring into the side of the belt and twisted it, causing the gate on her belt to pop open the wings spreading out as it.

**GATE! OPEN!**

**D-O-V-E! DOVE!**

A white series of concentric magic circles rose up out of the gate in front of her, pushing the soldiers that were surrounding her back. Then it came back and fell over the girl. When the circle dissipated, there stood the new Rider, but her armor was unlike anything seen before.

Her chest was covered in a black plates, each section lined with thick, fluffy white feathers, particularly around her neck and back, as well as around her forearms and shins. Her knees bore heavy metal angular plates, and a band crossed her forehead, a simple but elegant piece of metal standing out like a beak. Her helmet's large, round eyes shone bright blue.

She twirled her hand over her head before placing it over her heart. "Protecting the world's refuge." She spun around before she pulled out her weapons crossing her arms as she did so. They were two long scythe-like blades with a barrel that resembled revolvers. "The Peaceful Dove of the Jungle, Kamen Rider Columbia!" She finished holding her right blade out across from her chest pointing to the left, while raising her left hand above her head paralleling the right.

Draco could only watch as Lisanna turned into the newest Rider in front of him. "Lisanna? You look...awesome."

The white Rider giggled. "The more things change, the more they say the same." She looked at the weapons in her hand. "How do you work these?" In the course of her inspection, her finger found the trigger and lightly squeezed it. A large bang was heard as the shot caught one of the troopers in its head, causing it to explode. Her eyes bulged in horrified astonishment behind her helmet at the impact of the blast. "Um….sorry?

Orion couldn't help it, and busted out laughing. "That's your Rider, Natsu! Oh my god when Drew hears this!"

Unknown to the group, Friedrich had a way for both he and Drew to watch as they shimmered in an alley. Friedrich grinned as he saw Columbia's gear. _About time I saw real armor!_

 _What do you have against our gear?_ Drew asked, eyes twitching.

_Other than the girls look like they're wearing dresses?_

… _.Point. Look if we get out of this I'll let you fix them when we do our extended training._

 _Don't you mean when?_ Friedrich asked with a raised eyebrow.

_Whatever, let's just watch._

The Dopant stared at the new Rider in disbelief. **"First they're telling me there was no Rider to interfere. Now we have FIVE? King Faust will answer me!"** he growled.

"That's if we let you!" Draco boasted. He looked at Columbia. "Ready to take to the skies?"

"Just lead the way, Natsu." She said, pulling out a green ring from her waist that resembled a bird. Slipping it on, she snapped her arm to the side then inserting it into a slot behind the left wind of her belt.

**GO! HARPY! H-H-H-HARPY!**

A green magic circle appeared and enveloped her in a powerful spell. The glow left a pair of emerald white wings behind her shoulders while her legs had turned into talons. This was her Animal Soul: Harpy form, now encased in armor.

Pulling out her new weapons, she fired off a couple of rounds into the crown. "This needs getting used to." Columbia grabbed the handles of her weapon, and slashed at the nearest group, their roars of pain echoed through the streets as they found their mark. Spinning around and resetting herself, she noticed a black thread coming out of the handle. She pulled it out, realizing that both blades were on some sort of reeling mechanism as if they were attached to chains. At the first spark of an idea, she reared back and snapped it forward. The blade launched forward, the chains whipping over the troopers' head. She pulled it back, which caused the blade to twist and come back, catching four of her opponents heads and slicing them off.

"Alright, so these are chain scythes. This is gonna be fun." She said catching the blades. She watched others get closer and smirked behind her helmet as she began to spin the blades faster.

Behind her, Draco spun around like a wild man, his axe in front of him, and the shotgun blasting him forward. The maelstrom of blades and fire incinerated those in front of him as they approached Soyuz. The Dopant's rocket ignited as the tornado surrounded him, his body feeling the burns as he flew out of the eye. **"Grrr...I need to regroup! Get back to the King!"**

Draco glared at their opponent. Orion saw them and pointed. "Go! We got this!"

The Earth Guardian nodded and was about to take off when Columbia sliced through the last pair in front of her. "I'm coming with you!" She demanded.

Draco nodded and he quickly summoned more wing underneath his legs and took off. Columbia meanwhile unfolded her wings and took off right after him.

Soyuz looked behind him and through the smoke he could see the chasing Riders. **"You Worms!** **SOVIET CLASH! "** Fifteen rockets blasted forwards from multiple magic circles. Draco flew forward and cut the first two in half before shooting two more. Columbia landed on one and forced it to collide into another. Leaping off it, she landed on the back of another missile which caused it to spin out of control. Draco saw this and swung the head of his axe at the rocket, sending into another, before they teamed up to shoot down the rest of the missiles. Before Soyuz could react, Columbia wrapped her chains around Draco and with a heave, sent him flying at the Dopant. The damaged Dopant could only scream as he was tackled in mid-air. Despite the flips and changing direction, Draco held on as he ignited his fists and pounded the Dopant's face. Columbia flying behind them pointed her revolvers at the beasts back and fired off a salvo, finally destroying the rocket holding the Dopant aloft.

" **NO!"** Soyuz cried as Draco bear-hugged him. Columbia took the hint and quickly darted in slashing the Dopant's back several times.

"You want to finish him?" Draco asked.

"Yes!" She answered enthusiastically, pulling out a bronze ring and slipped onto her right before slotting it into her belt.

**HARPY, KICK STRIKE! GO!**

As the ring's effects took hold, her boots turned into razor-sharp talons that glowed with powerful Magic. Draco raised the disabled Dopant up, before flipping over twice and flinging him back to earth. Columbia launched towards their opponent and hooked onto its shoulders. Instead of pushing away, she increased her speed and rode him down to the ground like a meteor. The Dopant cried out in pain as they impacted the ground, creating a ten-foot crater. Columbia leaped out and landed outside it, her wings over her arms. "Make peace with your maker," she muttered as a large explosion rocked the area.

Draco landed next to her and powered down. "Lisanna...you were awesome," he said in awe.

Columbia closed her belt which turned her armor off. "Yeah, it was…" She slowly walked over and patted his cheek. "I'm...happy to see you again. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Natsu whispered, nuzzling her hand. He looked and saw Lucy approach with a beaming smile. "Lis...this is Lucy, I think you would get along great."

"It's nice to meet you," Lucy said with fondness.

Lisanna tried to speak, but her body began to wobble. The Dragon Slayer instinctively caught her. "W-what…?" She mumbled

"Your body overloaded, we've all gone through it," Gabby replied. "Get some sleep, we can catch up when you wake up."

The Take Over Mage nodded as Natsu picked her up bridal style and she fell asleep against his shoulder.

Gabby turned to Ashley. "Is there a hotel we can stay at for the night?"

"Yeah, come on," the Edolas native muttered, showing them to a nearby hotel.

Away from the discussion, Drew sighed. _One threat down, many more to go._

 _So when are you gonna reveal us?_ Friedrich asked

_Even if I could break us out, the only ones who could fight are the Riders. If we can project ourselves to them and explain their mission, maybe they can bust us out._

_Damn it,_ Friedrich grumbled.

 _As it is, I think there's another Rider closer, if you're right that's gotta be Gajeel._ Drew pointed out. He groaned. _And now I gotta explain our overall mission to Lis, Lucy's clone and Wendy and Carla._ Drew sat down. _This...is the first time Gabby and Tori really acted without me and I'm worried. I hate this!_

 _What's got you so worked up?_ Friedrich asked.

_This whole thing is stressing me out. Like the last...month it's been one thing after another and now I'm captive. God damn it, I'm the leader of this group and I keep getting sidelined!_

_I feel ya,_ he sighed, _I've been trying to grow stronger and stronger to help you guys, and here I am, trapped in a giant crystal._

 _At least you've been considered a lone wolf for a long time...Other than maybe one or two people, these guys are all I got. And for a long time, it was just me, Tori and Gabby. You have no idea how glad I am to have Ash, Brock, Max, Natsu, and especially you as guy friends. Maybe throw my buddy Steve in there._ Drew closed his eyes. _It's hard for people like me to make friends normally._

Friedrich nodded. _Yeah…I might not seem it, but I've always been nervous about approaching people and trying to make friends with them. I pretty much always kept to myself in school. It's not like I hated solitude; just gave me more time to read books. But the few friends I did make made everything better._

_How are autistics treated in your time? I assume not well? Or perhaps diagnosing better?_

_...Honestly I have no idea. Never kept up with the situation._

Drew sighed. _Greaaat. We're still treated like lepers in my time, which is why I don't like revealing it. Tori and Gabby know, I suspect May and Dawn know, maybe Brock. I don't show the symptoms unless I get really stressed. Just, not everyone is bright enough or focused enough to realize it._ He stood up. _Alright, give it a couple of hours, then we can project over there._

 _Right. And Drew?_ The Fire Guardian looked at him. _Thanks for calling me your friend._

Three hours later

Using another favor, Ashley was able to secure two rooms to hopefully rest before making their way to the capital. Lisanna was sleeping in one of the beds in the room while Wendy and Carla sat on the other bed. Carla humphed. "What in the world happened to her," she pointed to the sleeping girl. "And what exactly are these armors? We've been given the basics, but there is plenty more you aren't telling us!"

"Carla don't be mean," Wendy told her furry friend.

"They've been hiding secrets from both of us, why should we trust you?"

"I could ask the same, furball," Gabby growled. "There's something _you're_ not telling us and if we end up in trouble because of it we're gonna have words!" Tori took Gabby's hand in her own and squeezed it, calming her down. "What...do you want to know?"

"Everything," Ashley said, walking out in her towel. 'The armors, the magic all of that."

Gabby sighed and sat down on a chair looking out over the setting sun. "You know we're from another world correct? Well, myself and Tori aren't from Earthland."

"What?" Carla asked. "Your...not actually lying about this?"

"Why would we? We know our world," Tori explained. "Our world has technology centuries ahead of this. Ash and his team are from another world where they train different monsters to fight.

"So...why are you on Earthland?" Wendy asked.

"Perhaps, I can answer that?" A familiar voice answered, to Tori and Gabby's shock.

(Play Zelda's Lullaby)

Out of the corner of the room, Drew faded into existence. He saw the room looking at them and then at Tori and Gabby who were tearing up. "Hey guys."

The two girls tried to rush him and glomp him, only to go through him . "Sorry, I'm only a projection. Friedrich is letting me talk to you like this and I don't know how long he can keep it up."

The two girls nodded and walked back to their seats. "So...you were in the middle of discussing how the Riders came to be here right?"

"Yeah, that would be helpful," Ashley replied.

"Alright, so, we traveled to different worlds, because at one point in time, we were all the same world and dimension. There once was a Kingdom of vast wealth and power that was protected by the power of the Guardians and their Knights. Myself, Natsu and Lucy are Guardians. Gabby, Tori and our new Rider here were knights.

"So these...Kamen Riders are protectors?" Wendy asked.

"Yes. All of the Riders are descendants of their last wielders. We're on a quest to try and prevent further destruction to the multiverse. And thanks to Friedrich we will be training and upgrading our gear when we get home."

Just then, Lisanna began to stir awake. "Ugh...Natsu?"

"I'm here Lis," the Dragon Slayer said tenderly as she sat up, Lucy propping her up.

"Well...good evening, Sleeping Beauty," Drew chuckled.

Lisanna looked up and saw the holographic man. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Drew. And thanks to that little belt of yours, you can also call me your boss, Miss?"

The white-haired girl looked down at her belt and then back at him. "Lisanna Strauss."

"So you're the dead younger sibling Mira talked about. Well, looks like tales of your demise were highly exaggerated. What's the belt name?"

"Columbia...I think. Sorry, I just woke up."

"More proof you're sisters. Mira has another white bird as her Rider, Cygnus the Swan. Good thing you woke up when you did, we had no idea where to find ya."

Ashley groaned. "Alright, magical belts, powerful armors, and a world-ending cataclysm. What did I sign up for?"

Drew cleared his throat. "Right. You all need to hear this."

Play Deku Tree from Ocarina of Time

"We are all trapped in the Anima because the King of this world wants to restore the Ethernano to this world...at least temporarily," he said seriously.

"That is what we feared," Carla agreed.

"Indeed, but it's how they're gonna get it that should be worrisome. If the King is allowed to activate it, he will turn us all into magical particles. Meaning, he will kill anyone that's in the anima!

The whole group gasped in horror. Ashley snarled. "I knew it! That madman is the worst! First banning magic and then taking it from another place.'

"Then you're not gonna like this. We also believe he has plans for the Dragon Slayers. For whatever reason, they weren't absorbed. We think Gajeel is somewhere out there. In addition, because of your battles today, the King will now know that Tori, Gabby, Lucy, and Lisanna can use Magic without the use of special pellets, so you are now targets. Being Kamen Riders will make you more valuable, especially if they have a portion of Yuzan's army."

"We would have been targets anyway, being associated with the so-called rebels," Gabby told him. "Not the first time our country has been rebellious."

Drew nodded, his image flickering slightly. "One more thing before I give you your mission. They believe the race called Exceeds are some sort of god figures, but somehow I don't believe that. If you can contact the race we might be able to rip their influence away from the king." He started to flicker more. "Time's almost up. Your mission is to stop the king, reverse the Anima, and get us all home! You have four days! I believe in all of you!" The image flickered away as Gabby and Tori reached out to him.

(End song)

Friedrich hissed. _Sorry, I wanted to give you more time._

 _We got the message through, that's enough._ Drew assured him. _Now, we pray and hope._

Back in the hotel room, Gabby and Tori fell to their knees. "Are you two okay?" Wendy asked, concerned.

Gabby clenched her fists, smiling grimly. "Yeah, we are. We need to get some rest, this might be the last time we get to do so."

She stood up and left the room, Tori apologetically smiled. "Sorry about that, she's been on edge since this whole thing started. We all are," the Water Mage said as they left the room.

Ashley stretched her arms and moved to get dressed. "I need to leave in the morning. If we're gonna fight the King, we need Fairy Tail to get off their asses."

"What about your contact here?" Natsu asked.

"I'll make sure he's here in the morning," the short-haired blonde said in the process of walking out.

Natsu sighed. Wendy and Carla sensed something in the room and decided to go visit Tori and Gabby's room for a spell. Once they were alone, Lisanna spoke gently, "Is this what you've been fighting? Natsu?"

The Dragon Slayer nodded, "Much bigger and tougher guys than this. Don't worry I'll protect you."

The Take Over Mage puffed her cheeks. "You heard them, I work with you. Don't treat me like glass!"

"I'm not," Natsu pouted, making both girls giggle.

Lisanna felt her body move and two soft pillows rested on either side of her. Lucy smiled and nuzzled the girl's head. "Can we keep her, please? She looks yummy!"

Natsu had to hold back a nosebleed as he watched his girlfriend hold Lisanna to her bountiful chest, allowing him to gaze at her form. The younger Strauss sibling wasn't quite as gifted as her sister in the chest area, but he can tell that was made up for with her lower half. She may have been at one end of the bed, but her legs reached Natsu on the other, easily entangling with Lucy's. Her hips were wide and healthy with a matching ass that was comfortably nestled on the blonde.

While the thought of Mira already being a part of his life was there, Natsu knew he couldn't miss this chance again. Perhaps the dream of Lisanna was a sign for all that he knew. The Dragon Slayer laughed, "You think I'm letting someone who wanted to be my wife go?"

"Oh?" the blonde looked down at Lisanna who was blushing at the memory. "A cute childhood dream? Well…if you don't mind being my co-wife along with your sister, I think we can work something out," she purred. "But that's up to her and whether or not we can survive right?"

Lisanna looked up at her childhood friend. She felt disappointed that she wasn't his only lover...but this was quickly swallowed by the fact she could still be part of his life. "Yes…"

Seeing the invitation, Natsu leaned down and kissed the animal Mage. The girl swooned as she closed her eyes to feel her first kiss. The fact she was part of a sandwich between her childhood friend and a girl she would be sharing her love with that said childhood friend.

Natsu took the time to appreciate the taste of Lisanna's lips and compared it to the others. Lucy tasted like honey, sweet and syrupy with a hint of lavender which always seemed to calm him down. Erza was obviously strawberry with a surprising taste of peaches. Mira tasted like lemons, like the drinks she always served with a lemon wedge. Lisanna tasted of vanilla, she was always kind to him even when they were kids and now that he had grown up and known better, he would be guarding her as a dragon should. Realizing the need for air, they released from each other and gazed into each other's eyes.

Lucy smiled and rolled herself on top of their new companion. "Damn...you two looked so natural," she giggled and took the blue-eyed girl's lips on her own. If Natsu's lips caught the new Rider off guard, having a girl kiss her was another thing entirely. And like the previous kiss, she somehow felt comfortable doing so, especially with Natsu watching them.

The Dragon Slayer grinned as he slipped behind the white-haired girl. "This is gonna be great, I promise, Lis."

His new girlfriend smiled as she made herself comfortable. "Yeah," she muttered drifting off to sleep.

In the next room, Tori and Gabby were trying to rest as well. The brunette looked at the ceiling and sighed. "Can't sleep, Gabby?"

"No," the blonde replied, turning out the lamp, revealing both in their undergarments, Gabby in red and Tori in black. "I'm just...worried."

"We should be. We haven't been put in this situation before. It's not like I don't trust Natsu, he's...well a bit much." The two girls laughed at the truth. A few moments of silence passed before Gabby looked over at her partner. "Hey, I got room over here."

Tori glanced at her friend and nodded before moving over to the other bed and crawling in. "First time we've done this without Drew," she muttered, leaning against the pillow."

"Yeah, but this doesn't feel any different, just...two teenage girls in lingerie they shouldn't be wearing." Gabby rolled over and laid her head on the slightly taller girl's shoulder. "We're gonna win this and save our friends," she said kissing her cheek."

Tori hummed and rubbed Gabby's hair. "I hope so…" she whispered as they drifted off.

**End of chapter**

**UO: Well that's the end of that chapter and if you made it, through, here's an Omake.**

How to Start a Brawl: A Dress (Timeline: two days before Chapter 33)

Drew and Friedrich walked through the doors and came upon a warzone. Everyone was seemingly split down the middle glaring at each other and looking like they were about to fight again.

"What the heck happened?" Drew demanded.

May turned and smiled. "Good, we got a neutral party. Here tell me what color this dress is?" She held up a lacy dress that came down to the brunette's thighs.

Friedrich squinted at it. "Looks white and gold to me."

"THANK YOU!" Dawn screamed. "This bitch can't see it because she sees blue."

"There is blue you lolita slut!" Lucy yelled back.

And the argument started up again with even the boys getting into it. Friedrich groaned. "Not this dumb argument again!"

"Do I even want to know?" Drew asked.

"Yeah, a dress like this broke the internet not long before I made the jump to Earth Bet," Friedrich explained.

"We leave for lunch and somehow this turned into a guildwide conflict!" He stomped over to the dress and looked at it. "It's black and blue. I can see it just by looking at the lighting.

"Oh yeah," Friedrich nodded. "This is a trick on the eyes."

"Want to hide in your lab?"

"Yes please!"

The two boys ducked out of the room as the guild descended into chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TEMP: Alright, if you’re still with us once again, time for something we’ll do the honors of covering before any potential review, and that something is…well, something I knew we’d have to discuss eventually. While I often lean toward Natsu x Lucy a bit more, that has nothing to do with this, as Lisanna and Natsu is my second preference. In actuality, it has to do with adding Lisanna to Natsu’s group of lovers when Mirajane is also a part of it, and I’m sure I won’t be alone in that.
> 
> UO: Right, Lisanna joining even though I have Mira. Quite honestly, this was one of the harder Rider spots I had to fill and I actually had three other options for this. Heck, Gajeel wasn’t my first choice.
> 
> TEMP: Now, I’m sure some of you may be feeling a bit conflicted here. I won’t lie, I am too. I, as a writer, have my own set of standards, after all. For the record, I already spoke to Oz about this when I was becoming more involved as a tertiary helper to Journeys. I’m pretty sure there was no intent to mix things up like this, yet was a matter of circumstance?
> 
> UO: So I had gone through three different Riders for this slot, and I had to change the elements around. When I started thinking of stuff for this story, Cana was gonna be the Rider with a system based on Zeronos, Den-O’s card-based Rider. Then I thought Wendy would be good here, but then I checked some of our world’s laws, and let’s just say I decided to duck out of it for safety reasons. The third person would have been Laki, which is why Lisanna’s element is Wood. I settled on Lisanna because it allows me to actually shut up the fan wars that plague others. *Glares at the FNDM.*
> 
> TEMP: Regardless, I wanted to help address this, just in case some of you thought we wouldn’t. We understand your potential concerns and are well aware that while Oz’s plan to add in NaLi represents those who prefer them being paired, having Mira still involved runs the risk of…well, “you-know-what.” Despite my viewpoint on the situation, I still respect Oz, both as a friend and writer all the same. We’ll see what we can do when it comes to the future behind Natsu and his ladies, as I’m positive Mira and Lisanna (hell, even in canon) would be able to make this situation work while not crossing any taboo lines. But, even so, we hope you all will continue to support the story as it goes on.
> 
> UO: Right, so new Riders and new forms.
> 
> Columbia: Lisanna’s resolve awakened the last Rider of Natsu’s team, Kamen Rider Columbia. This Rider’s is based on Kamen Rider Beast and will use her Animal forms as her ring forms. As for the name, Columbia is the Dove Constellation. This is a fairly faint constellation that’s only been recognized in the Renaissance era. It is near Canis Minor, the little dog, and Lepus the Rabbit as the unorganized stars were redefined. The stars are faint. As for the armor…well, NS?
> 
> NS: Okay, so, to be frank, a lot of the Riders up to this point have had ‘armors’ that either directly mimic the canon Kamen Riders, or in the case of the girls, straight up dresses. That might work when it’s Kamen Rider Poppy, but that shit don’t fly here. These are multiverse-defending warriors, and they should damn well have some decent armor. Lisanna’s armor is basically a feathery version of MHW Iceborne’s Banbaro armor.
> 
> UO: After this arc, we’re essentially gonna put the armors in the shop, for in-universe two weeks, while Friedrich and the others work on them. Speaking of new toys, Lucy has her upgrade.
> 
> Pleiades Syzygy: Pronounced SIH-zih-gee, this allows Pleiades to essentially get more out of the forms she has incredible trust in. Right now, she’s got that in Aries, Taurus, and Leo. Aries is essentially Shirabe’s armor from Symphogear XV.
> 
> NS: Except actually fucking armored. Again.
> 
> TEMP: Alright, we got it, NS. Now that we covered all the necessary bases… *turns to the cast* …Lucy, where the heck were you during our headcount?
> 
> Lucy: No idea, something about these guys in black…
> 
> TEMP: *Turns to Oz.* You don’t think… Will Smith?
> 
> UO: Goddamn it…
> 
> Preview: As the King of Edolas makes his plans, the Riders encounter more than just danger in the castle. Will new allies help?
> 
> Next Chapter: Edolas Revolution
> 
> If you like this and want to read NS’s stuff or Tempest’s work and commissions, hit us up for a discord invite to Osprey News and North South Smut Gathering!
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOSH


	35. Edolas Civil War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Earthland Mages begin their battle to Rescue their friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…*Gets pelted by debris* OW!
> 
> Drew: What the?
> 
> UO: It’s a freaking madhouse out there. Damn it
> 
> Drew: *sigh* You want to or should I?
> 
> UO: I’ll do it. *Looks at the screen* Look...the last several weeks...have been really crappy. And I want to at least say this. We meaning my fellow authors are well aware of what’s going on out there. And quite frankly what happened sickened us and the aftermath makes at least myself very sad and angry. We might joke around here, but at the end of the day, we use this as a distraction. I personally was raised to never be hateful to anyone that doesn’t deserve it. Angry yes, hateful no. I want whoever reads to know that some of my characters might reference beliefs that could come off as hateful, but they aren’t. At the same time, I’m not gonna change my plans to fit certain narratives, the only thing is something that is still on the drawing board. This also extends to the forums we’re on. We are not hateful people and we can discuss things like rational people. Don’t let the world scare you, as there are still genuine people. It just takes a good eye.
> 
> Drew: Amen. Now, if there aren’t any objections, normal disclaimers apply.
> 
> “Speech”  
> Thoughts and Telecommunication  
> Time change  
> Form change/Belt announcements/Kaiju  
> Attacks/Spells

Chapter 35: Edolas Revolution

The morning after the previous chapter

Lisanna groaned and blinked her eyes open. Last night was probably one of her best nights of sleep ever, despite the stress she was under. Looking above her, she remembered what happened yesterday and smiled to herself as she realized what had happened the previous days weren’t a dream. Snuggled into his chest, she took this moment all in.

“Morning,” Lucy’s voice cut through her foggy mind. “You sleep well?”

“Yeah…” She muttered distractedly, blushing as the blonde nuzzled her. “Um…”

“Sorry,” Lucy giggled. “I know it's a little soon to be doing this, but it felt nice didn’t it.”

Lisanna could only nod, biting her lip. “Yeah, but that’s not what I was worried about…”

“Oh...OH!” the blond realized. “Sorry, I like sleeping like this. I’m gonna get dressed, why don’t you wake him.” She rolled off the bed and grabbed her clothes. Lisanna, meanwhile, turned around and watched Natsu snore away. She crawled up his chest and gave him a kiss on the lips.

She immediately felt him shift and place his hands on her ass squeezing it like dough. The two new lovers made for the next few minutes before releasing with pants.

“Now that’s a wakeup call,” Natsu grinned laughing at Lisanna’s blush.

“Yeah…” Lisanna said absently, enjoying the closeness and still not believing the reality

“I know you two want to catch up, but we need to get going!” Lucy told them, sporting a green blouse and black skirt. “Come on, you two.”

The new couple got out of bed and cleaned themselves up. Minutes later, everyone had gathered outside the hotel.

“Ashley, where’s your ride? I don’t like being exposed like this!” Gabby asked.

“He should be here in a few moments,” Ashley grumbled.

Natsu’s ears perked up and summoned Urvan. “He better get here soon! We got company!”

As he said this several guards and shadowy knights appeared with their weapons pointing at them. “HALT! In the name of King Faust, you're under arrest!”

“Ashley, your friend better be here!”

Just then, a low rumble was heard throughout the town. As it got closer, the rumble was revealed to be a loud engine. Out of the air a large tank-like vehicle flew through the air and drifting between the warring factions. It had a dark red body with a front fender that jutted out like a boat's bow. On its rear fender were four metallic exhaust ports that were spewing flames from the engine as it revved up.

The passenger side door opened, revealing...another Natsu. This one was dressed in a red vest, racing goggles and had a very cocky smirk.

“Get in!” He ordered. Not needing to be told twice, everyone crammed into the car, before they sped off with many flying troopers chasing after them.

“We still got trailers!” Lucy called out.

“Got them!” Gabby replied, climbing out the window. “Keep it steady!”

“I can outrun anything!” The Natsu driving arrogantly said. This was immediately thrown back at him as two explosions nearly hit the car. He leaned out the window. “WATCH THE PAINT!”

“Get back inside!” Ashley growled.

Gabby sighed and pulled back her bow string. Her first shot found one of the riders between the eyes. As it fell, two more launched a breath of dark flames at the car. Gabby ducked and pulled back her string again. **“RANGER’S FURY!”** Where one beam was condensed into the string, there was eight. She let the string go and all eight flew at supersonic speed. Two arrows struck each rider in the chest while the remaining went into their mounts, causing them to crash and disintegrate.

The car sped away as she watched the knights stop before climbing back in. “Well that was a way to start the day." She mumbled sitting down. “So you're the Natsu of Edolas. Some sort of drag king or something?”

“When I’m behind the wheel, nothing can stop me!” Natsu cackled madly. Then he glanced at the ill dragon slayer. “Whose he?”

Ashley slapped his shoulder. “HEY! Pay attention to the road!”

The Earthlanders watched in shock as the Natsu driving started to groan in pain from the slap. “Lucy, don’t do that~~!”

Ashley turned to the passengers. “He’s a wimp outside of a car. Unlike your sick friend here.”

“What’s the ETA on getting to the capital?” Tori asked.

“A few minutes, but we’re not going inside the city. When we get to the outskirts, you're on your own.”

The car passed in silence and soon enough they reached the royal city. When they exited the vehicle, Ashley spoke up. “You're all insane to go into the city like this!”

“We’re saving our friends no matter what!” Natsu declared. “And that means we’re gonna do what it takes.”

Ashley scoffed and got in the car.. “Whatever, come on Dragion.”

“All that’s needed for evil to succeed is for good to do nothing,” Gabby spoke, looking at the two Edolas residents. “And they only need to succeed once, and you're all dead.”

Ashley glared at the huntress then turned away with a scoff. “Your funeral.”

Gabby glanced over her shoulder and shook her head. “Let’s go guys.”

The group followed her, with Lisanna taking a final look back at her guild member before falling in line.

Several minutes of sneaking around later, they entered the city. Unlike the town they just came from, the town was vibrant with many people rushing towards the center of town.

“I wonder what’s going on?” Wendy wondered.

“Whatever it is, I don’t think it's good!” Lucy frowned as they blended in with the crowd. Eventually, they reached a large courtyard in front of a massive stone castle. Behind the set up podium stood a huge blue crystal.

“That’s got to be the anima!” Tori whispered. “What do we do to get to it?”

“More importantly how do we reverse it?” Gabby wondered.

Before more was said, a cacophony of trumpets sounded throughout the courtyard as a procession filtered through. They could see a short man with a golden crown and flanked by several imposing figures. The crowd cheered for the man as he stood next to the giant anima crystal.

“Citizens of the Royal City! I, King Faust, stand before you today, with great news!” He pointed at the anima with a smirk. “I have found your salvation!” The roar of the crowd became deafening at that proclamation. “Behind me, is enough for ten years of magic for everyone to enjoy!” As he said this, he banged the crystal chipping a part off. “But this is only the beginning, soon I will have the resourced to create an infinite amount of magic for us all!”

Natsu seeing this, growled and moved to step towards the crystal as the crowd cheered.. Only for Lisanna and Lucy to hold him back.

“Don’t, we’re gonna get caught!” Lisanna pleaded.

“We’re gonna save them, I promise!” Lucy told him. 

Gabby watching the king leave frowned. “Since there’s no way we can do it out here, the best place is to go into the castle. But how do we get there is the question

“I...think there’s a tunnel underneath the castle,” Carla mumbled. 

“And how would you know that?” Gabby asked suspiciously.

“Just...seeing these random flashes in my mind. It's telling me to go down there!”

Gabby narrowed her eyes. “This is a trap, but I think we have no choice. Lead us on.”

“Gabby, trust Carla a little more,” Wendy pouted.

“I’m trying to keep us alive. It's very suspicious that she suddenly knew this entrance.”

“Calm down,” Tori told her, grabbing her shoulder. “Let’s just try.”

Gabby sighed. “Fine...but weapons away, I don’t want them taken.”

The Riders nodded as they made their weapons disappear into their pocketspace, with Gabby helping Lisanna with hers and Lucy making hers merge into her skin, her pale skin rippling as the whip sank into it, snaking around under the surface as intricate tattoos.

“Whoa that’s cool!” Natsu complemented. They watched as the chains slithered up to her shoulder and around her wrist.

“Thanks, I think I can move them around my body. No one would suspect tattoos to contain a weapon,” she beamed as the tattoos disappeared. Carla then led them out of the city to an underground cavern entrance hidden from the city and near one of the rivers that flowed in.

“Carla, are you sure this is the way?” Wendy asked as they walked through the dark tunnel.

“If my vision is right, this tunnel will lead into the basement, I think we can sneak up underneath them.”

They continued along the waterway, through various pathways until they reached a dead end.

“Now what? This can’t be what we came for and it will take twice as long to get out of here,” Gabby grumbled.

As they looked around, Lisanna spotted something on the wall. “Look!” The group turned to see what she saw. It was a large stone wall with planks of wood covering it, the phrase KY-2c inscribed on it.

“That’s a big door!” Happy gasped.

“But not big enough for us to take down, especially if made with magic,” Lucy said, pulling out Taurus’ key. **OPEN: GATE OF THE BULL!”**

The familiar bell rang through the caverns as Taurus materialized and landed next to the blond. “Yooooou rang, Miss Lucy?” The bull cheered. 

“Bust this door down!” The cow quickly charged and punched through the wall, revealing a stone passageway leading into the castle.

“Thanks Taurus!” Lucy said as the bull disappeared. The group began to run through the corridors and up the stairs.

“Carla, you’ve been awesome,” Weny told the cat. “Where did you see these?”

“I...don’t know, I just see these visions, its really just guessing where everything is.”

As they said this they came to an open rotunda. Before they could decide what to do, Tori screamed as she was knocked down. As she fell, the others saw she was wrapped in a white glue like material. As they tried to free her, more strands were fired hitting all the huumans

"What the hell?" Gabby cursed trying to break free.

"What are these things!?" Natsu snarled.

"These are special capture devices designed for mages," a familiar voice called out. Walking out of the shadows was Erza, or rather the Edolas Erza. Around them was the Edolas army. She waved her forward. "Take them away, prepare the blonde and white haired girl for execution. PRepare these two," she pointed at Gabby and Tori, "For interrogation. And then take the dragon slayers to the EDF room!"

As her subordinates complied, Happy and Carla who weren't captured tried to fly to them but were cut off by Erza. In a shock to their friends, she knelt to them. "Thank you for accomplishing your mission, my lord Exceeds."

Carla's visage froze. "W-what?"

"Thanks to your efforts, we now have the means to create the magic we desire. Once we kill the dragon slayers, we will have our utopia! Men escort our gods home!"

Gabby wanted to curse her out but she caught sight of Carla and Happy, who looked like their whole world had collapsed around them. She wanted to say something but the guards quickly knocked all of them out before hauling them away.

Several Hours later (Next three transitions happen at the same time)

Lucy groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. She attempted to rub her head but something prevented her from doing this. Her mind fully rebooting, she shifted her head and saw she was in a stockade chained to the wall.

“Great Lucy, you're captured again. Oh yeah, also gonna be executed. Need to figure out where everyone is,” She said to herself.

Another groan caught her attention. Turning as far as she could to her left, she spotted Lisanna hoisted up next to her in a similar restraint. “Lisanna?”

L-Lucy?” Lisanna gasped. “Where are we?”

“Some sort of cell. Don’t worry, we’re gonna get out of here.”

“How?” Lisanna asked curiously.

Lucy closed her eyes and concentrated. Her skin wavered, before Mutsuraboshi slithered out of her lower legs. The animal mage watched in curiosity as the whip climbed up the blonde’s body and towards the chains. With a gleam, the whip snapped through the restraints like it was butter, freeng the celestial mage. Catching herself, she then flicked her whip towards Lisanna’s restraints, slicing through them easily.

“Thanks,” Lisanna whispered, rubbing her wrists. “Now what?”

Stealthily they made their way to their cell door and peered out. They saw two guards on watch, with the glint of keys hanging off them. A cursory inspection revealed them to not be palace guards but of the troopers that targeted them the previous day. Motioning Lisanna to be quiet, she raised her hands. Two chains coiled silently out of her wrists and through the jail cell. The tips sharpened into two points and at a gesture, struck clean through their necks. The soldiers choked out a painful gasp. before they disintegrated. Mutsraboshi quickly swiped the keys and pulled it to her.

“Great job Lucy,” Lisanna quietly cheered as the blonde opened the door. “So where do you think the others are?”

“I think they’re separated. They wanted to separate us for different reasons,” Lucy said as she looked down the hallways. “I say, this way,” she pointed to the left.

As they walked through the hallways, the blonde looked at her companion. “So I know your Mira’s sister, but what exactly is your magic? And for that matter what’s your rider element?”

“Rider Element?” Lisanna asked, tilting her head.

“Each of us Riders has one of ten elements. Natsu is the Prince of Earth, and I’m the Metal Princess.”

“Not Fire?” 

“Nope, that’s Drew. But from what they tell me the rest are Water, Light, Darkness, Wood, Ice, Metal and Lightning.”

Lisanna hummed and closed her eyes then opened them. “I think I’m Wood. I remember being in the middle of the jungle when I met Tsuki. As for my magic, I use Take over like my siblings except I turn into animals. Currently I have a Bird, Cat, Fish and Rabbit fighting forms. I can also turn into a Pig and have a half fish mermaid form. I can turn my body parts into various animal parts too.”

“Misty would like that mermaid form,” Lucy mumbled. As they approached a corner, they leaned against the wall and looked around it. They saw three normal guards and three shadow knights standing in front of the door.

“I think some of our friends are in there, how do we get them out?”

“How about I take out the human guards with one of my forms. Then you're free to stab the knights,” Lisanna suggested. As she said this, a magic circle passed over her body and she began to glow. When it died down, she had changed most of her torso in white rabbit fur, with dark legging and boots. Poking out of her hair were two long fluffy bunny ears and a bushy cottontail stood out from where her tailbone was.

“Cuuuute!” Lucy cooed. Then she nodded. “Let’s go!” She picked up a small rock and threw it down the hall. The guards heard the noise and they followed the sound to investigate. In a flash, Lisanna leaped out of the adjoining hallway and slammed into two of the human guards, dropkicking them into the wall, then ducked under a third who swung wildly and sprang up in a powerful backflip, kicking the man into the ceiling with a meaty *WHAM!* from her powerful legs. The knights, finally shaking off their stupor at the commotion, rushed to attack her, only for Lucy to throw out her chains and spear the first one in the head, before snapping towards the second and cutting his head off, then piercing the third in the chest.

Picking up the keys, Lucy opened the door. Inside was Gabby and Tori, who looked relieved to see them.

“Guys! You're alright!” Tori exclaimed as they were freed from their restraints.

“Do you know where Natsu and Wendy are?” Lisanna asked.

“No, but I think they’re downstairs, they have some plans for them,” Gabby explained. “We need to sneak down there and get them out.

Just then the alarms sounded. _“Attention Palace guards. Four priority prisoners have escaped their cells! Capture them alive!”_ an authoritative voice announced.

"Or we can just fight our way and improvise!" Gabby groaned, rubbing her eyes. "This can't get any worse!

As she said this, a squad of shadow knights appeared in front of them. A blast of water followed by several arrows quickly ended them as Tori and Gabby had quickly summoned their weapons and blew them away and out of their cells.

“We need to move! Lucy, you’re in front! Lisanna cover her!” Gabby ordered as they made their way down the hall. 

As they turned a corner, a squad of about ten Edolas Knights appeared armed with swords and spears. Tori swung her saff and stabbed the floor. **“River Charge!”** Water flowed through the base of her staff and rushed down the hallway, catching the front of the group off guard, knocking several. Using the chaos, Lisanna rushed over the water and ran up the wall before spinning and kicking those that weren’t downed, off their feet unconscious.

Landing, she turned to her friends to smile, only for several arrows to whizz by her. She looked behind her and saw six shadow knights already disintegrating.

“Lesson one, Lisanna,” Gabby muttered, pulling back her string. “Battlefield awareness is key in any fight,” She said looking at her while firing off another bolt. “You're still new, you just haven’t learned this yet. And hopefully when we get home, we can start training you.”

Lisanna nodded as they resumed their escape. Moments later, they came across another group of shadowy figures, only they were led by two people. The first was a purple colored knight that easily towered over the much shorter girls. His armor consisted of leather arm and leg guards, suggesting he was some sort of mounted fighter, as evident by the matching colored drake behind him with a snake like face and batlike. On his back was a large pole axe that was as tall as him. The second and the bigger threat at the moment was Knightwalker standing in front of them wielding a four pronged spear

“I knew you were all trouble but to actually defeat my knights, you are truly a threat to this realm.”

“What you're doing is insane. The Erza I know wouldn’t stand for this!” Lucy shouted, Mutsraboshi coiling around her body.

Erza scowled and began to march towards her. “Then your friend should know kindness is just a front for those who backstab you!” She hoisted up her spear to throw it like a javelin. The girls started to fall back, with Tori spinning her staff and slamming it down creating a water shield. The thrown spear crashed into the shield, which despite going through water in an attempt to slow it down, still kept going. Seconds before it struck the gothic mage, she was pulled away by Lucy’s whip, the spear impacting the wall behind her.

“Tori! Don’t scare me like that!” Gabby chided as they began to run.

“Sorry, I thought I could slow it down!”

“The fact that it nearly split your head like a cantaloupe tells me otherwise!” She yelled back as they scrambled through the halls. The archer turned around and pulled back her bow string and fired two arrows into the wall. Clenching her fists, the walls responded slammed together in an effort to slow the very intimidating captain. They managed only a few hundred feet before they heard a crack and explosion of rock and metal.

“You can’t run forever!” Knightwalker taunted. “Once we know what makes you tick, you're going to be executed like the dogs you are.”

“I’d like to see you try, bitch!” Gabby snapped back. But before she could taunt some more, she was stopped by Lucy. When she looked over the blonde’s shoulder, she almost flinched herself. They were a good 3000 feet above the ground on a narrow balcony about five feet from the edge.

“Well now, I was right, you couldn’t,” the red smirked, her lance swinging over her shoulder. “Seems like you have two options. Surrender and I kill you later, or fall and die now.”

Gabby glared at her, then at her friends. Lucy was in a similar position, her whip poised to attack, while Lisanna scanned their opponents looking for a way out. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tori with a serious look in her eyes. Silently communicating through their expressions for a moment, the brunette nodded, wrapping her arms around her and motioning to Lisanna to do the same with Lucy.

Knightwalker, thinking that they made their choice walked towards them. The foursome stepped back. Gabby whispered under her breath. “Sic semper tyrannis….”

“What?” Knightwalker paused, not hearing what was said.

Gabby shot her a look which stunned and forced the captain back a step. “Sic. Semper. Tyrannis! Thus ALWAYS TO TYRANTS!” Before the captain could stop them, they pushed off the balcony as she screamed and began to fall towards the ground. Knightwalker rushed to the edge to watch them fall, only to see two flying objects rush towards the following group.

Lucy quickly snapped her whip towards the wall hooking into the stone. “Hang on Lis!” The blonde shouted as she pulled herself towards the tower. As she closed in on the tower, she saw two familiar figures flying towards her.

“Happy? Carla? Is that you?” Lucy called out

Rewind Five hours ago

Carla sat on the luxurious bed that had been provided for them. Happy had been trying to cheer her up to no avail. When asked why, she told him she had betrayed her true friends for something that should have never happened. 

Their door opened and in walked two cat-like creatures, a short yellow one in a red uniform and marching band hat and the other a tall lanky black and white in a dress uniform.

“Greetings, heroes of Extalia. I am Nichiya and this is Nadi.”

“Hello!” The cat said friendly but Happy and Carla didn’t return it.

Instead, Carla asked, “Where are we?”

“Ah yes. It's probably your first time here in Edolas, after all you were born in Earthland. Well then, you're in Extalia. Come the queen wishes to talk to you both,” Nichiya motioned them to follow.

As they followed the yellow cat, Happy noticed that the various guards were also cats. When they approached the window and looked outside, they saw more cats walking around like normal people going about their day.

“Wow, so many cat people!” Happy exclaimed.

“We aren’t cats,” Nadi clarified. “We are Exceeds. We live in the skies over Edolas and guide the humans below.”

As they walked past the openings, the citizens saw the two and began to cheer. 

“Hooray for the heroes!”

“Great Job heroes of Extalia!”

“We’re saved!”

“What are they talking about?” Carla demanded.

Nichiya sighed. “Humans are such pitiful and lowly creatures that we have to watch over them. But thanks to your duty, we can now live in peace.”

“What is this duty? All I know is that I was supposed...to kill my dragon slayer...Wendy.”

“You mean I was supposed to kill Natsu?” Happy asked in a tiny voice.

Nadi stepped in. “That was the original mission. You see, we sent 100 Exceed eggs to Earthland. We imprinted the orders on the eggs and once hatched they were to use the information to exterminate any dragon slayer they came across. But when the humans below created new possibilities with the Anima, of which Dragon Slayer magic played a role, we decided to change the orders for the children to bring them here.”

Carla dropped to her knees, her tears falling like waterfalls. “I brought them here to save their friends! By my own free will! Are you saying this was a lie?”

“Um...well…” Nadi began, “Everything you’ve done was by orders. Now, the queen should be congratulating you once you see her."

As he said this, Happy had froze as memories came forth. Memories of his times with Natsu and everyone in Fairy Tail. Of the times he and Lisanna raised him. The battles he was a part of and all of the good memories he had of the guild. He couldn’t kill his best friend.

Snapping his head up, he growled, which caught everyone off guard. “SCREW THAT!”

“W-what?” Nichiya stutterd.

“You heard me! I am a member of Fairy Tail. Natsu is my friend! And if you think I’m gonna let my friend get killed you have another thing coming.

“What are you talking about? Are you talking about the humans down there?” Nadi asked.

“No. I’m talking about the group Natsu is part of. If one of us falls, we’re gonna back each other up!” Happy explained, holding out his hand to Carla. The white cat sniffled and nodded, before taking the offered paw.

“I see...so the filth of Earth Land has poisoned you,” Nichiya determined. “GUARDS! Arrest these fallen!” 

Happy and Carla immediately began to flee as multiple guards began to swarm the hallways. “Tomcat, I hope you know what you're doing!”

“Working on it!” The blue Exceed replied. Turning down one hallway, they saw armed guards chasing them. “Not that way!” He panicked. “Carla, can you fly?”

Carla tried to summon her wings, butto her shock, she couldn’t feel her own magic. “Something is blocking it! 

“Maybe it’s cause we came from Earthland?” Happy wondered.

“No, if we’re from here, then our magic should be working. Something else is blocking us! We need to hide!” 

As they exited the palace, they came across a covered cart and dived in. The guards rushed past it, inadvertently knocking the cart loose. The cart sped down the hill of the palace causing the two renegade Exceeds to scream and tumble about. The cart eventually leaped off the island that Extalia was on and fell several feet towards another island, crashing into some farmland.

Happy groaned and rubbed his head. “Carla, are you alright?”

“As well as we can be, given the circumstances,” she muttered. “Thanks for getting us out of that dreadful mess.”

Happy beamed. “That’s what family does.”

“HEY YOU!” An angry voice called out scaring the two. Looking in the direction of the voice they spotted a middle aged white Exceed in blue overalls holding up a hoe “Don’t be messin up my garden!” 

“Um…” Happy stuttered.

“Come on, can’t let ya be walking through my carrots. Bet you two are hungry!”

The younger cats followed the man to a nearby farm house where they met a similarly aged blue female Exceed.

“Oh hello there, your just in time for lunch. I’m Marle, and this is my husband Lucky. May I ask your name and story?” 

“I’m Happy, and this is Carla. We were running away from Extalia cause we didn’t want me to hurt our friends.”

Lucky sighed as he finished his bite. “We know how ya feel youngin. We didn’t like what the Queen had for all little Exceeds. Killing dragon slayers what is she on?” He spat

“100 eggs,” Marle sniffled. “100 babies all taken from their parents...including ours.”

“We protested and even pleaded for them not to take ours,” Lucky growled. “But they wouldn’t listen and we were exiled! Though it's not so bad, we’ve managed to make our own living here away from the royal city.

“I just miss our baby. His egg was so pretty. It was white with blue markings that reminded me of a lily,” Marle fondly remembered.

Happy was being abnormally quiet as they finished their meal. Lucky then had him come out to the fields to pay off the meal.

Moments later, Lucky and Happy were busing tilling the fields. “So...what brings you out here?” Lucky said digging into the ground,

“Our friends were captured by the Edolas army. If we don’t do something, they’re gonna be killed. For some reason, we can’t fly,” Happy muttered digging fast.

Lucky hummed. “That is a pickle. But the fact is...you're willing to risk your necks for your friends. That takes guts.”

“I find it comforting that humans and Exceeds could be friends,” Marle said, walking out with drinks she and Carla made. “No matter who you are, inside you are all the same people. When we heard about the Dragon Slayer Extermination Project, we refused to give up our egg and we were exiled here. We couldn’t let our baby be a part of this.” She began to sniffle and tears began to fall

Happy hearing this, felt something stirr, a familiarity in her cries. “Your egg...what color was it again? White and blue markings...right?”

“Yes…how did you...Happy are you saying?” Lucky realized and the two older Exceeds embraced the young blue cat. 

“Mom! Dad!” He cried as they hugged each other. Carla couldn’t help but smile shedding a tear. 

When they let go, Marle spoke up. “Happy...I know we only just met, but you need to save your friends.”

“Mom…” Happy sniffled.

“Listen to your mother kitten. Don’t worry about us. Your friends need help!”

“But…”

“Happy, they’re right,” Carla told him, patting his shoulder. Turning to his parents she bowed. “Thank you.” The two Exceeds quickly rushed to the other end of the island they were on. Their wings, which were taken from them earlier, burst out majestically as they leaped down and towards the royal city as his parents watched on in tears As they continued to fall, they saw two figures leap out of the castle. As they got closer, they realized that it was Gabby and Lucy leaping off the side. 

“LUCY!!!!” Happy cried out as the blonde grappled towards the tower.

Resume time

Lucy looked up and saw Happy and Carla flying above them. “Happy? Carla? You're alright!”

Before they could ask, Carla saw Gabby fall with Tori on her back. “Hang on!” Carla shouted hoping to reach her.

As they fell, Gabby looked skywards. _Got to figure out something. What would Drew do...What...I need...something to save us....a new form...an angel of mercy…”_

As she thought through her options, Tori noticed something in her pocket glowing. “Gabby! Look!” The water mage pulled out a glowing memory, which died down to reveal a silver colored stick with the word AURIGA on it, the A tilted to the side with wheels like a chariot.

Gabby, seeing her chance, summoned her belt and whipped it on. Tori embraced her friend and pushed the memory in, causing it to pulse.

As one, they shouted. “HENSHIN!”

**AURIGA**

The countless fragments that gathered towards her body gleamed brightly, forming into a navy blue bodysuit, which transitioned into a scale-like reddish-gold pattern along her boots. Her chestplate and helmet, however, gleamed like platinum, and a pair of huge horns curved outward from the latter.

Orion, feeling empowered, flipped around and held out her hand. Out of the circle, a carriage drawn by three pegasi flew out, letting out a triumphant neigh. The two girls landed on them and the chariot began to climb.

** “Kamen Rider Orion: Auriga!” **

Knightwalker snarled, unwilling to believe their targets are still alive. She turned to the metallic knight. “Shulong, can you destroy them?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Carla called out flying above her. “As Princess of Extalia, I order you all to stop your attack!”

Knightwalker shaken by the white cat was about to acknowledge when a low growl came from behind her. “Don’t listen!” Out came Pantherlily, his sword raised to attack. “She’s a fallen Exceed, she’s on the run according to the Palace!”

Knightwalker growled. “Shulong, kill them!”

 **“Yes Mistress!”** The Dopant bowed, before hopping onto his mount and flying down after the flying Riders.

Orion had pulled up to where Lucy was hanging onto the wall with Lisanna. Hopping onto the enlarged chariot, they took off flanked by the two Exceeds.”

“Carla! Where do you think Natsu and Wendy are?” Orion asked.

“I think in the west tower, but with this thing chasing us we’re not gonna be able to get to them. “

“Leave that to me!” The Rider told her, pulling out her bow. “Tori, grab the reins!” As her companion did so, Orion turned around and held out her arm. A large Crossbow unfolded from her left wrist taking up half her arm. A large handle dropped down for her to grip easily, before she took aim at the dragon rider and squeezed the handle. Two shots fired in rapid succession, slicing through the air at near supersonic speeds. The arrows impacted the riders mount causing it to rear back in pain. Shulong growled and pressed forward, the dragon’s speed easily catching the chariot. The dragon collided with the vehicle, causing it to get thrown off balance. Tori quickly blasted water in the direction they were knocked into to stabilize it and to make sure Lucy and Lisanna stayed on as they almost fell out, with the Exceeds helping them.

Orion though wrestled control of her chariot and watched Shulong pull out a large poleaxe to take her head off. She bent out of the way of the wild swing before reaching down to her belt and pulling a long scimitar. Straightening up, she swung her new weapon striking at the riders chest, landing a solid strike. Shulong grabbed the wound in anger before charging and attacking again.

Knightwalker watched from her perch as Orion clashed against Shulong clenching her weapon. “These Riders, they are becoming a thorn in our side! We need to destroy them!” An explosion rocked the tower. “What the hell was that?”

A messenger sprinted up to her and caught his breath. “C...commander Knightwalker! There are intruders down below! They’re...heading for the West Tower…”

Patherlily who was standing next to her spoke up. “Let me handle this Commander, we may need to coordinate a better defense.”

“Do it!” Knightwalker demanded. Pantherlily nodded, spreading his wings and flying down to the ground.

An Hour earlier (This is while Happy and Carla are with his parents and the others breaking out)

Gajeel had been watching the ceremony with the Lacrima crystal in the middle of the city. When the giant anima sucked everyone up, somehow he had survived the pull and landed somewhere outside of town. Mystogan had found them and explained what was going before giving him the X ball pellets and sending him here. Once in the city, he found himself lookinf at a mirror with another version of him in a jazz musicians outfit. After a brief shock, they decided to work together to get to the anima. 

A series of fireworks were set off, the explosions saying north in the sky. Knowing what to do, he shouted. “HEY! There’s some hooligans north of here!” The guards fell for the deception and went to the Northern section of the area. Throwing off his cloak, he leaped into the squadron and punched two in the head, before unleashing a Dragon’s Roar at the rest. He approached the crystal, his arms turning to iron. He winded up and punched the crystal, once with his right and once with left. It began to glow as he leaped back.

Inside, Drew felt the disturbance. _Yo, Fried! Someone’s trying to break us out!_

 _Who is it?_ Friedrich asked.

 _I think Gajeel!_ Drew grinned. Then it turned into a scowl as he realized they weren’t being broken out. _Goddamn RNG. It wasn’t us!_

If Friedrich could facepalm he would have. _Of course this happened. Can you see who it was?_

Drew watched as two glowing figures landed outside the sphere. When the glow died down, it revealed Erza and Grey, steam coming off of them. _Okay, not as bad as we could have hoped for. It’s Erza and Grey!_

 _At least they can fight with their Rider abilities…_ Friedrich sighed. 

_Can you project both of us? We need to talk to them now!_

Outside the crystal, Erza and Grey slowly stood up after being freed from their prison. “Where...are we?” the redhead asked.

“And why do I feel like I got run over by a train?”

“You're in Edolas for starters,” Gajeel answered, holding up a vial. “Here, you're gonna need these. We can’t access our magic normally.”

“What?” Grey asked dumbly, catching the vial.

 _“Or, you know you could use your Rider energy?”_ Friedrich spoke up, once more projecting himself out of the crystal.

“Oh, Friedrich, you’re here as well,” said Erza, looking relieved.

He gave her a deadpan stare. _“I’m still in the damn crystal, I’m just projecting myself. By the way, Gajeel, thanks for not letting us out. Drew and I are still conscious here.”_

“Sorry, Rider energy?” Grey asked.

Drew appeared at this point. _“All our Rider powers come from an energy that’s completely internal. Think of it as a large magic tank, that can be refilled and expanded with time and training. All 3 of you can access it. But the pellets you're about to eat should help you with your magic as well._

“Alright, what’s going on?” Erza demanded as she ate the pellet

 _“Friedrich, you tell them, I got to find the others!”_ Drew ordered and he closed his eyes.

 _“Yeah yeah,”_ sighed the older man, cracking his neck, _“Basically, the entire town of Magnolia got sucked up through a magic wormhole and condensed into a great big Ethernano crystal that this world, Edolas, wants to use to make up for their own lack of magic. Everyone here is basically like the opposite of you guys. Lucy, Wendy, Gabby and Tori have already met up with Bizarro Fairy Tail, who are basically outlaws. Also, Erza, your counterpart is a stone cold bitch.”_

Grey held back a laugh coughing to cover it up. “So, what do we do now?”

 _“Now you have to free them, although I think the girls are fine at the moment.”_ Drew said, opening his eyes. _“I’m more concerned about Natsu and Wendy. They’re in that tower over there. But as expected there are a lot of guards and shadow soldiers.”_

“Alright,” Erza nodded, summoning Milo and Akuho. “Let’s go!” She ordered.

 _“Hurry! I don’t know how much longer we have before he starts!”_ Drew pleaded as the three raced towards the western tower. The knights and shadow soldiers saw them coming and began to charge them. Grey slid on the ground pulling out Tundra Claw and firing streams of ice knocking down the knights. As the five taller shadow soldiers moved forward, he pumped more magic in and fired shards of ice at them. 

“They have magical weapons!” One guard shouted.

“Capture them and seize them!” Another shouted before he was knocked away by an iron club.

“Good luck with that!” Gajeel laughed. Seeing more shadow soldiers moving in, he took a deep breath. **IRON DRAGON’S ROAR!”** The slayer bellowed out a large burst of metal, the twister picking up all of their opponents and sending them into the air and destroying them. “We got a clear shot, let's go!”

They raced towards the tower where Natsu and Wendy were being held. As they ran they heard an explosion and looked up in time to see two figures falling. 

“Who is that?” Grey wondered.

Drew who had been right behind them looked up and gasped. _“That’s Lucy...AND TORI AND GABBY!”_ Before he could order them to find where they would land, Lucy had grappled to the tower and Gabby had turned into her Rider form and summoned a larger chariot to catch them. Moments later, a dragon rider began to chase the flying carriage.

 _“Oh thank god,”_ Drew breathed. 

“Should we help them?” Erza asked.

 _“No, we need to save Natsu and Wendy! Keep going!”_ Drew ordered as they entered the tower to more knights and soldiers.

“Enough of this!” Erza growled summoning her Heaven’s Wheel Armor. **“CIRCLE SWORD!”**

 _“She needs new attacks,”_ Friedrich grumbled as the swords flew through the air striking all their opponents down and causing an explosion. _Well that will get people’s attention.”_

 _“And a jailbreak wouldn’t?”_ Drew deadpanned as they continued to the prison.

Up in the sky, Orion struck forward colliding with the dragon rider as they flew at each other multiple times, the impacts creating shock waves with each blow. While it looked to an untrained eye that it was an even fight, Shulong was tiring as he had to direct his mount while Tori, though shaken up, was controlling her mount.

**“Grrr... why won’t you die already!”**

“Cause I’m fighting for more than just a megalomaniac!” Orion replied, taking the reins and speeding off. Shulong gave chase after.

“We need to get out of here!” Lisanna shouted. “We can’t outrun them forever!”

“Exactly,” Orion said as the Shulong began to close the gap.

“What are you doing, he’s right on our tail!” Lucy screamed.

“I’m bringing him in closer.”

“YOUR GONNA DO WHAT?” Everyone save Tori who facepalmed screamed.

“I’m gonna hit the brakes he’ll fly right on by! When that happens you all better duck!

“In case you haven’t realized, you're not Tom Cruise OR IN AN F14!” Tori yelled.

Shulong chuckled as he raised his axe to cut off their heads as he sped up. **“This is the end!”**

Orion looked over her shoulder and grinned. “You got that right! NOW!” She reared the chariot back as her companions ducked inside the vehicle before dopping altitude. Shulong swung wildly, missing everyone’s heads. The Rider lifted up her arm and charged up her attack. Releasing it, she fired several strong bolts into the wyvern’s stomach, each shot causing a screech of pain and a thrash. As the last bolt struck, it began to fall, Shulong falling with it.

“Time to finish the hunt,” Orion shouted, pulling the Auriga Memory from her Driver, and slotted it into her bow.

**AURIGA: MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

She leaped off the chariot and aimed her bow at Shulong. **“AURIGA CHARIOT FIRESTORM!”** She released the arrow, sending it rocketing towards her target. Behind her, several phantom riders followed the shot, intent on helping the arrow finish the job. Shulong let out a cry as the chariots struck first crashing through him and then the arrow found its mark. The explosion that followed was massive but contained up in the air and away from any onlookers.

Orion smiled behind her helmet as she slowly began to fall. Tori who was controlling the chariot slowly stopped under where she was falling and reached up to catch her.

Landing in her partner’s arms, Orion giggled. “Normally I’m the one catching you,” she said nuzzling the healer.

“As much as I want to throw up, we’ve got problems!” Happy cried out pointing skyward. Looking up, they saw several Exceeds flying down, presumably after them.

“We got to land!” Carla ordered.

Lisanna looked over the side of the carriage. “I don’t think that’s an option!”

Everyone looked down to see several squadrons of knights trying to stop three people. Lucy gasped. “Its Erza! Grey and Gajeel too! They’re probably trying to find Natsu and Wendy!”

“Well they must know something!” Orion called out heading in that direction.

Observing from his perch in his castle, Faust growled. “What are these Riders? Can’t the guards stop these interlopers!?

“Your majesty!” Coco called out kneeling on the ground. “We just got word that the Extalia guard is on their way to catch two of their fallen!”

Faust grinned maniacally. “Good. Launch Code ETD!” Coco nodded and motioned for the guards near her to turn on a machine. It was a large laser-like device with mechanisms that looked straight from a certain sci fi show. It began to charge up and then moments later fired a massive blast of energy.

The chariot had landed in a small outcropping under a bridge as the blast fired over them.

“What the heck was that?” Lisanna said, uncovering her eyes.

Tori scanned the sky and gasped. “Look!” Everyone looked up and saw a large cat shaped crystal slowly floating down. 

“Those are all Exceeds! What in heavens caused that?”

“I don’t know, but we can sneak away. Hang on!” Orion said as they raced towards the western most tower.

In a prison chamber

“GAHHHHH!!!!” Natsu screamed as his magic was violently drained out of him by the man in front of him. He was about Makarov’s height with balding grey hair and white and purple robe. The man had introduced himself simply as Byro, before pointing a long cylindrical funnel at Natsu and pulled the lever. The device began to painfully suck out Natsu’s magic which began an hour ago.

“My, this is impressive, dragon slayer. To have all this magic stored in you,” the older man cackled. “The amount of magic you're giving us will definitely help with our final plans.”

“STOP IT!” Wendy pleaded, chained up in a similar fashion. “Let him go!”

The older man strode up to the female dragon slayer. “You’ll have your chance, my dear,” he said creepily, reaching up to touch her cheek.

“Don’t touch her!” Natsu panted. “Take...more of mine…”

“Such a noble gesture. Don’t mind if I do!” Byro laughed as he turned up the suction.

Racing through the tower, Orion was leading their charge. Drew’s projection was pointing out where to turn. He paused which made everyone else stop. “What’s going on?”

 _“This is too easy...where is everyone?”_ Drew said just before a spear landed in front of Tori. Everyone looked up to see Knightwalker marching towards them with knights flanking her.

“You have been a thorn in our side for long enough!” Knightwalker growled, swinging her lance to throw at them. A loud bang was her only warning as two shots hit her shoulder making her gasp in pain. As more shots were fired, she was forced to deflect them with a spin of her spear and stop her momentum. She glared in the direction of the shots to see Lisanna pointing her weapons at her.

“Where is Natsu, bitch!?” The white-haired girl screamed, firing off more rounds at the knights flanking the captain, taking careful aim to hit them in non-vital areas like the shoulders and legs.

“You fairy bitch, you’re first!” Knightwalker roared charging the animal mage. Just as she reared back to stab the younger Strauss, another figure raced in front of her.

*CLANG*

Lucy gasped. “ERZA!”

Indeed it was the Earthland Erza, with Akuho blocking the spear and Milo in a position to fire. Pulling the trigger, she forced the mad captain back.

Grey and Gajeel appeared behind them. “Come on! We got to get Flame Brain!”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Knightwalker ordered.

However, Scarlet stepped forward, making her duplicate’s eyes widen, recognition dawning. “Find Natsu! I’ll handle her.”

Orion grabbed Lucy and motioned her to follow. Scarlet stared down her mirror. “It feels weird fighting my counterpart. The irony is not lost on me.”

“I concur,” Knightwalker agreed as her weapon changed forms. It was now a spear with a triangular, arrowhead-like spearhead, with golden and red stripes adorned with a white circle encompassed by the thick golden armor layer. “I am Erza Knightwalker, Captain of the 2nd War Magic Division!” 

“And I am Erza Scarlet, S-class mage of Fairy Tail and the Eagle Knight of Wind for the Guardians!” As she said this, her body glowed, her Heart Kreuz armor disappearing. Replacing it was a very skimpy armor that left little to the imagination.w Her top was a revealing open cheetah patterned bra, exposing her cleavage and midriff. The only other clothing she wore was a pair of short shorts, with a green cloth hung onto it with a belt. Her arms had long shoulder length arm bands, with her left having a cheetah patterned pauldron and arm guard, while her right lacked them. On her feet she had asymmetrical boots, with a knee length silver boot on her left with a cheetah guard and a smaller normal size boot on her right. Completing the look was a cheetah tai sticking out of her shorts and two fuzzy cheetah ears in her scarlet hair. In her hands were a pair of two hand swords with rose thorn handguards.

** “Requip: Flight Armor!”  **

Knightwalker took a step forward and then pushed off disappearing from sight, a sonic boom in her wake. Scarlet though watched her approach and raised her swords to block them.

*CLANG*

In a blink of an eye both of them had locked their blades, the shockwave cracking the walls. Disengaging, they charged again, flying through the air, both matching speed for speed.

 _Is she using the same magic as me?_ Scarlet wondered as she landed on a platform. She crossed her swords, gathering her Rider energy into the blades. **“CHEETAH SLASH!”** Two crescent shaped beams of energy flowed out striking Knghtwalker and knocking her into floor. Undeterred, the captain leaped back out, changing her weapon to a wide blue and silver colored spearhead. The edges were similar to a trident with a silver colored orb underneath connected to a similar colored shaft.

 **“Ten Commandments: Mel Force!”** Knightwalker called thrusting out her spear out. A bullet of air fired at Scarlet. The sudden impact caught the Requip mage off guard and blasted her into a nearby wall.

“You are incredibly strong,” Knightwalker praised leaping up and turning her spear into a red and gold colored one. “But you can’t stop our mission!” The spear glowed and she hurled the ball of energy into the wall. Landing, she waited for the smoke to clear. Only to be caught off guard as Scarlet, in her Flame Empress armor, rocketed out and slashed across her torso. The impact of the blow sent Knightwalker onto the bridge below.

“I see now, you're not requipping armor, you're only changing your weapon. But to wield it so easily and fluidly, you have trained well,” Scarlet murmured

“Requipping, is that what you call your magic?” Knightwalker asked spitefully, “My weapon, Ten Commandments, can take ten different powerful forms. This is how I earned my rank.”

“I can tell you wield incredible power. My Requip magic allows me to change armors and magic at will.”

“It will do you no good, magic user!” Knightwalker snarled, a wild, manic look entering her eye. Both of the redheads glared each other down before charging at each other once more.

Down below, Orion’s group charged through the shadow soldiers that were defending the hallway. “We have to be going the right way, there’s way too much security for there not to be!” She looked behind her. “How’s everyone doing?”

“We’re fine, gihi!” Gajeel called back, slashing a soldier pointing a gun at him.

“Speak for yourself, metal brain!” Grey shouted as he spun Tundra and speared his opponent in the skull!”

As they cleared the hallway they came across a large door. One solid punch by the boys and they entered the chamber to see Wendy and Natsu lying facedown on the ground.

“NATSU!” Lucy screamed as she slid over to the pinkette.

“Wendy, oh my god what did these monsters do?” Tori asked as she began to heal them.

Wendy groaned as she sat up. “They wanted to take our power...use it in some sort of weapon…they needed Dragon Slayers.”

“Here!” Grey offered a vial of X-balls. “You can use your magic again with these.”

“Nice to see you too, stripper!” Natsu groaned as they stood up and he chomped down on the pill.

 _“What did they want your magic for?”_ Drew asked.

Wendy perked up and panicked. “Its Extalia! They want to use our magic and the Lacrima to ram it into Extalia! If they do that, everyone there and the anima will die!”

Everyone realized what that meant and now Drew was figuring out what to do. Grey then chimed in with an important piece of information. “I think I know a way we can stop this. They need Dragon Slayer magic right? What if we can use it to turn everyone back?”

Drew nodded. _“That’s the play we’re going for. Grey, Lucy, Natsu, Lisanna find this key and stop the King! If you can get Erza away from her copycat, that will help tremendously!”_ He turned to Wendy. _“Wendy, you need to get to Extalia with Happy and Carla and convince the Queen her country is in danger! Gabby, Tori back them up, cause I don’t think they’re gonna listen!_

Carla looked away. “I don’t think I can…”

“Carla, remember my parents. They helped us even without knowing I was their kid. Please, help us save them…” Happy pleaded.

The white cat looked at the tearful Exceed and nodded.

Drew turned to Gajeel. _“Gajeel for the love of god, GET US OUT OF HERE! Just getting Fried and me out will probably be enough!”_

 _“You might want to get some flying assistance though,”_ Friedrich chimed in. _They just moved the lacrima onto an island!_

The standing Riders acknowledged and raced off. Gajeel raced back through the corridor blasting his way through the guards with Happy over his shoulder with Wendy Tori and Orion behind them.

Once outside, they scanned the sky for the cannon. Finding near the top of the castle, Orion summoned the Auriga chariot and everyone hopped on. Gajeel though began to feel a little queasy. “Damn it, why am I getting flame breath’s crummy sickness!?”

“Hold it together Gajeel!” Tori called out as they flew closer to the anima crystal. Stopping long enough to let the Dragon Slayer off, the chariot raced off into the sky, the Exceeds guiding them forward.

 _“There we go! Come on Argo! Let’s get rocking and rolling!”_ Drew called out impatiently.

The Metal slayer nodded and approached the crystal. Then his instincts told him to turn around and his transformed arm caught a swung sword. On the other end of the blade was Pantherlily, the black Exceed floating above them.

“You’ve come this far, and I’m impressed. But what you and your friends are doing will not end in your victory.”

Drew glared at the Exceed. _“Gajeel, don’t let him taunt you. Just take 5 seconds, let me and Friedrich out and we can take him together in like five minutes.”_ He saw the man grin and step forward, summoning Redemption and Condemnation. _“Gajeel, are you listening to me? Let us out!”_

“Shut yer yap Lion boy!” The dragon slayer snarled.

_“Oh you have got to be kidding me, this is not a time for your damn pride!”_

Ignoring the fuming Guardian, Gajeel laughed. “I finally found you. I’ve been looking for a cat like flame breath and the kid.”

 _“What is he talking about?”_ Friedrich asked.

 _“Oh my god, are you still on this cat obsession?! You're worse than a hoarder!”_ Drew facepalmed. _“He’s been kidnapping stray and owned cats for the last…three weeks! Gajeel. let us out! That is a god damn order!”_

_“Remind me to kick his ass!” Friedrich growled._

_“Get in line!”_

“Watch and learn, kid, how a dragon gets what he wants!” he shouted, his skin turning metallic grey as he charged the floating Exceed.

“Then come!” Pantherlily demanded, flying in to meet the slayer.

Meanwhile

Underneath the Royal City, as they battled their way to find the king, Natsu and Grey continued to argue as they picked off shadow soldiers. 

“Like I care what you think, Ice Face!” Natsu shouted, punching one of their heads off.

“It’s the truth, you needed my help, salmon head!” Grey replied icing the floor to cause their opponents to slip up and allowing the girls to pick them off with metal links and gun fire.

“Somethings never change,” Lisanna giggled as she twirled her revolver and fired two shots down the tall killing a lance troope.

“You would know living with these knuckleheads,” Lucy responded ,her whip snaking through the corridor and knocking aside those standing in her way. “But to the point, this whole place is one big jumbled mess. If I didn’t know better, there could be an amusement park here.”

As they cleared the last of their opponents they came across a large door. Pushing it open, they were dumbstruck by the sight on the other side. It was indeed a large amusement park, with many roller coasters, slides and other amusement areas.

“I WAS JOKING!” Lucy screamed.

“Talk about prophetic Lucy,” Lisanna smiled.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” The voice of Byro carried through the room. At the top of the track was the shorter man with two companions, a blonde man in a pink armor and purple haired man with tips in a white jacket and suit. “So...you’ve made it this far. Well now, I think you should be glad to know, your no longer needed.

The purple haired man laughed. “Time for all of you to die!” The man said holding up a blacm object and pressed it.

**SKUNK**

Byro did the same as did the blonde, holding up a light blue and pink one respectfully.

**SQUID**

**ROSE**

The four Riders nodded and pulled out their belts, the noises they gave off echoing through the hall as they prepared to fight for their friends

**SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!~!**

**DRIVER READY/DRIVER ON!**

“HENSHIN!”

**FLAME, PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI!  
SUMMON: MAIDEN  
D-O-V-E! DOVE!  
TUNDRA WOLF! PROTECT THE PACK!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter
> 
> UO: And that’s the chapter with the battle for Edolas commencing. And just in time as a hurricane hits the coast. *Checks off Hurricane for 2020 Bingo*
> 
> NS: To be fair, that was kind of a given. There’s a hurricane practically every year.
> 
> UO: Consider the rest of the crap going on and hitting us away from where they normally hit? BTW I did call a hurricane hitting us
> 
> New Forms:
> 
> Orion
> 
> Auriga: The Charioteer. Orion’s upgrade form, her will to rescue everyone allowed her to summon this form as a way to ride around the battle. And once again, this form takes on material from Monster Hunter World, specifically the Kulve Taroth female armor. Anyway, she can summon a large chariot or vehicle to take her around the battlefield. As for the constellation, it’s the second largest of the currently accepted constellations only losing out to Hydra. With Orion’s Rigel, Taurus’ Aldebrann, Gemini’s Pollux, Sirius in Canis Major and Holycon in Canis Minor, Auriga’s Capella makes up the Winter Hexagon. It's been a recognized constellation in some form since Mesopotamia and is one of Ptolemy’s 48 categorized stars. In the constellation itself are several nebulae that are a great sight for any astronomer.
> 
> Preview: The battle to save everyone rages on as help arrives from unexpected sources.
> 
> Next time: The Dragon’s Ascent!
> 
> OSPREY...SWOOOSH!


	36. End of Tyranny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War breaks out as the Riders work to save their friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY...SWOOOSH  
> UO: Alright, now for the final canon chapter for a long time  
> Natsu: Meaning?  
> UO: Meaning because of a lot of plans, I’m pushing Tenrou WAAAYYYY back. At least several chapters. With original content galore, but we have to finish this arc. Now we have big canon altering events planned for Tenrou, the skip and what happens after the skip, but let’s just say, starting after this chapter, there will be a lot of fighting. Hopefully, we can mix in romance and fanservice to balance it. For more information or to talk to me hit me up on discord: discord . gg/ A8tPPB  
> Lucy: *Pout* Oh man.  
> Drew: HEY! At least you're not still stuck in that anima crystal! GAJEEL!  
> Gajeel: SHUT UP! *Brawl Starts*  
> Friedrich: *Not looking up from his phone* Kick his ass, Drew.  
> *Suddenly, TEMP gets flung out of a dimensional portal.*  
> TEMP: Oh, God, tell me I actually made it this time.  
> Lucy: Tempest, where were you last time?  
> TEMP: I know, I know. Personal work or other obligations kept me from helping out the latest works and the like so that one is on me. At least I assisted a bit in the last chapter’s beginning.  
> UO: Alright, focus people, we need everyone to focus. You know the deal, we don’t own stuff, save the plot, let’s go, go, GO!”  
> "Speech"  
> Text  
> Thought and Lyrics  
> Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
> Attacks/Spells/Techniques

Chapter 36: The End of Tyranny

Lucy Ashley was nervous and with good reason as she stood in front of her guild. What she had to say was crazy, suicidal even. But something Gabby said to her struck a chord in the cold heart of the renegade. Rebelling against a king was one thing, but rebelling against this order was nuts. Their way of running was fine for years ever since the decree was declared, but that was just it, the Earthland mage basically called their ways cowardice. Ashley wanted to call them out but deep down, she knew she was right. If they were gonna die anyway, they may as well fight for their rights.

“Um...Lucy?” Natsu’s timid voice broke her musings. “Everyone’s ready...are you sure about this?”

“No...but if we don’t do this, we’ll regret it the rest of our lives,” Ashley told her companion, walking next to him, then stopping next to her...partner. “Thank you for supporting me.”

“Always Luce,” Natsu grinned.

“You know, Earthland Natsu and Lucy are together, maybe if we survive. we can go on a date.”

“Then we better survive,” Natsu replied as they walked up to the stage. 

Seeing everyone gathered, Lucy took a deep breath. “Thank you for coming. What about to ask of you is going to sound insane. For too long, King Faust has persecuted us, destroyed our guilds, banning what we know. For what? To keep the magic for himself. No more. We need to do something. We need to stand for our rights. We need to overthrow him!”

This made everyone nervous and some were mad at her. Juvia spoke up first. “What the hell? You were all for running now you want us to fight?”

“Against the Royal army, are you nuts?”

“You must have hit your head on the way home!”

Lucy could understand their trepidation. They were hunted for so long and now they expected to fight back with what limited resources and overthrow an entire kingdom. They were right to call her insane. “Listen to me!” She screamed, bringing the attention back to her. “Right now, those mages from Earthland are fighting to save their friends, and to do that they would be fighting the king and his men. If we don’t fight we can’t call ourselves mages. This is our home! We need to fight for our own future! If you're not with me, then I’ll go by myself!” With that Ashley walked off in a huff. 

Natsu quickly followed her. “You're gonna need a ride back to the capital.”

“Thank you.”

“I don’t think Dragion’s car will fit all of us,” Levy commented with a smirk, walking up to Lucy. Behind her, the guild had shuffled out one by one, with their weapons in hand.

“If those Earthland Mages are willing to fight for us, then we should fight as well!” Elfman declared.

“We’re not gonna let them get hurt on our watch,” Jet declared.

Lucy watched with a smile as the rest of the guild threw in their support. “King Faust you are going down!”

In the Castle

Lupus fired off several shots at his opponent in front of him. The Rose Dopant simply raised his hand, causing several petals rising up. They began to spin around him and absorbing the blast before firing at the Rider. The wolf Rider ducked behind some rubble as he watched Draco, Pleiades and Columbia scream around the tracks. Evidently, sending the two girls up to ride with the dragon slayer wasn’t the greatest idea, especially with the slayer’s motion sickness.

 **“What’s wrong? You can’t harm some flowers?”** Rose taunted.

“How about you shut up! **Ice Make: Bazooka!”** Lupus held up his rifle and charged up his magic. Once he felt he charged up enough, he pulled the trigger, firing a massive ball of ice. Rose watched the ice ball raced towards and futilely pulled up roses to block the shots. The bazooka impacted the shield and exploded sending shards of ice at him and causing extensive damage. As he flew back, Lupus iced the floor and raced towards him, laced with magic. He slashed across his torso and knocked him into a nearby wall.

 **“You think this will stop us?”** Rose growled standing up. **“By now, the King will have unleashed Operation ETD! You can’t win!”**

“We’ll see about that,” Lupus said, readying to attack again.

Meanwhile on the other side of the park, Natsu groaned as he shook his head. He had ended up on the death machine known as a roller coaster which somehow Lucy and Lisanna ended up on. The coaster crashed into a lake where one of the dopants, the smelly Skunk one attacked them in the water. Despite using Pleiades Aquarius form, the Skunk dopant overwhelmed Pleiades and launched them into the warehouse they were currently in, temporarily dehenshining them.

“God damnit, that dopant really got us. Lucy, Lisanna? You alright?”

“Can you get us out?” Lucy cried out from a coffin shaped box that had a skull and heart on the front. Natsu approached it and opened the box, revealing the two girls dressed completely differently then when they went in. They were dressed in arabian dancers outfits. Lucy was in a red top that really only covered her nipples, a purple turban and white drapes over her legs, while Lisanna wore a strapless blue jeweled top, matching face shawl and black beaded drapes.

Natsu’s first reaction was a grin and a slight nosebleed. “Can we keep those?” This got an embarrassed blush out of both, but they smiled at the appreciation. 

Then Lucy cleared her throat. “Th-this is probably a dress changer, maybe we can use it to distract that dopant,” she said, pulling Lisanna close and closing the door.

“Let’s see…” Natsu mumbled looking at the dial. He turned it to a bunny emblem and pushed the button next to it. Moments later, both girls ended up in playboy bunny suits. The suits clearly showed off both of their best assets, with the corset tight against Lucy’s breasts and Lisanna’s showing off her own long legs.

“Whoops.” Natsu called out, flipping the dial again. This time they ended up in purple monster suits.

“Natsu! Come on!” Lisanna moaned.

“Can I help it if my girlfriends look sexy?” Natsu called back as he turned the dial again. This time they ended up in yukatas, Lucy’s in orange with leaves and Lisanna’s in purple with moons. One more turn of the dial and they ended up in blue one pieces with floaties.

Natsu couldn’t help but laugh at their predicament. "We should totally take this back with us!"

"Lucy Chop!" The blonde yelled slamming her arm into his head. "I agree but let's see how it looks on guys!" She grinned and shoved the dragon slayer into the machine. Lisanna fiddled with the dials, giggling like a schoolgirl. Natsu was quickly changed into similar outfits as the girls both laughing maniacally at how ridiculous he looked.

Natsu looked down at his swimsuit and huffed. "Ash could probably pull this off better than me.

"Probably," Lucy agreed. 

"Who?" Lisanna asked.

"Another Guardian, the Lightning one to be exact, He had a knack for ending up dressed like a girl and he kind of likes it. But trust me, he's a great guy just quirky. His whole team is."

Before more was said a familiar voice was heard. **"Where are you mages? Don't worry I won't hurt you too much just make you stink like death.**

"We need to ambush him," Natsu said though the outfit he was wearing took away from the seriousness. 

“Natsu, help me change, I got a plan,” Lucy ordered.

Moments later, Skunk bashed through the door. **“Found you...eh?”** The dopant stopped as he took in the sight. Lucy was there dressed in a green and yellow top and green sarong.

“Hello big boy, are you looking for me?” She purred.

 **“...Not interested,”** The dopant growled.

“Well I tried, guess it's option B. NOW!” 

Before Skunk could realize the trap, Urvan sliced through the back of the dopant. **“GAH!”**

“I should feel insulted that you're not giving my princess the time of day,” Draco grinned. “Now I’m gonna kick your ass!”

 **“Bring it!”** Skunk taunted, his hand glowing and the room around him responding to his commands.

Up in the throne room, King Faust watched as his Lacrima cannon, full of the dragon energy that had been stolen. “It is time to say goodbye to the gods!” He announced as the Squid dopant approached. 

**“My king. Your plans are foolproof. Using the gathered dragon energy we will ram our castle into the so-called gods home and merge them together. The amount of magic from the Lacrimas will rain over our kingdom forever!”**

“Indeed,” Faust nodded as Coco ran in out of breath. 

“Your majesty! Pantherlily is still out there! Hold off on firing!”

Faust regarding the young woman and scoffed. “He’s no more use to me, he can die with the rest of those cats.”

“WHAT?” Coco screamed. 

**“Know your place girl!”** Squid demanded as the king raised up a large key. 

Coco without thinking raced up and grabbed the key before rushing away.

“Damn that girl!” Faust growled holding up his staff. A bolt of lighting tore away from it aimed at the fleeing girl. The bolt nearly hit her, but the impact was enough to knock her to her feet. Despite the pain she felt the adrenaline she felt pushed her forward.

“Go get that key!” Faust ordered.

 **“GET BACK HERE YOU TRAITOROUS WHELP!”** Squid demanded rushing after her.

Coco looked behind her to see the dopant after her, which made her blind to Lucy as they ran into each other. The two girls had escaped the theme park while Draco and the Skunk dopant were fighting, escaping from the creatures that the di

“Oh my god are you okay?” Lisanna asked, helping both up.

Coco looked at the two mages, that at one point was her enemy now she was resisting her king to potentially help them. “I could ask you the same thing. But that’s not important.”

 **“Give me that key!”** The dopant roared the tentacles reaching out to grab Coco. Only for Lisanna to shoot off several shots from her revolvers.

“If you think you're gonna take my keys, you have another thing coming!” Lucy declared pulling out Taurus’ key!. “Ready Lis?”

The animal mage nodded, summoning her belt back and started her pose. “Let’s go! HENSHIN!”

**SUMMON: BULL**

**GATE! OPEN! D-O-V-E! DOVE!**

**“Impossible! You can’t create anything from nothing!”**

“That’s what you think!” Pleiades shouted rushing forward with her Axe glowing. 

**“Flame Liquid!”** The Squid drank a vial of black liquid and spat out a stream of flame, which struck the armored Rider and knocked her back,

 _“Soooorrry! I can’t stick around!”_ Taurus cried as the armor glowed and then reset to her default silver armor.

Squid grinned at the down Rider only for Columbia to strike him across the chest. **“Damn you girl!”** He flung his tentacle at the animal Rider as she flew up and fired off multiple shots. As Columbia landed, Pleiades quickly swapped in Virgo’s key.

**SUMMON: MAID**

As the armor formed, Pleiades raised her hand. **SPICA HOLE!”** The ground collapsed under the dopant and he cursed the mages as he collapsed into the pit.

“Nice one Lucy!” Columbia cheered.

“Its Pleia in this form, but yeah...and this was too easy!”

Just as she said this a large tentacle swung up and grabbed Coco. “KYAAA!” She screamed as she was brought closer to the dopant, having grown several feet tall and grown five other tentacles

**“Now I have your servant. You're going to regret defying us!”**

“Put her down!” Columbia demanded, pointing her guns at the dopant’s head. 

**“I suggest you surrender or Coco here won’t be around much longer.**

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, Virgo popped out of Pleiades’s armor. “Hime, you're running out of energy. I can’t stay with you.”

“What?” The Metal Guardian asked, only to realize that for all of the energy her Guardian powers were giving her, she had been using both her magic and Guardian heritage to fight the last two hours almost non stop and it was finally reaching empty. 

Virgo, feeling her distress, held out her hand. A ball of energy appeared and formed into a metal tube. “This is Fleuves d’ettoles, the River of the Edrindeus Stars. You can use this to conserve your magic. Perhaps you can merge it into Mutsuraboshi?”

Pleiades summoned the full whip from her body and looked at the whip. Thinking quickly, she found the handle of her Rider weapon and slotted in the celestial weapon. Magical energy flowed through the Guardian weapon, which made the mage grin behind her helmet as Virgo faded away.

 **“Don’t ignore your betters!”** Squid snarled, lashing out one of his tentacles. Only for it to be caught by Pleiades without looking, her whip crackling with energy.

“That’s assuming you're my better. And last I checked you aren’t!” She declared running up another tentacle and striking at the one holding Coco. “Anyone who attacks their comrades is nothing but a bully!” She extended her whip that flew around and snapped up the rest of the tentacles. She glared at her opponent. “And that’s why we're gonna win!” She flipped over the dopant’s head and snapped the whp forward to find the dopant in the opposite direction. At the same time, an explosion rocked the area as the Skunk dopant flew through the air and struck his companion. Both of the dopants crashed into each other, the impact knocking them out and causing them to return to normal. 

“Monster….” Hughes moaned as both collapsed to the ground.

Coco stood up slowly. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Columbia told her. “So what’s with the key?”

Coco glanced down. “This is the key that will activate the Dragon Chain Cannon that will destroy Extalia. I rather lose my magic than hurt my friends!”

Columbia smiled. “You would like it in Fairy Tail.” As she reached for the key, the Rose dopant appeared above her and knocked both of them down, taking the key. Lupus sped by on an ice motorcycle.

“Get back here!” Lupus called out firing multiple shots and then dragging Tundra Claw on the ground. “ **ICE MAKE: FLOOR!”** He swiped it up, allowing the ice speed towards his opponent.

 **“Did you forget I can soften your ice?”** Rose called out waving his arm and liquifying it. Only for physics to take hold and he ended up sliding around losing control. Lupus took advantage and leapt off his motorcycle and tossed it at him. As the dopant caught the bike and melted it, Lupus rushed in and grabbed the key, freezing it.

 **“Let go of my hand and the key!”** he growled.

“I don’t think so!” Lupus replied as the key began to crack. “In my mind, you need this more than I do. And for my friends, I will shatter it to save them.”

**“WAIT! Your friends! We can turn them back with the Dragon Chain Cannon! I can ask the King to stop them.”**

Lupus paused at that, but then remembered they had a way to free them with the Dragon Slayers and continued to freeze the key until it cracked from the cold and shattered.

 **“You Fool...you just destroyed any chance of freeing your friends!”** Rose snarled, swiping at him only for Lupus to counter and slice through, knocking him down and returning him to normal.

“You think that I need the key? News flash, I’m an Ice creation Mage.” As Lupus said this, he concentrated his magic and in mere seconds, an exact replica of the key form to knights shock.

Draco walked up to the wolf rider and powered down. “Nice one stripper.”

“Thanks, now with this key, we can control the cannon and save our friends.”

“Is that so?” A familiar voice called out. The two boys turned and to their shock saw Knightwalker marching up to them. One thought went through their heads, _Did Erza lose to Knightwalker?_

As she got closer, the two boys tensed up for a fight. Natsu took a deep whiff and relaxed. “That’s not Knightwalker, it's ours. Great job Erza!

“Please,” the redhead scoffed. “She was nothing I couldn’t handle. Anyway, I have an idea, but you're gonna have to trust me.”

“Why?” Grey asked. 

In response, Erza punched both of them in the gut. “That’s why. Lucy, Lisanna!”

“Yeah?” Pleiades called back disturbed at how casually they were knocked out.

“Get us a ride out of here, if the plan fails, we need to stop the cannon in its tracks!”

Coco motioned the two over. “I know where we can get some Legions!”

Up in Extalia

Wendy, Orion and Tori with Happy and Carla landing next to them.i landed on Extalia to a crowd of weary Exceeds. The young dragon slayer stepped forward with her hands spread. “Please let us through, we need to see the Queen!”

Nadi who saw them frowned and approached. “What is going on?”

“Nadi, it's terrible!” Happy cried. “The king attacked all of the Exceeds flying after us! Please, we need to see the queen!”

At this the normal civilian Exceeds began to laugh.

“Humans hurt us? That’s a laugh!”

“We’re invincible up here!”

“With our Queen we can’t lose!”

“With what magic?” Orion called out stopping everyone in their tracks. “Supposedly you're this mystical magical race right? Where’s your power? Where’s the magic your queen has graced you with? I can sense energy, Aura and Magic. You. Have. NONE OF THAT!”

Someone from the crowd was fed up with this and threw a rock at her. Out of reflex, she caught it in her hand and crushed it. “Don’t attack me for the truth. If you can’t see you're in danger then you're all blind!

More Exceeds started yelling and tossing stuff at the invaders. Tori immediately put up a water shield, partly to protect them, partly to show that they weren’t going to do anything to Exceeds. As the disturbance devolved, Nadi watched on, horrified at the chaos. Thinking of nothing more than to placate the crowd he rushed to get the queen of Extalia.

On the Anima island

Gajeel slid back from the force of the blow, his arms transformed into metal pikes. His opponent quickly rushed him, only for Gajeel to counter with a Condemnation shot to the chest.

“You're pretty good! All the more reason to make you my cat! You and I would be great partners.

“I agree, it's been a long time since I’ve been able to fight like this!” Pantherlily responded. “Your armor is impressive to stand up to my blade,” he said holding up his massive sword which had chipped. “Your other weapon is impressive too, you called it a Flintlock?”

“Yeah, some sort of projectile throwing weapon! I can probably pick any target and blast you,” Gajeel responded, ignoring Drew’s shouts. “Tell me something, you're an Exceed right? Why are you working for the Royal army?”

Pantherlily huffed. “Why should I fight for false Gods? That place is nothing but lies!” he declared, clashing again.

“False gods? What do you mean?”

“Beat me and find out!” The tall Exceed ordered and clashed again.

In the crystal behind them, Drew was throwing a tantrum. _“Projectile throwing? Come on! I taught you better than that!”_

 _“Did you?”_ Friedrich asked.

 _“Okay maybe not him, but god damn it I’ve told everyone how dangerous this is. We need to do something before we run out of time.”_ A loud rumble caught their attention and Drew groaned. “ _Me and my big mouth!”_

“What the hell?” Gajeel called out.

“It seems like the king has begun his plans. He plans to ram his castle into Extalia and bring it down,” Lily explained.

_“SHIT! What are those guys doing? Friedrich!”_

_“I’m on it!”_ Friedrich replied, sending more energy into the Fire Guardian and allowing Drew to teleport down.

Moments prior

Scarlet dragged the two boys into the throne room. “Your majesty, I bring two of the rebels to you. Unfortunately, the key was lost thanks to them. However,” she kicked Grey forward. “He can make a new one!”

“He can, can he?” Faust looked at the Ice mage. “Well then, get to it! You're gonna make a new key so we can destroy the gods!”

Grey glanced behind him to see Erza holding her sword by Natsu’s throat to sell the deception. Her pressing the blade closer convinced him to continue. Grey held up his hands and slowly an icy replica formed. He approached the cannon and inserted the key, _I hope this plan works. ‘Cause there is no way I know how to aim this to make sure it hits the lacrima._ As he turned it, the castle began to shift, allowing the cannon, in the shape of a dragon’s head, to spring up. 

It was to this scene that Drew transported into. _“No no no, Grey what are you doing?”_ he said to himself. Then he noticed Knightwalker holding Natsu close. _“Damn it, Erza lost! And she’s got Milo to boot!_ He paused at that, remembering that unless the wielder gave them the weapons, they wouldn’t respond. _“Wait a minute…oh you clever girl, using the mirror world as a way to get close.”_

Indeed the moment, Grey inserted the key, Scarlet tossed Natsu up into the air. “NOW!” She yelled, firing her spear at the king and pinning him to the floor. 

Natsu gathered up his power and grinned. **Fire Dragon’s Wing Attack!”** The fiery barrage spread throughout the throne room knocking down the soldiers and knights.

Erza stomped up to the King and held Milo to his throat. “Turn that cannon towards the Lacrima! Now!” 

The soldiers quickly followed the red heads orders. Natsu walked up to the King. “It's over! Our friends are gonna be getting out of that crystal. And by now our friends will have told the Exceeds what happened here. You're not gonna get away with harming our friends!”

Before they could finish moving the cannon, a loud crash came from above them. It was Knightwalker who crashed down with a wild look at Scarlet. Scarlet was forced to let go of the king and block the overhead slash. At the same time, the soldiers feeling emboldened reset their target from the crystal to the island. Moments later as the chaos continued, Pleiades and Columbia rode in on a legion with Coco at the controls. “Come on! We can still stop this!” The Metal Guardian called out as the two boys rushed aboard. Erza quickly raced over in her Heaven’s Wheel armor and flew alongside.

“Stop them!” Knghtwalker roared, slicing off her hair to identify herself compared to Scarlet. “Second Regiment! Go after them!” 

Faust slowly sat up as Sir McQueen helped him up. **“Your Orders sir!”**

”Go after the Riders on Extalia! I’ll worry about the group here! Men activate Dominus Anim!”

The guards scrambled to follow them, while Mcqueen led his squadron to their chariots.

As the Lacrima Island began to fly up to Extalia, Natsu and Grey returned to their Rider forms. With the combined power of two Guardians and two Knights, they hoped it was enough to push them back. 

Drew though returned to Gajeel and Pantherlilly. _“Gajeel! Look what’s going on!”_ The Iron Dragon slayer looked and saw the island speeding towards Extalia. _“Break Off and Help them out! If this Island crashes with us still on it, we’re dead!”_

“What’s the point of saving this island,” Pantherlily asked. “All your efforts will be in vain!”

“Oh shut up! After I’m done saving my friends, I’m making you my cat!” Gajeel laughed as he brought out his ring and placed the anchor ring on.

**RAISE ANCHOR!**

“HENSHIN!”

“Henshin?” Pantherlily wondered. 

**ARGO! SETTING SAIL!**

As the magic ring covered the Iron Dragon Slayer, the Exceed hummed. “So that’s what a Rider looks like. I’ve been told by Commander Scarlet that these Rider have been a thorn in our side.

“Yeah and we’re gonna stop this plan!” Argo told him as he pointed his grappling hook at the Legion and pulled himself aboard.

“What’s the plan?” Columbia asked.

 _“_ I think our Dragon Roars combined with whatever the strongest spell you guys got should do it!” Draco called out.

Pleiades nodded and pulled out Loke’s key and placed it on top.

**WINDING. AND. UP.**

**SYZGZY: LEO**

Pleiades armor glowed before shifting around again. When it stopped, her armor was now a pearlesque silver with her chest area bulking up as if she was a boxer. Her shoulders gained several spike-like shoulder pads while her hands turned into a pair of lion shaped gauntlets. Her helmet turned into a female lion’s head as well. 

_“Loke! Let’s save our friends!”_

_“Right with you Princess!”_

Draco and Argo leaned back, their mouths glowing with power. Meanwhile, Erza started to spin her sword, the wing kicking up as well. Columbia and Lupus pointed their guns and charged them up with as much power as they could pour into them.

** “FIRE DRAGON’S/IRON DRAGON’S ROAR!” **

** “REGULUS STAR CANNON!” **

** “ICE MAKE: FROZEN WAVE! **

** “EAGLES RAGE!” **

The five attacks shined bright as they pushed the island back. The island seemingly unstoppable at first quickly began to lose momentum, with the Legion helping them push it back. With considerable effort, the Lacrima island was slowed, but it continued to race towards Extalia.

Pantherlily flew over to them and, noticing Coco, scoffed. “What your doing is hopeless! Leave now while you still can!”

“Who said it was hopeless!?” Draco yelled, pausing his attack temporarily. “You don’t decided. We decide our actions and we’re saving our friends!”

“You don’t know when to quit, let the island die!”

Seeing he was ignored, he looked towards Extaila and began to remember why he left. It was because he had compassion towards a human child. An injured one, the prince of the very nation that was threatening to ruin the country. Yet, these humans were willing to stop them. He had truly fallen far, because his bitterness would now make him a spectator in his home’s destruction.

Up on Extalia

A guard rushed into the Extalia throne room. “Your majesty, there’s a Riot in the square. Humans from the surface are here claiming that the kingdom is about to destroy us!”

The Queen, a tall white Exceed in a fancy fur robe, looked on with surprise. “What of Nichiya?”

The guard fidgeted, “The...army was turned into a Lacrima crystal…we don’t know how many.”

While the elders were murmuring angrily, the Queen stepped forward. “Let me talk with these humans, maybe we can reason with them.

Out in the courtyard, the Queen watched as her citizens attacked two younger girls, an armored figure and a white Exceed. Horrified at the riot occurring, she began to rush forward.

Orion was getting annoyed with rocks. “Would you guys listen for TWO MINUTES! If you would look in the sky you can see that Lacrima is gonna crash into us! If it does WE”RE ALL DEAD!

This seemed to rile up the Exceeds more and another rock was thrown this time at Carla. This time Nadi stepped in and caught it. “She’s right. You people are being rude to these people. Stand down and wait for the Queen.”

“Thank you, Nadi,” the queen spoke. The crowds cheered as she stepped forward. “I am Queen Shogette of Extalia. Who are you?”

“I am Gabriella, but in this form I go by Orion. We came seeking help from the so--called gods to save our friends. But it has become apparent that you can not help, nor are we in a position to save you.”

“Then...it's more than we deserve,” Shogette sighed, dropping her coat to reveal one damaged wing. “To be perfectly honest...this is our judgement. I am no Queen, or a God; I am an Exceed like you all.

“What are you saying?” Carla demanded.

“Our whole society is built on lies,” Shaogette began. “Years ago, we were nothing more than weak creatures looking to survive. We began to make up stories about being gods, our wings helping us sell the illusion. But it wasn’t until I began to predict people’s deaths with accuracy, that they became scared of our supposed power. Even if it was a lie, it was the best way to protect ourselves. Now, our reckoning has come.”

Nadi moved to approach her, but instead the queen threw a knife at Carla’s feet. The citizens who were listening in began to cry and sob in despair as their queen knelt in front of Carla. “You're the right age for the Exceeds that we sent to Earthland. We concocted this plan to save us but we took away your right to a choice. If anyone has a right to kill me, it's you.” She looked at the crying citizens. “Fly! Go away! Save yourselves and leave me to my fate!”

Carla stared at the knife and slowly picked it up. “I may have a right to kill you. You used me, used your own citizens to deceive our friends,” Then she stabbed the ground. “And yet, you're going to be the reason we fight!” 

“What?” the queen asked.

“This is your home!” Carla began. “You may have little magic, but you can all fight. We have friends trying to prevent Lacrima from destroying everyone here! Help us! Help fight for your home! Don’t let us go out on our knees! Fight for your Freedom!”

The Exceeds, formerly crying, began to roar in unison, their resolve hardened. Carla’s wings unfolded and she flew over to pick up Wendy. As one, the various Exceeds began to reveal their wings and flew after her.

“Come on, they’re gonna need back up!” Orion told Tori, hopping on her ride and flying after them. 

As they descended among the flying squadron, Tori spotted something coming at them fast. “LOOK OUT!” She shouted, throwing up a shield. Mcqueen, the Dopant, had spotted the group and charged forward, hitting Orion’s chariot and flying them off course.

“Tori! Orion!” Wendy called back.

“Don’t worry about us!” Tori called back, placing her belt on. “Just saving our friends! HENSHIN!”

**KAMEN RIDE: SIRIUS**

Sirius waved her wand at the approaching Dopant. **HEAVEN’S RIVER!”** A large volume of water pierced the sky and struck the Legion approaching them knocking him back.

**“You think you can keep this up? Your friends will die soon. And I have an entire squadron ready to fight!”**

“Orion, summon your chains, I’ve got an idea!” Sirius told her pulling out a new card. It showed a large bear with glowing claws. She opened the belt and slotted it in before slamming the Driver shut.

**Kamen Ride: Ursa!**

Sirius’ armor glowed then shifted. Her armor was shifted to her arms as two large claws attached themselves to her arms. Her helmet and suit turned a dark brown with two small bear ears on top.

“Wait, you're seriously gonna fight them?” Orion asked, activating Andromeda’s Memory.

**ANDROMEDA**

“No, just the dopant! Keep them off me!” ordered Sirius, as Orion wrapped her chains around her. With a heave, the healer was tossed right at the flying Kaijuu. With a shout, she tackled it off the legion and sent crashing towards the ground. She took four swipes at it before kicking off and using her new Bud through her staff cushioned her fall as they landed. Rolling forward she turned towards her opponent.

 **“A little dog to fight a hunter like me,”** McQueen sneered, pulling out an arrow and nocking it. **“This will be a glorious hunt!”** He laughed firing the arrow at the Rider. 

Sirius spun her staff and blocked the arrow. Holding it front of her, she replied, “I train with hunters like you, good luck finishing the job!”

**“Insolent Whelp!”**

Up in the sky, Wendy had caught up to the rest. “Guys we’re here to help!”

“Alright kid, you want to help you gotta unleash your dragon roar and push it back!” Argo shouted.

Wendy nodded and flew next to Pleadies. She took a deep breath. **“Sky Dragon’s ROOOOARRR!”**

A bright green gust of wind blew out from her mouth, the force of the attack blew her backwards, Carla stabilizing her flight. At the same time, many of the Exceeds flew down and as one began to push back as well. Shagotte tried to fly and help as well, but with one wing, she was exhausted. Before she could begin to fall, Pantherlily caught her.

“Lily,” the white cat whispered.

“Your highness. I am glad you're okay. Are you finished lying to everyone?”

“Yes, you should have never been exiled. I am sorry.”

“No,” the black cat shook his head. “I’m sorry for abandoning Extalia, it is and always has been my home. But now we’re just spectators to its demise.”

Shagotte watched her countrymen help the humans push the island back. “You have to have faith.”

The two watched as the combined effort of the Exceeds and Riders pushed the island back. Once it stopped everyone cheered in triumph. Just then the island was lit up by a large beam of light.

“What the hell?” Draco yelled out.

“So this is what a Kamen Rider is capable of,” a familiar voice called out. Everyone turned to see a blue haired individual walking towards him.

“Mystogan?” Erza asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I am fixing what my father did to your world,” the man explained.

“What?” 

_“It means we’re going home!”_ Drew cheered as he showed up. _“Whatever Mystogan did, he’s sending us back to Earthland!_

“Indeed, but there is still work for me to send you all home,” Mystogan replied.

 _“That’s fine, cause our mission isn’t done here!”_ Drew told him, addressing his friends. _“Listen well my fellow Riders! Finish this fight! Show this king what true power is! Liberate this world from his tyranny and come home alive! That’s an order!_

All of the Riders in earshot could not help it but snap a salute, his charisma even encased in the Lacrima was powerful. Up in the sky, Orion felt the command and she snapped off three powerful shots. Down below, Sirius sprang away from her opponent, her partner’s power coursing through her subconsciously.

Drew nodded and in a flash of light, the Lacrima disappeared. Coco gasped. “Prince Mystogan! You’re alive!”

Pantherlily bowed. “It's good to see you alive, my prince.”

“Likewise, my old friend,” Mystogan smiled. As Lily approached a large shot blasted through his chest, making him fall to his knees.

“So, this is where you were,” Knightwalker snarled. Behind her, multiple elements of the Fiore army stood poised for battle with multiple shadow soldiers. Above them a large metallic egg appeared.

“So my traitorous, disowned son shows up in my moment of triumph!” Faust snarled.

“It's over, father,” Mystogan responded. “The Lacrima is gone, you have no reason to fight anymore!”

“Oh but that isn’t true. I have enemies all around me, and it's time to end them! This is the Dominus Arim! A machine so powerful it's banned by our Constitution!” He pressed a button inside which caused the metal egg to shift. It slowly began to shift, creating long legs, arms and a pair of metallic wings. Out of the top of the sphere came a large serpentine dragon head that roared loudly.

“MEN! Destroy those Exceeds!” Faust ordered his army, with all of them cheering.

“Orion! Protect the Exceeds! Columbia, Pleia, help her out and take care of the groups on the ground! Argo, Wendy, with me! We’re taking that dragon down!” Draco Told his friends. “Erza!”

“I’m going after Knightwalker!” Scarlet growled, leaping away and taking flight. Meanwhile, the dragon slayers quickly raced to fight the metal beast rampaging over the field.

Further away from the battlefield, Sirius deflected another arrow and swung her staff sending a wave of water at McQueen. It had slowed to a stalemate as McQueen being a long range fighter wasn’t so keen to get close so he used the buildings surrounding the field as cover. At the same time, Sirius’s strength was in shielding and not offense. Her illusions had gotten better, but in a fight like this it was going to be difficult to use, forcing her into an offensive role. It essentially turned into a cat and mouse game with Sirius being the unfortunate Jerry.

 **“This is becoming tiresome!”** Mcqueen said launching another barrage at her, only for her to duck behind a building. **“Your friends abandoned you to die, surely you see that little healer.”**

 _“His accent is getting on my nerves,”_ Sirius thought. Outloud, she spoke. “Then how come you don’t want to get closer.

**“I don’t want to dirty my hands with you, especially one whose never on the frontlines..”**

Sirius stayed quiet. **“Hit a nerve? I remember right before I was sucked here, Mistress Yuzan would brag in between her pain she nearly killed three of you. Master Paul would tell stories of how he nearly ended two of you as well. Both have one thing in common. You. You were nearly paralyzed, you were nearly drained of blood like a pig after a slaughter. What do you have to offer?**

“More than you,” Sirius mumbled. That was a mistake, as McQueen heard her and fired at her location.

 **“I’m sorry did you say something,”** Mcqueen taunted firing at her retreating form. **“That’s it. Run like the dog you are.”**

Sirius dug through a small rock wall and hid in the crevice, catching her breath. Looking out of her hiding spot, she could see McQueen still scanning around. Pressing her back against the wall, she closed her eyes. _“What do I do guys, this...is the first time I’ve ever fought solo...and I’m scared.”_ Her mind drifted to several memories. A time where Drew and Gabby promised to protect her, to take care of her. She was always somewhere in the back keeping them healthy, but with no one near, she was all alone.

 _“No...I’m not alone. I have them in my heart…and I have my constellations.”_ She looked at her transform cards. _“Ursa...Delphinus, Sirius, Lynx. They fight with me.”_ A small glowing shined behind them. _“What?”_ She picked it up and watched it form into a new card. It was a picture of a large fish, green and gold in color. Across the top was the word, _Dorado._

“Dorado…” She mumbled looking outside. Clenching it, she started to focus on the air, the moisture beginning to build.

Meanwhile, McQueen looked sharply at the walls, looking for his brey. **“Come out, come out, wherever you are,”** He sang. He felt the air grow heavy, the humidity suddenly rising. **“Interesting, there’s a storm coming.”** He looked up in the sky and frowned. **“Wait, the sky’s clear. Clever girl.”** Looking back down, he saw Sirius approaching him. **“Ahhh, so you see your resistance is futile.”** He notched an arrow in his bow. **“My mistress will be pleased.** ” He fired the arrow right between her eyes. To his surprise, the arrow went through her. Thinking he missed, he fired again, this time through the heart. Like the previous arrow it pierced through the Rider like she wasn’t there. **“What is this!?”** He panicked.

“Not so fun when you're not in control,” Sirius taunted, her voice distorted by the moisture.

 **“Cease your tricks!”** Mcqueen demanded firing off more arrows.

“Oh to be blinded by your own hubris...to find out you're not even fighting the real me,” At this Sirius dissolved into the air, turning into water vapor. Before he could react, Sirius snuck up behind him and struck him with Ursa’s claws, causing his body to spark and send him flying.

 **“Gahhhh!”** McQueen yelled, falling to his knees. **“How did you…?”**

“Get behind you? Easy, I’m not just a healer, I’m an illusionist now. With simple bending of water, I threw you off. But now, I’m gonna get serious.” She held up Dorado’s card and opened up her belt. She flipped her card and slotted it in. 

**Greater Ride: Dorado! RED!**

Suddenly, the air above her blurred in a pixelated sort of way, before sharpening into a silvery block. It then slotted itself over the open belt, locking it into position. Her deck case flashed, its colors shifting to a red-bordered black and shrinking down. The case then spat five cards into the air, floating above her helmet, the faceplate of which morphed into a sort of wedge shape, a single spin jutting straight up off of it.

The rest of the armor followed suit. Her armor shifted from an aquatic blue to a more jungle green and gold. Green fins not unlike a fish lined her legs. Her boots were replaced with heeled sandals, while her arms were covered in dense bone like material.

** “Kamen Rider Sirius: Dorado!” **

**“Time for some arrow-fishing, then!”** yelled McQueen, deploying crossbows from his limbs and firing bolts at the Rider.

Three of the cards floating over Sirius’s head shot down towards her belt, slotting themselves in rapidly.

**STRIKE!  
STRIKE!  
DEFEND!**

The fins on her arms flashed brightly, forming blades of energy, while her armor shimmered, and the remaining cards funneled themselves into the right side of her waist. The two attacks struck her dead on, deflecting off her harmlessly. Then she lashed out, firing two waves of light right back at the Dopant, slashing into him. _These cards...they work differently,_ she thought, _When I used them, my body moved without even thinking!_

Five new cards drew themselves from the case on her hip a moment later automatically. Passing her eye over them, the HUD inside her helmet automatically highlighted each card and read out a description for her. In addition, she could see some sort of counter in the corner with the number three, along with a similar number on each card.

 _What are these cards? They aren’t Yu-gi-oh or Pokemon._ Even as she thought this, she selected a card, which slotted itself into the Driver.

**BARRICADE!**

As her armor thrummed with power, the number in the corner dropped to zero, while an icon resembling stacked bricks appeared on the bottom. From what she had read in the description, the defense that she had acquired before would normally only last for a short time, no matter how much she accumulated.

 **“No you don’t!”** roared the Dopant, firing off a barrage of arrows. Sirius struck out, turning aside each projectile just enough that she could shift her body out of the way, while a new set of cards drew themselves. As they did, the counter reset to 3.

_So I can only play enough cards as I have this…energy._

Another barrage of arrows shot towards her, and she quickly selected two cards.

**DEFEND!  
WALL OF FIRE!**

This time, as her armor glowed with a new forcefield, a ring of fire traced itself around her feet. Just as all this happened, McQueen darted across the distance between them, hoping to catch her off guard, drawing a serrated knife from a holster in his leg. However, the blade quickly skittered off Sirius’s defenses, before fire blasted from underneath both of them, forcing her to leap back.

_Alright, these cards are doing great, but I have to rely on luck if I want good cards. I gotta be fast, especially with him peppering me. Enough attacks, and he might break my defense entirely!_

As the cards redrew, she quickly read one and slotted it in. As she did so, one of the cards flashed, its colors fading away until it became gray and featureless.

**IMPERVIOUS!  
DISARM!**

Her forcefield flared brightly, while a wave of red light washed over the Dopant, shattering the crossbows in his arms. **“GYAHHH!”**

 _That card…_ Sirius grimaced as the card that had granted her so much defense crumbled away to ash, _So it’s a one time use only. I hope it’s not permanent. I need to finish this fast!_ Her cards shuffled and a new set showed themselves. Two in particular stood out to her.

**ENTRENCH!  
BODY SLAM!**

Once more the first card burned away as she cast it, but her forcefield shone bright enough to make the Dopant flinch. Then, moving from her spot for the first time, she shot forward, a curved shield appearing in the air before her, before she SMASHED into him like a freight train, his body sticking to her almost flat as she sprinted away, before…

_*WHAM!*_

She slammed him into a stone wall, cracking it deeply and burying the Dopant in it.

**“What...did...you…”**

“A hunter is always in control of the situation,” Sirius muttered, pulling out Ursa’s card and placing it into a slot on her right hand, behind the claw.

**FINAL ATTACK RIDE: U-U-RSA!**

Her claws glowed green and gold. “But the hunted is always one step ahead. Your history!” She leaned back on her legs, her claws crossed in front of her. WIth a shout, she pushed off, an image of a grizzly bear overlaying her. At the desired range, she uncrossed her arms rapidly,slashing him across his chest. The claws, four on each paw, dug through the Dopant, dealing fatal damage to him as sparks, blood and skin spurted out of him. 

“Never mess with a dog, they will always surprise you,” Sirius told him walking away, an explosion rocking behind her.

“Hang on guys, help is on the way,” She whispered as she ran towards the sight of explosions.

Back with the dragon slayers, things were not going so well. Draco and Argo had been trying to strike it with their blades, with Wendy’s support spells helping them. Stumbling back from the blows. Faust glared at Wendy. “You are being a nuisance. Take this! **SILVER SLAYER MISSILES!”** Out of the hatch on his shoulders, several miniature rockets fired out, all aimed at the young dragon slayer. 

**“VEMIER!”** Wendy cried out desperately, the sky blue magic circle enveloping her and increasing her speed. However, the missiles stayed on her tail, matching and even exceeding her speed. Draco cursed and fired off several rounds before, blasting off to meet her. He shot several missiles down, but he landed in front of her and took the rest to protect her. The momentary distraction was enough to let Argo fire off several metallic daggers and a shot from Condemnation.

“Damn you!” Faust shouted, firing two more missles.

“Look out!” Wendy cried out. The missiles exploded in mid air, homing to catch both of them. Draco though saw the fire and his mouthplate opened up. The fire quickly disappeared into his body, his magic restoring itself.

“What trickery is this? Are you eating my fire?” Faust demanded. He felt his machine shudder and looked behind him. Argo got around behind him and began to chomp on the tail, enjoying it like it was a steak. Faust’s surprise turned to glee. “Forget destroying you, with all three of you in chains, magic can reign eternally!” He cackled as he began summoning something in the machine.

In the skys, Orion was busy picking off Edolas soldiers as they targeted the Exceeds flying around. With the chaos caused by the various shots, several Exceeds got hit and turned into crystal. However, her overwatch allowed more to fight the soldiers down below. On top of this, she was keeping an eye on the group below. Columbia and Lupus were firing as fast as their fingers were allowing them, while Pleiades had been weaving through the army, clad in her Taurus armor. The wolf mage was freezing the human soldiers by shooting the ground and causing it to wrap them in frozen magic, slowing them down while punching holes through the shadowy soldiers in their skulls.

Meanwhile, Columbia reached down to her belt and pulled out her Neko ring before slipping it on and placing it on her belt.

**GO! NEKO! NE-NE-NE-NEKO!**

As the layered circle passed over her, her armor morphed into a smooth, obsidian-like substance, giving her a sleek, sinuous appearance. Stripes of bone white swept across her arms and legs, forming a pattern of bands across her chest, while a pair of bony triangle ears sprouted from the top of her head and a jaw-like protrusion formed. A segmented tail swished behind her.

Columbia extended her fists, her claws extending. “Have a taste of my cat’s fury!” She screamed rushing into the fray, the soldiers screaming as she slashed through the forces. She spun around, her tail keeping her upright as she fired off several more shots into the crowd of shadow soldiers. As she spun, she extended her scythes out, extending her deadly range. Reaching the end of the group she smirked as her opponents dissipated.

As she was about to boast, a few more troops came up behind her in an attempt to cut her down. Only for them to be washed away by a powerful wave of water.

“Columbia, stay focused on the battle,” Sirius chided.

Orrion landed in front of them. Seeing her partner she grinned. “Love the new look. New form?”

“Yep!” Sirius replied. Scanning the battlefield, she realized the numbers were still not in favor. “A Division, that’s a lot.

“We can’t let this world fall,” Pleiades shouted, switching out Taurus’s key for Leo’s and transforming into her upgraded form. “You said it yourself. If we do nothing, Faust wins. We’re sworn to fight this and anything that threatens our homes!”

The little speech got the Rides who were next to her to reload and prepare to attack again. Just then, a large glowing light appeared in the ground. It grew in size then spread out attacking the legions in the air and on the ground. When the glow died, it revealed a large tree, with a familiar emblem on it.

“Wait...that’s Fairy Tail!” Columbia called out. “They actually showed up!”

The door opened revealing the guild armed to the teeth with their weapons. Ashley stepped forward with a sword on her back. “Can’t believe the party started without us. You guys save some for us?”

“Hah! I would love to see you keep up!” Orion called out hopping onto her steed, Sirius on board as well.” 

Pleiades nodded and pointed her fists forward. “FOR FREEDOM!” Everyone roared and charged at the army, exceeds, humans and Riders fighting for their home as they clashed with their opposition.

Further away, destruction abounded as the Eagle Knight and Captain of the Edolas Guard collided time and time again. Scarlet was dressed in a dual toned pink armor that had a pair of matching ornamental wings coming out of the breast plates. The armor itself was layered, with each layer extending further down her arms legs and chest. Her legs were covered with thigh length greeves that had a pair of wings extending out of her knee guards. On her back was a blue cape, and her hair was done up in a long ponytail held by a winged tiara.

“I must say, you must be able to strong to keep up with Armadura Fairy, one the strongest armors I have,” Scarlet said, sliding back and gripping her twin swords

Knightwalker panted, having been stripped to her metal leotard and greaves, and planted the butt her weapon in the ground. Her Ten Commandments had transformed into a four-pointed golden spear, with a red orb at its base. “If we’re on the same side, I’d take that as a compliment. Now face my strongest spear, Revalt!”

Scarlet reared back and through her swords at her opponent. She took off intending to end this fight quickly. Knightwalker did the same, screaming a battlecry. The impact of the two attacks, created an enormous explosion that could be seen for miles around. When the smoke died down, both were flat on their backs, their armors and weapons ruined.

Knightwalker panted as she got to a knee. Feeling the ground tremble, she looked up and saw the sky slowly moving. “This...island...is falling. But I won’t be the one...to die here!” She snarled rushing Scarlet. Scarlet though had recovered far quicker that Knightwalker anticipated and on the first punch thrown, she grabbed it and dragged the captain down and began to wail on her. Knightwalker blocked the first few blows, but the aggression broke her defense and Scarlet got three shots into her face. In desperation, she launched a kick into Scarlet’s abdomen. This forced the Fiore native off. 

Knightwalker spat out some blood and charged again, but Scarlet was more than ready and kneed her in the stomach. “Why do you continue to fight? Do you know how many will die because of your plans?”

“Who cares? This is what it means to be human, to sacrifice for your ideals!”

Scarlet growled and tackled her before punching her face. “You.” *WHAM* “Do not.” *SMACK* “Kill.” *BAM* “People.” *WHACK* “FOR!” *PUNCH* “YOUR!” *WHAM* “IDEALS!” On the last word she punched the ground next to Knightwalker’s head, making the now thoroughly bruised fallen general flinch. “Humans have the capacity for great compassion! Do you not see this fight? We’re fighting for a land that isn’t our own. Why? Because Tyranny is not the answer! Love is! Open your eyes!”

Knighwalker gazed at Scarlet, seeing the angry tears beginning to well up. Something in her gaze took all the fight out of her and she looked away. “You win. I surrender.”

Scarlet sighed and fell back as she watched the sky shoot past them. “Good luck, Natsu.”

In the castle, Mystogan carried the injured Pantherlily by his shoulder into the room that controlled the anima that brought the Riders to Edolas. “What are we doing here your majesty?” The Exceed asked questioningly.

“To stop this war, I am going to take away the very thing we’re fighting for..”

“You can’t mean…” Pantherlily gasped. “Your majesty, taking away magic is unthinkable. You would be destroying people’s homes!”

Mystogan flipped several switches and began the process. “If it is what it takes to bring peace, then let me be the villain. Let me be the one they fear.” He turned to his long time friend. “And to unite this world, I want you to be the one who defeats me.”

“No, I refuse, your majesty!” the dark-furred Exceed exclaimed. “Find another way, the kingdom needs you to lead.”

Mystogan shook his head and looked at the Anima controls. “It won’t be long now. Come, let’s watch the end of my father.”

Out on the battlefield, Faust laughed as he fired more magical beams out of the robot he was piloting. “Thanks to you dragon slayers, I can do this all day. With the power of the Black Sky, I will rule it all!”

Draco growled and pounded the ground. “Your People are Sufffering without magic! And here you are hoarding it all! Are you insane? What justification is there for making people suffer!”

“As a king its my right to...levy a tax from the people,” Faust explained without a care in the world.

“A tax! A TAX? YOU CALL MAGIC A TAX?” Draco snapped. “Magic is supposed to be used for the good of people! You're no king! My friend is more of a king than you are, and he comes from a country that has no King!”

“A country without a king? What anarchy is that? No matter! Thanks to your magic, I can’t lose!”

“Fuck that!” Draco declared. “You want to win, you're gonna have to do it through us!” The eyes of his right-hand ring flashed, before he flipped the hand of his belt and scanned it.

**DRAGONFORCE…**

Then, he slipped on his Water ring, flipped the hand back around and scanned it as well, causing the dragon ring’s eyes to flash blue.

**PLEASE! WATER!**

“What is this magic?” Faust demanded. “You don’t deserve this, only I can control it!”

“You wish,” Draco rebutted as the blue magic circle enveloped him from the right.

As the circle passed over him, his usual coat’s black surface flaked away to reveal a dazzling, rippling blue, the front closed, but embossed with an overlapping diamond pattern. His helmet flashed brightly, its features melding together, and transformed into a familiar fluid, glassy substance, only the standard large eyes visible. A series of long tendrils trailed from his scalp, waving gracefully through the air, while a long, pale scarf hid the lower part of his face. Tendrils off water wrapped around him and hooked onto his rings before he spun around with Urvan and pointed at Faust.

**“Kamen Rider Draco! Water Dragonforce!”**

“Don’t think that will change a thing,” Faust declared,the Dominus marching closer. “You're just making yourselves more valuable once I defeat you all!”

“Argo! Wendy! Let’s combine our Dragon Roars!”

“Got it!” Argo replied.

“Okay,” Wendy said unsure.

All three leaned back, magic gathering in their mouths, wth Draco and Argo combining their internal Guardian energy, which were beginning to run low. 

**“FIRE/IRON/SKY DRAGON’S ROAR!”** Out of the Riders mouth guards came twin bursts of fire and metal. Wendy, not used to such an attack, fired the spell with as much magic as should muster, creating a large tornado that merged with the Riders attacks. The triple dragon roar, raced towards their target, blinding the king. An enormous explosion ripped through the area.

Wendy looked hopeful at the dust cloud. “Did we get him?”

 **“DRAGON RISE SPREADER CANNON!”** The attack was all the confirmation they needed to know they missed. Above them, Dominus spread out his arms and a storm magical missiles flew at the Dragon slayers. They could not dodge in time and both Riders took significant damage to their armor while poor Wendy was sent flying away. As the smoke died, they laid sprawled out, Draco’s face mask cracked and parts of Argo’s chest were missing.

As Dominus hovered in the sky, Faust laughed. “Are you out of magic? Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to give you plenty of time to recover in my dungeon.”

“You really love to hear your own voice!” Draco growled. “Wendy, Argo! We’re not done yet!”

“But...but I’m out of magic,” Wendy pointed out.

“Then I’ll fight alone if I have to! OI! Tin Can! Let’s go!” Draco pounded his chest as he marched forward.

“Insolent brat!” Faust snapped forcing the Dominus forward. Raising up one of its legs, the king continued. “Die like the bug you are.” He pressed down and at first he thought he squashed him. Then he felt incredible resistance, the machine’s metallic body beginning to grind and crack as Draco held up the legs of the robot.

“Don’t you dare! Underestimate! A Guardian! AND A DRAGON SLAYER!” With a loud roar he pushed back with so much force, the Dominus fell flat onto his back.

“How!?” Faust panicked, frantically trying to right the ship. Only to feel it be held down by larger spikes. Argo, with the remainder of his energy, pinned Faust’s machine in place with metal spikes and iron bars.

“Finish this Salamander, while we can!” Argo called out.

Draco nodded, one of the many rings in his glowing tendrils beginning to glow. “I’m gonna need a lot of power here. Let’s hope Friedrich knows what he’s doing!

Then his other rings glowed, each one shining brightly as circle after circle flared open over Draco’s belt, overlapping with each other to form a more and more intricate one.

**SOLID! ENLARGE! SPLIT! SPLIT! SEEK! WATER! ALL SET, BLIZZARD! GO!**

Every part of Draco’s armor glowed blue as he hefted up Urvan, the axe taking on anice blue sheen. “Wendy, give me a boost!”

Wendy nodded and took a deep breath, calling upon the last of her reserves. **SKY DRAGON’S ROOOOOOARRRR!!!!”** Out of her mouth a gale of high pressure wind blew out, launching her backwards. Draco pushed off as the wind raced over him and began to flip end over end.

 **“EARTH DRAGONS’S GLACIER SPEARS!”** The Guardian shouted, a massive dragon materializing behind him. However, it then wavered and vanished, transforming into dozens upon dozens of icy spears, which he waved forward. They shot over him, a seemingly endless stream, punching through the mechanical dragon’s metal hide until the entire thing was riddled with glittering spires. The spires exploded, ripping through the robots metallic skin like paper and destroying its limbs. The remaining armored figure collapsed to the ground, smashing the floor beneath it.

Faust, still in his cockpit, groaned in agony. As he dropped his head, he began to rethink where he went wrong with this dragon slayer plan. These mages were more trouble than they’re worth,” Hearing the cockpit open, he looked up and saw Argo, Draco and Wendy looking at him with frowns. But in his mind, he saw three dragons glaring at him. He screamed and passed out from the mere images of dragons attacking him.

Once he was passed out, Wendy glomped Draco. “That was awesome!”

Draco was about to hug her back when they felt the ground rumbling. Looking up, they spotted the various flying islands beginning to crumble. “What’s going on?”

“It's the magic here!” Orion called out as she flew in with the remaining Riders and Lucy Ashley. “Someone is reversing the magic flow!”

“Only someone in the castle could be doing this, we need to find out what’s going on!” Ashley shouted as they raced into the city

“Hey guys,” Draco called out to the slayers. “I got an idea. If someone’s reversing the magic, they’re gonna get blamed. So let’s make them blame us.”

“So, sow some chaos? Awesome, Salamander!” Argo grinned as they raced into the city.

In the Anima room, Mystogan and Pantherlilly were still arguing. “I’m telling you, let me take the fall. They need your guidance once it's all gone!”

“And that’s why I need to take the fall. As a king, I deserve all the scorn that’s coming to me!”

As their argument heated up, a guard rushed in. “Your majesty, there are armored figures destroying the city!”

Mystogan and Pantherlily looked at each other and raced out of the castle. When they got there, they saw that Draco and Argo were using their Dragon Roars on abandoned buildings. The crowd was already calling for their arrests as they created chaos. Poor Wendy tried scaring people, by looking at an actual demon and trying to growl. No one was scared until Argo decided to point a weapon at them and they ran off.

“They want us to kill them,” Lily wondered.

“Exactly, but they’re acting. Which is exactly why I’m gonna “beat” them before they go home,” Mystogan told him marching out.

Draco saw him approach and grin. “So this is the prince of Edolas huh? Let’s see if you can’t save your kingdom!”

“Dragneel, come on!” Mystogan said, throwing a punch only for it to be countered and taking a hook to the jaw. Unfettered, Mystogan fired back and landed a clean hit to the skull. “Stay down!”

Draco spat in his helmet. “No way, I’m not leaving without giving you a proper Fairy Tail goodbye.

Mystogan widened his eyes, tears beginning to form. “You’re…”

“You're still one of us!” Draco declared fighting back. As they exchanged blows, Draco began to recite the pledge. “Rule number 1: You can’t reveal anything sensitive about Fairy Tail! Ever! As long as you live.” He paused his punching as he tried to remember the second rule. “Fuck! What’s the second?

“Don't use the friends and contacts you made as a member for personal gain!” Mystogan told him. 

“Right!” Draco praised. “And Finally! Though our paths diverge!

“You must continue to Live your With All Your Might!” Mystogan picked up.

“You must never consider your life less than significant to others!”

“And you must never forget the friends who love you!” Mystogan finished landing an uppercut and knocking Draco onto his back. Looking at the “downed Rider” he smirked. “Goodbye Draco! Keep protecting everyone!” As he said this, Draco began to glow and be lifted into the air. Argo and Wendy quickly joined them as they waved their farewells to the Fairy Tail guild members. 

Lisanna looked at the people she called siblings for two years. “Mira, Elfman…”

“We know,” Mira began. “We knew for a long time you weren’t our sister. But you gave us two more years with a loving sister that we wouldn’t have gotten.”

“We love you, Lis,” Elfman said, sniffling. “But, it's time to spread your wings. Go...return home, be with your real siblings. And your boyfriend.

“I don’t want to go,” Lisanna whimpered, her body beginning to glow. 

“Don’t think of this as goodbye,” Mira told her. “Think of this as waking up. You're meant to do great things.”

The animal mage nodded and slowly she followed her fellow Fairy Tail mages up into the sky.

Moments later, everyone landed in a forest clearing outside of Fiore. Natsu, having been dehenshined, sat up. “Are we home?”

Gabby who was holding onto Tori looked around. “I think we are, I remember it raining when we got pulled into the Anima.”

“That was some trip,” Grey groaned, cracking his back. “Hey Erza you alright?”

The scarlet haired knight stood up. “I’ve been better, Knightwalker was tough but I prevailed.

Before anyone could speak, another voice spoke up. “Everything the Anima took should be back to normal.” Everyone turned to see Queen Shagotte and the rest of the Exceeds walking up.

Carla hissed. “Haven’t you done enough? Get out of here!”

The former queen shook her head. “We’re trapped here just as you are. We have no home at the moment. I am sorry for everything that happened.”

One of the elders spoke up for the confusion. “You see, the Queen had a vision of Extalia’s fall, so we sent 100 of our kids eggs here, to save them, with the imaginary mission of capturing Dragon Slayers. All went according to plan, except Miss Carla here somehow had the gift of precognition. Your memories mixed with this, and created the false mission in your mind to kill the dragon slayers.”

“Carla wasn’t lying when she said she was the princess,” Tori realized. “You wouldn’t do this unless you had a stake.”

Shagotte nodded. “That is correct. Now, we must leave. We need to find the other children lost to us.”

“Mother,” Carla sniffled then ran up and hugged her. “I’ll miss you.”

“Mother…that’s a title I don’t deserve...at least not yet. Maybe after we rescue the other children we sent here.” The queen looked at Wendy. “Take care of her.” With that the Exceeds took flight, heading off to parts unknown.

“So I guess we should go to the guild,” Lucy wondered.

“Agreed, Gajeel promised he would make me a member.” 

Gajeel laughed. “Is that you Lily?

“Yes it's me,” the Exceed confirmed. However, the transition from Edolas to Earthland had shrunk him to Happy’s size. “I guess this world shrinks us down to size to hold the magic we have.”

The Iron Dragon slayer rushed over and glomped him. “I told you you were gonna be my cat!”

Gabby rolled her eyes, while Lisanna giggled. The white haired girl turned to Natsu. “Hey, do you know where Mira and Elfman would be?”

“Probably...at your old grave at the Cathedral,” Natsu thought.

Lisanna nodded and kissed his cheek. “Alright, I gotta go, catch you guys at the guild.” She rushed off to find her siblings, Tori and Gabby quickly following.

At the Cathedral, Mira and Elfman were standing in front of a tombstone, the rain adding to the somber atmosphere. Mira knelt down and laid down a bouquet of roses

_Lisanna Strauss  
Beloved Sister  
And Friend to Animal Souls  
X768-X782_

As they stared at the grave, the only sound was the rain hitting the umbrella. 

“Mira!” A voice called out to the older sibling.

“Huh?” She wondered looking around.

“Mira! Elfman!”

“That...voice…” Mira looked behind her and slowly gasped, her eyes widening and tears beginning to form. Elfman wondered what caught her attention and turned and his expression matched hers, slowly dropping the umbrella. 

Lisanna stopped and caught her breath. Looking up, tears were already falling. With a leap, she glomped her sister. Both sisters embraced and began to cry happy tears at their miraculous reunion, with Elfman quickly joining the hug.

Outside the cemetery, Gabby and Tori watched the reunion with happiness. Feeling the rain stop, they looked and saw a black umbrella above them. Not even needing to turn around, they felt Drew’s arms wrap them close and give them a kiss on the head as the rain fell around them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER  
> UO: And of arc, man that was a grind in a half.  
> NS: Tell me about it.  
> UO: Right then more fun stuff in and out of this series ahead  
> New Forms  
> Sirius  
> Dorado: Based on the Portugese fish that we know as Mahi mahi, the constellation itself contains a lot of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest, in space terms, galaxies to our home the Milky Way. As for Sirius’s form, well say hello to Slay the Spire.  
> NS: Yeah, this was my idea. For those of you who’ve never heard of it, Slay the Spire is a roguelike game on Steam that revolves around using cards, which have increasingly complex effects. You’ve got cards to defend from attacks, and for attacking yourself, of course. But where it gets interesting are the cards that play around with the rules. For instance, any Block you generate only lasts until the end of your turn (or a few seconds if applied to this story). Barricade is a card that says that Block no longer dissipates. If one manages to build up enough block, they can then use Body Slam, an attack that deals damage equal to the amount of Block you have. Each character in Slay the Spire has their own pool of cards to draw from, with their own mechanics. The Dorado form pulls from the Ironclad pool, which is the most straightforward character. As for the others, you’ll have to see them in the future.  
> Drew: Essentially Sirius now has a deck of cards that responds to their will, not unlike the Aura Team. But unlike theirs, it only really affects her.  
> Preview: With their Edolas trials behind them, training is ramped up as new ways to fight are discovered. Then a mysterious message is sent to the guild talking about a treasure beneath the vast desert east of Fiore leading to a world of dangerous creatures to seek the mystery  
> Next Time: Argo of the Sands  
> I have a discord and AO3 account. PM or Comment to talk to me or NSG  
> OSPREY….SWOOSH


	37. Argo of the Sands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Riders train and then find a map to their next Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OSPREY…SWOOSH!
> 
> UO: *Checks Script* Alright, we’re finally away from the shackles of canon. Let’s get going.  
> Natsu: Sounds fun  
> Drew: Natsu what’s burning?  
> Natsu: My Fire chicken? Why?  
> *Fire alarm goes off*  
> UO:....I hate this Pandemic. *Dials up Fire Department* Hello...yes, Natsu again, thank you. Disclaimer?
> 
> Lucy: UnitedOsprey1991 and NSG Do not own Fairy Tail Pokemon or Kamen Rider. He only owns the Plot 
> 
> UO: Also we have a discord mine is: discord . gg/ A8tPPB remove the spaces. If you like this story, give it a like and follow.
> 
> "Speech"  
> Text  
> Thought and Lyrics  
> Super Mode/Belt/Monster  
> Attacks/Spells/Techniques
> 
> Chapter 37: Argo of the Sands
> 
> Three days after the Riders return from Edolas September 24th X784, Woods outside Magnolia, Mid morning

Lisanna squinted her eyes as she held her hand up to a tree in front of her, hoping for some sort of reaction, dressed in a white tank top and black leggings. Being a completely new thing to her, it was taking considerable effort for her to do it. The day after she had come home they had partied like a normal Fairy tail party and it had been insane. The next day, Friedrich decided to drop a bombshell.

_ Flashback _

_“You want us to do what?!” Natsu yelled, hurting everyone’s ears._

_“When my freaking hearing comes back I’m gonna slap you,” Drew growled. “As we were saying, Friedrich wants to upgrade and update our armor, because of...how did you put it?”_

_“Your armors are basically armored dresses and suits!” Friedrich pointed out. “Seriously, variety is the spice of life. Back in Tsuki’s time, they might fly, but in the 21st century, with what you’ve been facing, not so much.”_

_“And how long do you plan on leaving us defenseless?” Erza asked._

_“Erza...you're a freaking S class mage, you're not defenseless. None of us are defenseless. We just aren’t going to have our armors for a while,” Misty explained._

_“How much time are you going to need?” Dawn asked more carefully._

_Friedrich hummed. “Well...with all of your different forms, change forms, final forms and all of that...if I work long hours, two weeks...maybe two and a half.”_

_“Do it, I’ll soothe over Tsuki when she inevitably finds out,” Drew told him, handing him his phone and belt. “Want Regulus too?”_

_“That can wait for later, I think. It depends on how closely your belt’s systems are linked to it.”_

_“I have to test it myself. In the meantime," he turned and addressed the others. "Use the two weeks to train your elements. May, Lisanna is a Wood Rider, she’s gonna need your help getting started. Everyone else, let your imagination run wild on what you need to do. Team up if needed. Also, just because you’re training does not exclude fun, don’t burn yourselves out,” Drew ordered._

_Looking at everyone, they could see the serious looks on their faces as they walked over and handed their belts over to the engineer. “Good luck.”_

End flashback

Lisanna panted as she dropped her hand. “How did you know how to do this?” She asked May, glancing over to where the brunette was standing, or rather was rooted. Her fellow wood mage was buried up to the middle of her thighs in the soil. She said this was allowing her to send her aura into the ground and helping the plants and wood life around her as evidenced by the flowers growing healthily around her. She had apparently enjoyed it, cause she hadn’t moved from the spot since they came out here.

May hummed. “Friedrich explained it to me, our ammunition is all around. You're learning a completely different magic than your siblings. Tell me, where do you get your magic?

Lisanna looked at the trees, which were beginning to change colors from the seasons changing. “Most of our forms come from animals or beasts we’ve defeated or met. We can only take over what we know.” At this she changed into her Cat form. “Our bodies can be enhanced in many different ways like this.”

“Hm...maybe...we can use the same concept here. Make the woods and grass and such a part of you.”

Looking back at where she was focusing she held up her hand and concentrated, instead of fighting the magic, she was letting it mingle with her own. Seconds later, she felt something touch her hand. She saw a branch slowly approaching her, acting like a puppy. “Is this... what it felt like?”

“The first time? Yes. The plants are your friends. Treat it like your friend and it will be a powerful ally,” May explained as she created a vine in front of her. Holding up her other hand, she brought a branch down and concentrated on the leaves. 

“What are you doing?” Lisanna asked, her own tree branch wrapping around her arm.

“Fixing our armors wasn’t the only thing Friedrich gave us. He gave us these buds that we’ve been working on. Most of us have one. Mine allows me to create anything from plants.” As she did this, the flowers suddenly blossomed into a green apple. “Want a taste?”

Lisanna took it, looked at it and took a bite. She shivered. “A little too tart for me.”

“Well I didn’t expect it to be a perfect first try,” May shrugged, her breasts bouncing in her strapless sports bra. “I want to expand into more battle type skills and items. I'm not so much of a healer as a support mage. You might consider talking with Dawn about learning some healing skills.”

“Would you like help?” Lisanna asked.

“Yes please,” May replied as the flowers and trees danced and moved closer to them, the brunette teaching her junior what each plant was and what they could do with it.

At a Large Lake outside of town early afternoon

Unlike the serene pace that graced the Wood Riders, there was an atmosphere of tension in the air. Lucy and Anabel, at Misty’s request, had come to hers and Tori’s training area. When Misty told the Metal Guardian that it was time for her to talk to Aquarius, Lucy was naturally scared for both her and her spirit. At her insistence, the blonde agreed after lunch.

The blonde took a deep breath and held out Aquarius’s key, dressed in gym shorts and a tank top. Misty, in her teal bikini, held up a large sphere of water for her to place the key in. **“Open Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!”**

The familiar bell chime echoed through the clearing as the blue scaled mermaid appeared. “What do you want brat?” She growled crossing her arms 

Lucy wanted to back down, but an encouraging look from Misty spurned her on. “I want to renegotiate our contract.”

“Renegotiate? Is that what you’ve been doing with the other spirits?” The spirit asked mockingly. “You're pushing your luck, little girl.”

“This little girl wants to save the world and quite honestly, I’m beginning to question why I keep you around if you're gonna be a bitch," Lucy snarled.

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you.”

“She said you were a bitch, or is that sand from your boyfriend stuck in your ears?” Misty growled. “Do you believe that Scorpio is more important than your summoner?”

Lucy saw the spirit hesitate at that question. “Why is it so difficult” You were my mother’s spirit, why are you always such a bitch to me?”

“Your mother didn’t treat me like a freaking toy! And why do I have to listen to you?” 

Lucy lost any patience she had with the spirit with that remark. “Shut up, bitch! All I wanted was a friend growing up in that mansion that wasn’t a servant, so I summoned you to be a friend! But now I don’t care if my mother had you as a spirit, I’m gonna go talk to Loke about severing our contract!"

Aquarius's temper snapped and she raised her bowl, summoning enough water to create a tsunami out midair. Just as she snapped forward, she froze. Something was keeping her from moving, something that had turned her blood solid and kept her limbs from responding. Glancing over, she saw Misty holding up her hand, her eyes boring holes into her. 

“Listen to me, if Lucy wants to fight properly, she’ll need all of you,” the redhead began. “If you're not willing to fight for her, then why do you still come when she calls?"

“Misty, what are you doing? I had this!” Lucy asked.

“She was about to attack us again, I had to make sure she was listening,” she explained. She hardened her glare at the spirit. “I don’t want to hurt you, I just want Lucy to succeed. Please, just...work something out, whatever beef you have with her, just end it!” She let go of whatever power was holding the celestial spirit, allowing the fish woman a chance to breathe.

“Misty, I think you went too far. Bloodbending really?” Lucy asked worriedly

This seemed to snap the red head out of her anger and her arm dropped limply. “I...I’m sorry.” She muttered looking away in shame.

“You still would defend me?” Aquarius asked the blonde.

“You're my spirit, so I will protect you with my life if I have to,” the Metal Guardian explained.

Aquarius looked away in thought then her eyes softened. “I...need a couple of days, I need to rethink a lot.” She started to return to the Celestial Spirit World and then stopped. Looking back, she had a softer, more motherly smile. “You look so much like your mother, maybe someday I’ll tell you some stories.” At that, she disappeared back home.

Lucy looked at the red head who looked almost catonic. “Misty?”

The red head looked up at her name being called. “Hey…”

“What happened? You normally aren’t like this, you're normally in control of your emotions.

Misty sighed. “I think my anger just boiled over. Aquarius has been a thorn in my mind and it just...snapped,” she muttered. 

“Will you be alright?” the Celestial Mage asked.

“Yeah...I’m just gonna...take a dive for a bit, cool off. Tori, you fine training with Ana?”

“Yeah,” The brunette said.

Misty walked to the edge of the pond then swan dived in. As she dove further, her legs were replaced with a light blue tail, while her bikini top was replaced with starfish pasties. Breathing out and letting the bubbles float up, she felt some of the tension release. For some reason, becoming this form was a stress relief, not that she minded. She paused her dive near the bottom and floated serenely in the water, letting her waist length hair flow freely. _As long as I'm down here, I may as well learn to fight underwater._

Waving her arms, air bubbles formed in their wake. She then thrust it forward creating waves in their wake before. Twirling around, she summoned her bud, creating a large portal. With a flick, a tentacle shot out striking a shelf in front of her and causing it to split. Moving it around, she controlled it like it was a third arm, swinging it around her.

When she added her trident into the mix, it got a little awkward much to her embarrassment. On land, she was used to using her legs to pivot as she swung Lugia through her battles. With her being half fish at the moment, she not only had to contend with the extra muscles but the water around her. With a huff, she started her basic katas again, allowing the water to flow around her and following its trail. 

She finally got to a point she was comfortable with using her weapon, when she looked at the surface and saw orange light being reflected into the lake. "When did it get so late?" She wondered as she began to swim up. Breaching the surface with an enthusiastic gasp, she whipped her hair back and smiled. Glancing over at the shore, she grinned and dove towards a rock outcropping. Hoisting herself up and laying on her stomach, she decided to watch the two Riders on the shore.

Lucy, having recently upgraded her whip, was learning how to pick stuff up and using it as improvised weapons. She had summoned Aries and Virgo to help her out. The adorable lamb was summoning wool blocks to fling at Virgo. The maid was attempting to dodge everything but it was apparent that the spirit was enjoying the punishment that was being dealt out. 

Lucy then separated the segments of her whip and flung them at the maid as she tried to attack the Guardian. The spirit dodged the impromptu bullets before racing in to attack her master.. The blonde smirked as another chain whipped up and tied up Virgo. Evidently being able to merge her weapon into her skin allowed her to hide part of it and send it into the ground.

Looking off to the side, she saw Tori floating on a blue wave of magic. Her bud, dubbed Mana manipulation, made it so that the brunette could rip the magic from the air and bend it to her will. When discussing the possibilities, Anabel had brought up that magic might not be everywhere they go. At Drew's suggestion, Tori asked Friedrich for some books about the occult to allow her to create magic herself. Watching Tori walk on a wave of magic showed how much she'd already learned from it while also adding her own element.

"You look like you could be in a painting," Anabel teased from behind her.

Misty just glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Wouldn’t mind being in a few." 

The empath swaggered closer dressed in a bikini top and leggings not unlike a certain alcoholic. Sitting down next to her, Anabel continued. "You finally taking a break?

Misty nodded, she had been up since before sunrise, getting in her two hour workout routine of arm and leg exercises before Tori joined her for breakfast. Then, they swam laps in the lake, the brunette keeping with her pace for a while before she got tired. Afterwards, was sparing in and out of the lake before Anabel and Lucy joined them. In essence she hadn’t been dry for more than an hour. "Yeah, i might call it a day. Tempted to sleep here tonight.

The dancer nodded and rubbed the mermaid's ass. "When did your ass start growing?"

"...about the time I started training in my mermaid form. All of this exercise lugging around my tail and using it has really made my legs stronger. Apparently my ass decided it wanted to beat my breasts...which honestly is fine, Ash has really enjoyed it," the red head shrugged, her body shivering pleasantly from her friend's touch.

They sat in silence watching their compatriots finish their exercises, the purple haired dancer massaging her girlfriend's tail. "You're still troubled by bloodbending aren't you." It wasn't a question, it was very hard to hide the turmoil from the empath.

Misty looked away. "Yuzan was right about one thing, it's addicting. But I can see why it would be used and why it's dangerous. God, I want to practice it, but I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Then practice on me," Anabel told her with no hesitation. 

"Ana…" Misty began.

"No, I can help you control the emotions. I can show you how far you can go without losing it. Try it on me right now." As she said this, she removed her leggings revealing her long smooth and very sexy legs clad in a matching purple bottom. “I trust you with my life, make me walk out onto the water, make me dance. Do anything, you're in control.”

The mermaid nodded and got into a sitting position. Raising her hand, she sensed the blood in her partner's body. Moving her fingers, she felt the blood move on command as she moved Anabel down the getty. "How is it?"

"Good. I actually understand why Dawn likes me to control her, it's liberating," Anabel replied as she felt her body twirl and then move out onto the water, her own Astral manipulation bud allowing her to walk the surface before going into an improvised routing.

The Water Guardian returned to her human legs, then stood up and proceeded to keep her arms moving, acting like a puppeteer. Anabel, feeling no danger at the moment, let go of all control and closed her eyes, allowing the moment to wash over her. Watching this, Misty wished there was music to accompany this moment, something to think about later. Ten minutes later, she felt her body fall over and Misty caught her. "You looked like you were having fun.

"Same to you."

Misty grinned. "What do you say, we get cleaned up and go out on a date?

"You mean the two of us?" 

"Yeah, Ash has a picnic planned with Dawn tomorrow so why not?"

"Sure," The empath agreed, sneaking in a kiss. They separated and walked hand in hand towards Lucy and Tori.

"Finished?" Lucy asked

"Yep, we're gonna go on a date see ya!" Misty said, wrapping her long arms around the dancer's thin waist allowing her partner to burrow into the taller girls side.

"Reminds me that Natsu should do one with Lisanna, you up for a double date?" Lucy asked Tori.

"Yes. Just let me talk with Drew.

At that they seperated, intent on picking up with their respective Guardians tomorrow.

Next day early morning 

"Again!" Ash ordered as he sheathed his sword. On the ground, Gajeel growled as electricity danced off him. He got back on his feet and pointed Redemption at the Lightning Guardian. With a roar, he charged swinging his sword with a wild man. Ash dodged the first two swipes, before he swung a sheathed Raikou and struck his wrist disarming him before kicking him away.

Lily, who was watching this, frowned. “Isn’t this excessive?”

“He’s not using all of his abilities to the best of his ability. He’s not just the Iron Dragon Slayer, his Guardian Element is Lightning!” Ash told him. “He can combine the two without hurting himself and yet he’s going for a brute force approach

“I’ll show you, **IRON DRAGON’S LIGHTNING NAILS!”** His arm transformed into kunais that he charged with lightning and fired. 

Ash smirked, his idea panning out. “Good start, but not enough!” In a quick burst of movement, he unsheathed, slashed all the kunai out of the air and resheathed it. He then charged forward and slashed across the dragon slayers chest, sending him flat on his back.

Gajeel coughed as he rose to a knee. “You're still upset about Edolas.” 

His opponent’s glare confirmed it. “Your lucky Drew let you keep your belt after the stunt you pulled,” Ash snapped as they recalled what happened yesterday.

_ Flashback, right before the group split off _

_“So we’re all set here right?” Drew asked everyone, who was dressed for workouts or in Friedrich’s case his lab work. “Alright, one last thing. Gajeel, can you step forward?”_

_The dragon slayer looked on in curiosity and stepped forward. Drew took out a coin and motioned to Friedrich. “Call it,” he said, flipping the coin._

_“Tails,” the traveller called as the coin flew in the air. Drew caught in and slapped it on his hand. Lifting it up, it revealed a head. “Alright.” In an instant, he rushed Gajeel and sucker punched him in the gut._

_“What the hell?” Natsu yelled._

_“You didn’t get the full story of when you were at the castle,” Drew began lifting the iron slayer up and judo flipping him into a tree. “The reason we never joined you, was because Gajeel decided to make Pantherlily his cat!” He finished this with a kick and began to punch him in the face. “If things didn’t go our way, not only would most of us be dead, but Magnolia would be gone too. All because you wanted a cat, you Disobeyed my orders!” He picked up the beaten slayer and power bombed him into the ground._

_Erza wanted to rush in and stop him, most of the other mages were about to jump in too. But Ash stopped her with his sword in her way. He and Misty were briefed this was gonna happen and knew how the mages would react. “Don’t, he nearly killed us, consider this his punishment._

_“This is too far even for you!” Erza snapped_

_“And you punishing Natsu and Grey over a strawberry cake isn’t?” he replied, shutting the red head up. “He’s lucky that his belt isn’t being confiscated again and this time he might have stripped him completely.”_

_After a few minutes of Drew beating him down, he stopped and turned to everyone. “You may be Fairy Tail mages, but at the end of the day, I am your commander! When I issue a command, I want it done to the best of your ability, either because I believe in you, or it's the way to victory. What Gajeel did was insubordination! Natsu! Lucy!”_

_The two Guardians snapped up to him. “Y-yes?” They echoed._

_“Though you were not involved, he is your subordinate. You have to give him one too. In the meantime, Friedrich?”_

_Friedrich cracked his neck. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you be permanently maimed. But I was really wanting to get in on the action there. We were right there, ready to come in and back you up, but THIS MOTHERFUCKER!” He lifted Gajeel into the air with surprising strength, “Decided that fighting a goddamn cat was more important than making sure to free us!” Glancing at Pantherlily, he added, “No offence.”_

_“None taken, we were opponents at the time,” the Exceed replied matter-of-factly, shrugging._

_“So instead of me getting a look all those fun magical items that I won’t see again unless another Anima opens, I was forced to be the supporting cast member, making sure he,” Friedrich pointed at Drew, “Could give orders and keep you all alive!” He finished by letting him go and then kicking the dragon slayer in the chest, sending him flying into a large boulder. “So Gajeel, I hope that bailing on your friends was worth it!” With a startling burst of speed, Friedrich launched himself after the young man, his fist smashing deep into the rock next to his head. With a thundering crash, the boulder exploded into pebbles and dust as his magic detonated._

_The dragon slayer coughed as the smoke and dust cleared. “What is this trying to prove? That you can still kick our ass?”_

_“No, this is supposed to tell you that despite the Riders being able to fight alone, you don’t have to. I don’t know what Phantom Lord taught you, but to be able to fight in unison is the key to your teamwork. Argo, your Rider name comes from a legend called Jason and the Argonauts. He went into battle with his people he could trust. Right now, you don’t have that. Take these lessons to heart and remember what greed and envy does to you.”_

_Friedrich walked away, hands in his pockets. Drew looked at Tori and Dawn. “Clean him up as best you can. Lisanna you might want to take a lesson here. Ash, when he’s cleaned up, he’s all yours.”_

End Flashback 

"I was taught better than that, from both my mother and Drew's dad to turn on your friends like that," Ash told him. "Guess Metalicana didn't teach you that much."

"HE TAUGHT ME PLENTY!" Gajeel snapped. **"IRON DRAGON’S ROAR!"** A large magical circle appeared in front of him and a grey tornado spun towards Ash. The guardian noticed lines of electricity dancing through the tempest and grinned. 

“That’s a bit more like it.” He unsheathed Raikou and slashed through the twister. Electricity danced down his own blade as he cut through the maelstrom dispersing it around his body. He walked over to the dragon slayer. “That’s why I want you to figure out. How to combine your two powers, your Iron Dragon Slayer, and your Lightning Rider Powers. Friedrich should have taught you some of the basics.” Stopping in front of the pierced man, Ash concluded. “You got a lot of work to do, to catch up with your powers and make up with Drew.”

“Where are you going?” Gajeel called as the swordsman walked away.

“Got a lunch date with Dawn,” he replied running off.

“Tch, showing off that much lovey dovey garbage makes me sick,” Gajeel scoffed.

“You never know, you could have someone looking out for you.” 

“Yeah right,” Gajeel grumbled as he looked at his hands and summoned electricity in his hands. “Let’s see what we got, Lily.” The Exceed nodded and summoned his sword for sparring.

On the other side of town, Ash was strolling towards where he knew where Dawn was training with Mira and Grey, a basket in his hands containing food Brock and May made for them. Hearing gunfire, he smirked as he knew he was close. Going through the trees he spied Dawn landing away from several bullets, before sending a beam of light through the bullets reflecting off each of the clear bullets until it hit the ice mage. Ash was mesmerized by the way she danced around each of the attacks, though the outfit helped in that regard. The blue haired knight was dressed in a pink and white frilled bikini with garters and stockings that was capped with her ballet shoes, allowing her to dance freely around the battlefield.

She stared down the ice mage who was swinging his weapon around looking for an opening. A tense few moments followed, before Dawn suddenly threw up a Light Screen behind her. Several gunshots impacted the screen before Mira in her Sitri form leaped out of the shadows, her shadow manipulation reaching the point she could hide in the shadows themselves. She still needed a lot of dark areas to do this considering how much magic she would need to maintain it, but knowing her it was only a matter of time.

Speaking of shadows, Dawn was now on the retreat as she dodged Grey’s ice magic and the shadows of the trees Mira was sending at her. While Dawn was very graceful in her movements, twirling around each shot and tendril and firing off Discharges and Bubblebeams, Mira wasn’t an S class mage for nothing. She popped each bubble with a shot from Gambol before she tossed it at the dancing mage while at same time attacking Grey with tendrils.

Dawn saw the whip coming and backflipped away from its reach. Only for her to yelp as a shadowy hand grabbed.

"Got ya!" Mira teased. "Now punishment!

Dawn began to laugh as more tendrils appeared and tickled the girl. Seeing as the battle was over, Mira returned to her training gear a strapless top that strained to contain her breasts and booty shorts. "You're getting better both of you."

Grey holstered his weapon and rubbed his head. "Being an S class is a different level especially with all of these new tricks.

"Most mages are one trick ponies from what we've seen," Ash explained walking up. "Being able to use something that can throw people off makes some mages better." He watched Dawn being tickled to death. "As much as I don’t mind the show, can you let her go?"

Mira smiled and waved her arms. Her tendrils moved the giggling girl and dropped her into Ash's waiting arms. "Have fun you three, I need to take my shift at the bar."

As she walked away, she noticed Juvia walking up with her own picnic basket dressed in a blue tube top and leggings "Hello Juvia, Grey’s just about done."

The rain mage nodded and skipped over. "Grey darling, I made lunch~”

The wolf Rider grinned as he kissed her cheek, making her swoon. The rider remembered the day he asked her out.

_ Flashback Two days before the Anima incident _

_Grey was uncharacteristically nervous. Why wouldn’t he be? He was about to ask Juiva out and to be honest, he wasn’t sure how he was gonna do it._

_“Come on stripper, go up and ask her!” Natsu told him._

_“Unlike you, I didn’t have girls fall into their lap!” Grey growled._

_“Juvia likes you dude, you don’t have to be so...pardon the pun, cold hearted. I think she’s willing to do anything for ya,” Drew replied. “Who knows, you might enjoy it._

_The wolf Rider nodded and walked over to where Juvia was talking with Misty and Tori. “Um, Juvia?”_

_“Yes Grey?”_

_“Um...would you like to join me for... dinner?” Grey asked._

_Juvia blinked, then cleaned her ears out. Then pinched herself. Her face split into a wide grin. “YESSSSSS!!!” She screamed before she fainted in excitement._

_“Ow…” Grey moaned. “Didn’t think she would be that excited.”_

_“And, there goes another bet…” Drew realized pulling out a book. “Damn it! Yo Mira!”_

_The barmaid was in the middle of bouncing around in excitement, “Yes?”_

_“You won this bet!”_

_“Awesome! Now to help Juvia with their date.”_

_After the rain mage recovered, the two went to the same bistro Natsu and Lucy went to, enjoying themselves immensely. Needless to say, they were a couple by the end of the night._

_ End Flashback _

The two boys laid out their blankets and set up their food. Juvia had created a chicken sandwich mustard and some warm soup for the two of them, while Brock packed some sandwiches and some cookies for Ash and Dawn. 

Dawn took a bite out of her sandwich and watched as Juvia helped feed Grey, which he allowed after some hesitation. “You two are cute.”

“Juvia thinks we're the best couple,” the rain mage boasted, “But you and Dawn look like a prince and princess.”

Dawn smiled and nuzzled against Ash. “I'm not as tough as the others. Plus being a healer, they have more incentive to protect me.”

“You're definitely a princess, your Contests were all about showing you and your Pokemon off.”

“Contests?” Juvia asked.

“Back home, Dawn and May were what we called Coordinators. Instead of battling for badges, they fought to show off how graceful their Pokemon were.”

“That certainly explains why her Pokemon looked much more fragile than yours,” Grey theorized. “Not prone to as many fights.”

“Yep. I remember this one time; you saw it at the Miss Fairy Tail. Dawn had Buneary and Quilava create an ice slide that wowed everyone,” Ash reminisced, finishing his sandwich.

“Speaking of, Grey, you wanna show what you’ve done?”

“You sure?” Grey asked. At her nod, the ice mage gently took her pale arm in his hand. Ash and Dawn watch as Ice slowly travels up the girl's body. Instead of covering her like when a normal person is covered in frost, her arm literally was becoming ice. 

“Wow,” Dawn gasped. “Juvia, is this a result of your magic?”

“Yes. My body is literally water,” Juvia explained as ice continued to dance around her body, forming curling paisley patterns. “So because of that, my darling Grey can use it as practice for his Ice Make magic. To know my beloved it is protecting me with his magic,” Juvia sighed, her breath visible.

“Can you control your heart rate?” Ash asked. “At low temperatures, mammals either need a lot of fur or go into hibernation.”

“Juvia i-is fine. My body is used to cold rain, Grey would never hurt me.” Even so, she shivered as every part, save her head, was encased in solid ice. With the way the light was bending through her kneeling form, it was a beautiful sight.

“Can I draw you?” Dawn asked, shaking off her amazement.

“Y-yes?” Juvia replied unsure.

“Don’t worry, she does amazing work,” Ash assured her. “Only you and Grey get to see it.” 

Dawn smiled and pulled out her notebook from her bag and began to sketch, the day lazily passing them by.

A Week Later

A series of firework-like explosions cracked the sky in a canyon far outside of Magnolia. Friedrich watched as Drew punched the air in front of him. Tinkering with the armor on his lap. Drew punched the air a few more times then snapped his fingers. Five large explosions cut through the air, his fists igniting the air in its wake.Taking a deep breath, the Fire Guardian let out a loud roar of flame that was easily twice as high as him and at least several hundred meters long.

“Not bad, you're getting better with your breath technique,” Friedrich commented. 

Drew coughed slightly, catching his breath. “Still not entirely comfortable. How’s the armor coming?”

Friedrich looked down at the armor he was using. “Just about. Thanks for Leonid,” he said holding up the sword, which was pulsing slightly at being held by someone unfamiliar. 

“So what exactly did you add?” The Guardian asked.

“More actual armor, without sacrificing mobility. Your mobility was fine in your body suits,” Friedrich explained. “But if you're already facing M1s, AKs and other weapons, we need something that could handle that and blade edges." As he said this, the armor glowed and disappeared into the phone. "You might need a better trinket."

"Right." Drew nodded as he took Leonid to begin his routine with it. "You think I was too harsh on Gajeel?”

"Not any harsher than me," Friedrich responded quickly. “You're supposed to be the leader, right? Sometimes you gotta be the harsh disciplinarian. To use your analogy, Gajeel would have been court martialed or dismissed for disobedience.”

"Yeah, you’re right," Drew agreed.

"Though in this case, the call should have been on Natsu and Lucy. You need to know when to delegate these tasks. However, I think we can both agree that they would have been lenient, since things ended up alright."

Drew nodded and continued his swings adding flames to each strike and even going through a kata, the flames bending to his will as it followed his every move.

After several swings and a few practice blows against Friedrich, who critiqued where he was lacking, the Guardian took a seat and gulped down his water. 

"Almost time to get back out there, threats still real," Drew commented.

"Yeah, been itching to get out. You were the last one that needed the changes, so after we get back I'm gonna look for a mission," Friedrich said, looking at the sky. A thought occurred to him and he glanced at his friend. "How's your new project coming along?”

Drew smirked and held out his hand. A magic circle appeared and he pulled something metallic out. "What do you think?"

The older man picked it up, looking it over with a critical eye. "Looks great, better than your first iterations," he said, before the object disappeared. "Whatever you guys did these past two weeks should bear fruit.”

"Yeah, anyway I'm gonna head in."

"Go, I need to do some last adjustments."

Drew said nothing and waved him off. Once Friedrich was certain he was out of range, he turned to a series of large boulders off to the side. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he gave a wry smile, then took off running towards the largest one. Leaping into the air, quite a distance thanks to the constant cultivation of his Evolution power, he thrust out his leg, striking the rock at an angle…only to fall stiffly to the ground. “Ow.” He picked himself back up with a grumble before standing back up and backing away from the boulder. “Right. Follow-through.” With another running start, he leaped into the air and did another dive kick at the boulder. However, at the impact, he bent his leg to absorb the recoil, then kicked off, backflipping away to land on his feet with a stumble. “Yeah. That’s the way…once more, with feeling.”

Later in the Afternoon

"Pull!" Gabby called out, her arrow primed to fire. Natsu heard her and slammed his axe into the ground. Six human sized boulders launched like catapults out of the ground and into the air. Three boulders headed towards Gabby, who pulled back on her bow and fired three arrows rapidly. The arrows found their marks and cracked the boulders, splintering them into several smaller pieces. Her hands became a blur as she pulled her bow and fired at each part, breaking them into smaller and smaller pieces. She found some of the larger chicks, and fired at them, the impact sending her magic to split them and hit the smaller rocks, her magic guide the shots as they did so.

The other three rocks were approaching Erza, Milo in its blade form and one of the swords from her Heaven’s wheel form. She began to slash the air, multiple waves of air leaving her swords in its wake. The slashes sliced into the boulders each one splitting the rocks in half until there were none left.

“Time!” Erza called out.

Max, who was Tinkering with his staff adjusting its fins to turn it into a hoverboard. looked at the clocks. “10.6 Gabby, 11.3 for Erza.”

“Damn it, I need to get faster.”

“You’re fine. You don’t need to be fast, you need to be able to get the damage out," Gabby assured her.

Brock walked over having completed his workout, walked over with a robot he Tinkered with. “Then maybe we can find that damage with this, Gabby why don’t you help her out.”

Getting the hint, she motioned Erza to follow her. Once sufficiently separated, Brock grinned and patted Natsu on the shoulder. “Date night with Lisanna right?”

The dragon slayer blushed. “Yeah, I mean I’ve taken Mira and Erza out before, but this was my first friend. And Mira’s sister.”

“Guess it’s a good thing Drew and Tori agreed to a double date tonight,” Brock mused. “Just treat her like the others. Remember the lessons you were taught.”

The dragon slayer nodded and glanced at Max. “Can I ask you a question?” At the younger boy’s nod, he continued. “How do you handle working with your sister who is dating one of your friends.”

“A lot of work,” Max replied. “We’ve been traveling together so long, it's almost become second nature to know the ins and outs of the relationships. Trust me when I say this, as a little brother, I’ve seen more of my sister and the cavity inducing sweetness than I want in my lifetime,” Max gagged. “I’ve seen so much skin in Fairy Tail and on the road, I've become immune to it. Anyway, you're gonna do great.”

“I think you can clock out early,” Brock suggested. “Erza will understand.”

The pinkette nodded and raced off towards his hut, Happy in tow. A few hours later, he was dressed in a red polo and khakis waiting at a pasta place with outdoor dining near Drew’s place with a bouquet of flowers. As he waited, he thought back to his other dates. Lucy on her dates, looked amazing and somehow controlled herself around her, finding enjoyment in going on walks around town. When he dated Erza, it brought out a feminine side of her that he enjoyed seeing, showing she was comfortable removing her armor around him. With Mira, he always knew she was beautiful but on their dates, they were always the envy of others and they knew it. Now it was Lisanna's turn and if he was honest, two years changed a lot and he was nervous that he might screw up their friendship because they probably were different people now

"Natsu?" The object of his thoughts spoke up shaking him out of his mind. He turned his head and he was really glad that he decided to make this work. The Animal soul mage was in a red blouse and skirt combo, showing off her legs in her heeled sandals. She had a touch of make up around her eyes and lips, but as she walked she was turning heads and getting a few slaps from SOs.

"Lis? You look...beautiful," Natsu said truthfully, "Here, I got these for you."

"That’s so sweet," Lisanna cooed, taking the flowers, "To be honest I was nervous and Mira had to help me out. This was what I dreamed off for a long time…who knew I would be sharing you?” She hid her face behind her bouquet.

Natsu grinned and kissed her cheek. It was on this scene Drew and Tori walked up, in a blue polo and khakis and a dark green lolita dress respectively.

"Well now, don't you two look great," Drew grinned.

“Love the dress Lisanna,” Tori said softly as they headed in for their reservation. Any nervousness that Natsu and Lis had for the date ended ten minutes in as Drew and Tori regalled them of the stuff they had experienced prior to Edolas. 

Lisanna laughed as they told her about Grey’s temple. “I can’t believe I missed so much. Do I have one?”

“Oh yeah, however as the newbie, your temple won’t reveal itself for a while,” Drew told her, taking a bite out of his ravioli. “Man this is good. Not many good Italian places that aren’t formal dining experiences.

“Italian? Is that a type of food?” Natsu asked.

“It's a country on a continent separate from ours. Many immigrants and the globalization of our world allows different styles of food to be transplanted. Italian is one of our bigger ancestry groups,” Tori explained.

“Oh you know what you guys would like? Hibachi,” Drew snapped his fingers.

“Hibachi?” Lisanna asked, tilting her head cutely.

“It's from another country, Japan. You order the food and they make a show out of preparing the food. Portions are huge!” Drew said excitedly. “I wonder if Friedrich and May would be interested in recreating it.”

“That sounds amazing!” Natsu said drooling.

As Drew took another sip, he glanced behind them and saw Levy rushing down the street. “Levy?”

The group turned and saw the blue haired girl looking frantically around. Seeing the couples, she let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness I found you guys.”

“What’s the rush?” Natsu asked as they asked the waiter to bring over another chair.

“Sorry for interrupting your dates, but I think I found something at the bookstore that might interest you,” she said looking in her bag. “I was browsing the new wares when I saw this.” She pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. “Something was calling out to me and I bought it. I saw the letters and I knew you would be interested in it.”

Drew carefully unrolled it and looked it over. It was mostly blue with multiple landmarks and grids. “It's a map. Looks like a sea.” He noticed several symbols that resembled a familiar language but right now he couldn’t put it. Spying a name at the top, he read it out. “Telyths...Sea?

“There’s no record of an oceanic sea by that name...but there is a desert by that name over the ocean in Minstrel. Most of the population is on the coast because there’s a huge desert in the middle of the country. It's so vast that it's considered a sea. They're known for their sandships and hunting the creatures there.”

“Because of the geography and geological processes it's possible that the country used to be oceanic,” Tori proposed.

Drew was about to speak when he glanced over at a nearby table to see three men dressed in overcoats and hats. “Those three guys over there, I don't think they’re here for the breadsticks.”

Having been spotted, the cloaked men walked over. “Ms. Mcgarden, can you and your friends come with us?”

“Magic council…I don’t think you're from Fiore,” Drew muttered. “Gentlemen, let us finish our date and we will come with you.”

The second man growled. “Now, or else!

“Or else what?” Natsu growled his fist igniting.

“Natsu...not now, we don’t want to start something to get people hurt,” he said, starting to stand up. As they did so, he happened to glance at a well dressed man. “Punch him.”

“Who?”

“Joe English here, punch him,” Drew ordered.

“Alright,” the slayer muttered. “Hold this.” He handed the man his plate before punching him in the jaw. 

Remarkably quick on the uptake, a woman with him snarled. “THAT'S MY HUSBAND!” She slapped him, and then another man punched him into a large group behind them, toppling them over. Natsu was caught by the group who all had different guild emblems. They stared at the other group, which was more well dressed, almost business like. Drew, seeing the fight about to brew, quickly grabbed Lisanna and Levy by their dresses and pulled them outside, Tori quickly following.

“GET THAT GUILDIE!” All hell broke loose as a brawl not unlike a Fairy Tail one broke out, with multiple chairs and glasses flying.

Natsu quickly found his way to his friends. “To be honest, I’m surprised that hasn’t happened on any of our dates!”

Before anyone could respond, the three cloaked men spilled out as more of the brawlers came to help their groups. "Now we do an Indy escape!" Drew declared as they raced away down the walkway

Levy pulled out her pen and began to draw the word ‘Spring.’ “ **Solid Script: Spring!”** The word materialized into a metallic springing object and dropped in front of them next to the canal. Seeing where this was going, Natsu grabbed Lisanna, who squeaked, and propelled himself across the canal as Levy jumped. Tori meanwhile waved her arm towards the call and created a long ice bridge to the other side. As they began to climb, the three chasing them caught up to the group and tried to get Drew who was struggling to climb the ice bridge in his dress shoes. Cursing himself for not bringing a weapon he kicked the man trying to grab his leg as he struggled to climb.

Tori, who was in boots and created handholds for herself, turned back and lowered her parasol down. Drew saw it and grabbed the handle and quickly raced up the embankment. His momentum carried him into Tori and they slid down to the otherside, where Natsu slowed them down

“You alright?” Drew asked from behind him.

“Yeah!” Tori nodded. Looking back, they saw the three men struggle to climb up the bridge. The brunette raised her hand and clenched her fist. The bridge melted and dropped all three screaming into the canal. They quickly ran towards Drew and Tori’s place

Drew looked at his pants and frowned at the wet spots. “I just got this dry cleaned.”

“What do we do now?” Lisanna asked, sad the date was ruined.

“Levy, call Gajeel and tell him to come over.”

“Why metal breath?” Natsu asked.

“Cause I think this might be his temple, just call it a hunch.”

A few minutes later, they arrived at Drew’s house. Opening it, they saw Friedrich sitting at a table. “I just heard about a brawl at the restaurant you were at.”

Drew waved it off. “People were chasing us no big deal.”

Friedrich growled and threw a wrench, which Drew dodged and it hit Natsu. “Fuckin Hell, just because a brawl is your go to response in the Guild doesn’t mean you get to start shit in public!”

“Would it help that it was to protect Levy here?” Drew replied. This earned him a hammer toss which hit an entering Gajeel.

“Damn it guys! I did not want to work on our date!” Tori groaned as she and Lisanna healed the dragon slayers.

“You have fucking superpowers! USE THEM!”

“Didn’t want people to get hurt!” Drew sighed. “Anyway, they were after Levy for something. Can you clear the table?”

Still steaming, Friedrich nodded and opened up space for Levy to put a map down. “This is apparently the Tethys Sea. It's a desert in Minstrel, the country to the south of Fiore.”

“You said it might be my temple?” Gajeel asked. He had been wondering when he could try his luck, hearing of Grey’s and Erza’s exploits.

“Yeah, the only thing that I could tell was the name. What language do you think this is?” Drew asked.

“You must not not have explored much outside English and Japanese yet, look at this.” He said pointing at a triangle. “That’s Delta.”

“Greek? Damn it I could have translated it...or at least got close.”

“Well, it's not the hardest to translate to English, unlike Hebrew,” Friedrich smiled. “Let’s see…”

“Greek?” Natsu asked.

“One of many languages we speak back home,” Drew explained. “A lot of the languages in modern use take a lot of words from it, especially ours.”

Friedrich traced the first line, “Let’s see… _to the wielder of the Pirate Belt, be warned that to find your temple is to survive the Sand Ocean. Be wary of the beasts that lurk underneath, for they will guard this with their lives. Survive the trials and Light the four torches, and find where they converge. Show your belt, to raise the lost temple!_

“A treasure hunt. And X marks the spot. The question becomes where are the four torches?” Drew wonders.

“Does it have to be ships?” Natsu moaned.

“Well, guess Dramamine is gonna be needed. Levy, are there any ships to Minstrel?”

“Yes, they go out of Hargeon, a daily ferry

Drew glanced down at the map. “Alright then...time for our quest for the Holy Grail,” he said tapping it.

Three days later Diablo Point Harbor, early Afternoon 

Val Habar was the main harbor that had ferries to Fiore from Ministrel. It was also a point of contact for the surrounding countries of Joya, Caleum, Bosco and Stella with it being near a natural bay to the southeast of Boscos inlet. Being one of the few major ports on this side of the country, it was also a great hub for trade, exotic wares and shady dealings. In addition this was the primary city for the fabled Sandships. They magically powered ships that roamed the vast desert sea were the life line to the few major cities in the interior.

Drew looked around the harbor as he disembarked dressed in a blue short sleeved shirt, rugged khaki shorts and boots. "Reminds me of Cairo in a way." He heard moaning and sighed. "Gajeel, I know you didn't want Dramamine but this is what you get."

The iron dragon slayer flipped him off as Levy and Pantherlily carried them down. "Shut up. Not my fault Natsu can't handle it either.

The fire slayer walked down with Lucy and Lisanna, both dressed in tight tan shirts and shorts. "I can handle it just fine especially with these too.”

“You're taking it better than Misty,” Happy chimed in.

The girl in question groaned as she stumped down with Dawn and Ash. The Lightning guardian was dressed similar to Drew only he had his signature cap on. Misty was dressed more modestly than usual, wearing a sleeveless tank top and matching jeans, mainly because of the sand and dryness. Dawn was in a tan ruffled dress with her parasol daintily in her hands. "Goodbye ocean water. That dry air is gonna kill my skin."

"You'll be fine Misty, we have plenty of water.”

"If not, we can always have a scaly girlfriend." Ash joked, only to be bonked on the head.

May and Anabel were the last down, both dressed in belly dancer outfits, Anabels in a familiar purple jeweled set, May in a green set with lace. "So where to?”

"Probably find a place to stay the night and a ship to take us out into the desert," Ash revealed hoisting his girls bags over his shoulder. "Maybe pick up souvenirs.”

"Ash, you work on the hotel rooms. Gajeel, Levy come with me to talk about the ship. Everyone else, stay out of trouble for god’s sake," Drew glared at Natsu as he said this.

Splitting off, they went into different parts of the town.

May and Anabel strolled hand in hand through the market district. With 10 mouths to feed for probably the next week, they were looking for enough food to last them into the desert.

“You think Natsu can control his appetite for a couple of days?” Anabel asked.

“I think so, the trick’s preserving the meat and fish,” May muttered looking at the stall. Racks of ribs and other assorted meats lined the stall, all with very motherly tan women in a long dressed looking at them.

“Find something you like dear?” She asked sweetly.

“Yes, these look delicious, what meats are you serving here?” May asked curiously. “They look fresh.

“Oooh an aspiring chef,” the woman chuckled. “These are from the beasts that roam the desert outside. Hunters go after them and bring in the hauls from all over the continent. I get some good deals from my contacts, in addition to the expected lamb, beef and chicken."

“Is there a way to preserve these?” Anabel asked.

“Of course, we have containers for the long trips out into that barren sea. My goodness on a good wind, it would take about six days by land to get to Midi. 

“Sounds good to me,” May said, pulling out her purse. “Do you have anywhere to get fruit?”

The older woman pointed them towards a nearby vendor while they talked about other things in the town and . As they packed up their food, May bowed to the woman. “Thank you so much.”

“You two take care, especially your friends. There’s been an uptick in great beasts out there,” the woman bowed back.

“That was nice,” Anabel said aloud.

“Makes me miss home,” she said munch on a free kabob. “All of those meals~!”

The empath giggled. “Well Chef May I hope you're ready to cook for some big stomachs.”

The brunette hugged her back and continued their trek.

On the other side of the town, Drew Gajeel and Levy were inspecting the various sandships with a rental service. The man seemed eager to get a sale as he pushed them towards the higher end models.

“This one is top of the line. It can get you through the desert in two days or your money back!” The man said, showing them a two story ship.

“I don’t know,” Gajeel hummed. “We’re not exactly gonna be needing a lot of crew. What do we need to do to actually pilot these things?”

“See those thrusters on the side?” The salesman said. “There are levers next to the wheel that can control the power output. The smaller ships have three, which can be adjusted from the deck. On top of this, the sails can be adjusted.

“So how about the smaller ones, we’re realistically only gonna have ten people.”

“Ten huh...well I don’t have many in stock, most of them are being used for hunting you know,” the shop keeper said nervously.

“Oh show them the ships ya have, Draven,” a mysterious voice called out. The four turned to see a well dressed man in a blue overcoat and hat. His eyes glowed with mischief as he flicked a card in his hand. “They’re definitely looking for something fast if they came all the way out here.”

Draven growled. “Tobias, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be guarding that Fortune bitch?”

Tobias stopped in front of them. “Miss Fortune noticed this group step off the Fiore ferry. Based on their behavior, they might be mages. She sent me to keep an eye on em.”

“Tch...fine, I have a ship that might fit,” Draven grumbled, leading them to a smaller ship near the edge of the docks. “The Titan Silver, a fast trade ship but has the fire power to take on the largest of the beasts that haunt this wasteland.

Drew looked at it and then at Gajeel. “What do you think?”

Gajeel glanced at him and then back at the ship. “Forget it, I don't trust it now.”

“Very well, we will come back later. "As they left Drew turned to the taller man. “Thank you, Tobias was it?”

“Yep. Tobais Fate, Card Mage and teleporter extraordinaire at yer service,” he bowed with a southern drawl. 

“You said your boss wanted to keep an eye on us, why?” Levy asked curiously

“I find it strange, mages from a Fiore Mage Guild were out here lookin’ for something,” Tobias told them. “So did my boss. She wanted to keep an eye on ya. You haven’t caused trouble have ya?”

“Not yet, though knowing one of us, it won’t be too long,” Drew grumbled.

“So what are ya looking for,” Tobias inquired.

“We’re looking for a temple somewhere in this desert. We have no idea where we’re going, only this map,” Gajeel said, holding what Levy bought. “Is telling to light torches or something.

“I see. The only temple I know of is the Temple of the Argonaut. But I thought it was a legend.”

“Looks like it might not be a complete legend,” Pantherlily responded. 

Tobias hummed. “You're gonna need a navigator. Without knowing the dangers on the sands, you're not gonna get far.”

“How much do you want?” Drew asked.

“You read my mind. As it is, Miss Fortune’s been looking for someone to handle a mission. If you're willing to take it down, I can provide the keys.”

Drew looked at his current companions. “Where do you want to meet?”

“Red Star Tavern, 7 PM,” Tobias told them. “Till then.” In a flash, the man teleported away.

“Can we trust them?” Levy asked.

“I don’t know. Whoever Miss Fortune is probably didn’t get her name from being a pushover. We should at least hear her out,” Drew told them.

They quickly headed back into town to meet up with the others. At 6:50 that ten humans plus 2 Exceeds approached the Tavern. As expected of a tavern on the water, it brought in all sorts of rough individuals, from grizzled sailors to less scrupulous individuals all looking to get drunk and create chaos.

“You sure we should be doing this?” Dawn asked, scooting closer to Ash.

“Well, it's not like we’ve got a lot of choice. We have no way of knowing what goes on here,” May responded.

“Come on it feels like Fairy Tail!” Natsu said pounding his fists, only for Misty to grab his shoulder.

“We’re not gonna start a fight. If you do, so help me I'm making sure you take the slowest ferry home,” she growled.

“How do you want to do this?” Ash asked, ignoring the attempted fratricide.

“We go in, try to be civil, talk to Miss Fortune and walk out. Clean, simple and we can probably get out of here with our heads intact. Girls, stay close, I don’t trust the guys in here.”

The group walked in through the doors and all activity stopped. They stared at the newcomers, especially May and Lucy, whose figures and their outfits drew the men’s attention.

The blonde shivered. “I really don’t like this.”

“Relax…” Drew assured her. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, is a woman named Miss Fortune here?”

One of the men near him stood up. “What’s it to ya?”

“Business opportunity apparently,” Drew said, showing his sword. “And if you know what’s good for you, don’t come closer.

“Or what?” Another man said, standing up along with several other thugs drawing their weapons.

“Look,” Gajeel growled. “We’re not here for a fight, just get this Fortune lady out here.”

This was apparently the wrong thing to say as several charged the group. Drew groaned and lifted his sheath before jabbing into one guy's gut then slamming it on his head before doing the same to three others. Misty spun her trident and slammed into another’s jaw. May and Anabel double teamed and leaped up and kicked three back into tables knocking them out. Lucy and Lisanna fired their whips that disarmed their group, followed by multiple Lucy kicks. Gajeel and Natsu lifted up two of their opponents and then dropped them onto another table before they tag teamed them with flying elbows. And finally Dawn spun her parasol striking her opponent in multiple points before using the handle to trip them. All in all it took about 10 seconds for the bar to go from mocking to scared of the group in front of them.

“So, let me ask you guys again!” He said, kicking one of the sailors chests. “Is Miss Fortune around?”

A pair of boots stomped their way forward. The Riders turned to look at the newcomer. It was a very voluptuous woman with mid back length red hair, with a tri pointe hat. Her attire was a white corset top leaving her flat tummy bear and exposing a lot of cleavage and skintight black pants with knee high boots.

“You’re looking at ‘er. Sara Fortune, charmed to make your acquaintance.” she spoke with a smooth southern drawl.

“A pleasure, I believe we have a meeting?”

“Indeed, come to the back. I got the chefs making some food for you all.”

The group moved to a back room where a long table had been set up, with plates and drinks lining the top. Sarah sat at the center of the table and motioned them to sit. "Please sit, your guests here. My apologies for the patrons.

"It's no big deal," Drew said sitting across from her. Subconsciously, Ash and Misty sat on his right and Natsu and Lucy on his left, with their respective groups following suit. 

“It's interesting a group of mages from Fiore’s magic guilds showed up here of all places. I thought you legal guilds stayed out of trouble.”

“We’re Fairy Tail, lady, trouble finds us!” Natsu grinned.

“Ah yes, Fairy Tail,” the red head ignored the disrespect. “That still doesn’t answer the question.”

Drew motioned for Levy and Gajeel to pull out the map. “So, we found this map in a bookstore of all places. The name Tethys Sea led us here. I believe Tobias said something about the Temple of the Argonauts?”

“Yes.” Sara hummed. “This country wasn’t always a desert, it used to be a chain of islands. Thanks to the Dragon Wars 400 years ago, the seas boiled and formed the land we now call Minstrel. The Temple though was sunk beneath the waves long before the wars. No one has been able to find it, but one of the things consistent is that there was an enormous treasure underneath it. But no one whose gone out has ever found it, either through exhaustive searching or death by the monsters on the wastes.

“So do you have any idea what the Four lights are?” Gajeel asked.

“Four lights...it can’t be, the Beacon towers?” Tobias realized.

“Beacon towers?” Levy inquired.

Sara waved over one of her men who laid out a map in front of her. Unlike the map Gajeel had, this one was filled in with landmarks, notes and other routes. “The Beacon towers are four landmarks that dot the vast sea. You can say they’re checkpoints on the various interior routes. No one knows where they came from or what their purpose is. But if these beacons lead somewhere…”

“We can find whatever they’re pointing towards and that’s where the temple is,” Ash deduced.

“So, you wanted us here for something,” Misty said, bringing the conversation back to focus.

“Yes. You clearly aren’t versed on the interior. What I propose is I send Tobias here with you to navigate your way to this legendary temple. In exchange, we want you to hunt something.”

“Hunt? Now you're speaking my language!” Gajeel boasted. “What’s our target?”

“There have been several monsters that roam the sands. Hunters are normally sent to cull their numbers. Unfortunately,” another person pulled out a picture and laid it out for all to see. “This one has been worse.”

The well-drawn image did not inspire confidence in the Fairy Tail members: it depicted a large, piscine beast, covered in thick, overlapping, rust-colored armor plates, particularly along its elongated head. Its back was covered in thick spikes, and its head looked a great deal like the tip of an ungodly thick spear.

“This is the Dah’ren Mohran. This beastie’s killed four of our crews and has caused other trade companies to limit their trading with the interior. Some of these towns rely on our trade,” Tobias told them.

“Can we really take this thing?” Lucy asked.

“Heck yeah we can Luce!” Natsu grinned.

Sara grinned. “I like that attitude. In exchange for a ship and a navigator, we want you to eliminate this beast. You will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts.” At this, several chests were rolled out and opened, revealing them full of gold and jewelry. This made Drew whistle. “Damn, Levy, how much is there?”

“At least 100 million Jewels, if not more.”

“Indeed. In addition, the parts off this will be extremely valuable. You can trade those parts and the meat into the shops in town,” Sara grinned. “What do you say? Do we have an accord?”

Drew looked at his friends, their reactions ranging from nervous anticipation to confident smirks. He looked back at Sara and raised his hand. “I believe you got yourself some monster hunters.”

Sara nodded and shook it. “We do indeed. Now then, allow me to feed you. We can have your ship ready to go in the morning.” She snapped her fingers and various dishes were brought in for everyone. “To a good hunt!” 

“Aye!” Everyone cheered clinking their glasses

Two days later 

The Riders found themselves on Miss Fortune’s personal craft, _The Syren._ The Caravel sized ship had three large thrusters, one on each side and a third behind the wheel allowing for relatively fast maneuvering. On the deck were two large poles with four towering sails on each. Tobias had given everyone on board a lesson in manning the sails, which they eagerly took too as they danced around each pole to move them into each pole. At the rails were a pair of cannons and ballista on the port and starboard side, behind the wheel was another set and in front was a large ballista cannon called the Dragonator. May and Anabel, being used to working on small bars, made their work and art form as they swung and leaped across each arm. On deck, Ash and Misty were looking off to the starboard side, while Dawn and Lisanna watched the port, Dawn painting the landscape while Lisanna comforted a motion sick Natsu. Up at the wheel, Drew was at the controls, Levy and Lucy were marking their progress. Gajeel and Tobias were watching the sky.

“How close are we to the first Beacon?” Drew called out.

Tobias looked around off the starboard side and then pointed a tall shape in the distance. “Over there. About three miles to our southwest.”

“You heard them girls!” Drew called. “Adjust the sails about five degrees and be prepared to move them. Everyone heard the order and quickly moved to their positions

Anabel and May nodded and grabbed a set of ropes near them. They dropped down to the deck, Ash and Misty catching both of them before helping them pull the ropes and unfurl it the side sails. Meanwhile, Lisanna and a slightly recovered Natsu began to spin the dials to adjust the sails position.

“How’s it look?” Drew called back.

“Good enough, we should be there in about ten minutes,” Tobias said.

“Alright, Lucy, reduce power in the right engine,” Drew ordered as he flipped the left engine's power output up and spun the wheel. Once the bow was in the right direction, they reset the sails and sped off. Soon enough they reached the tower. It was a talk black structure that resembled a lighthouse. It stood on a small rocky outcropping.

"Alright Gajeel, you need to light this," Drew ordered. "Everyone else can stay here."

The Iron Dragon Slayer nodded, and with Pantherlily's assistance walked down the gangplank, Levy following.

"What are ya doing Shrimp?”

“Something as ancient as this, I want to see it and take notes, this architecture is incredible.” 

Stepping off the gangplank, they spotted a door that had somehow survived the ages in the desert. Opening the door, they saw a spiraling staircase to the top floor. 

“Great, have to go all the way up the stairs,” the dragon slayer grumbled as they began the long climb up. A few minutes of exhaustive climbing later they reached the top. It was mechanical in nature, with a large glass that magnified the light and cage surrounding it.

“So what would make this start. I don’t see a fuel source and the magic surely is gone by now,” Lily observed.

Gajeel walked around the machine looking for anything. On the opposite side of the light was a small indent. "I think I found something.

His companions jogged over and examined it. "Hm...it's not a key, though it looks like a ring?" Lilly wondered.

"Try one of yours," Levy offered Gajeel.

Gajeel pulled out the transform ring, slid it on and then pressed it in. A click was heard before they heard gears begin to turn slowly. The cage opened up as did the roof and the light climbed its way up into the sky. A few moments later, the gears stopped and the light at the top turned on though it wasn’t immediately obvious due to the mid-afternoon sun.

“That works,” Gajeel chuckled. “Alright let’s get out of here he told them as they headed down.

Drew saw come out and turned towards Tobias. “Where’s the next one?”

The cards wielder traced where Drew had circled on Gajeel’s map and moved it further to the right. “East of here, on the canyon walls. Dah’ren was spotted here so let’s be careful.”

Drew nodded and got everyone in position to move as he started up the engines. Once Gajeel, Levy and Lily were on board they took off.

About two hours later, Drew looked at the setting sun. “Hey, Tobias, does Miss Fortune have a time frame on when he wants this beast dead?”

“Not really, but the sooner it's dead, the sooner we get our ships back out there.”

Drew nodded and turned to the rest crew. “Alright, listen up. We’re probably gonna have to travel through the night to get to the rest of these and look out for Dah’ren. Figure out who deals with what shift. As for me, someone else wants to take the wheel?”

“I’ll do it, I know how to pilot this,” Misty offered as Levy followed her up the stairs. 

Drew let them take over and walked over to one of the ballista on the port side as they approached the canyon. 

“Anything?” he asked Ash.

“Not really,” the Lightning Guardian told them. “Other than some expected monsters we’re not hunting. Though I have seen some trails following us.”

Drew hummed as they came to a stop and Gajeel started his trek up the carved stairs and took the binoculars from Ash. Miles of desert greeted his eyes, the wind causing some of it to blow through the air.. “Reminds me of the Sahara. I can't believe it used to be ocean here.”

“Weren’t some deserts underwater at one point?” 

“Some, not all,” Drew replied, “Explains the shell like fossils in places like Mali.” As he said this, he spotted a black fin dropping below the horizon. “Man, this world’s nuts. you never think about creatures big enough to swim through the desert. Most are small intentionally to conserve energy.

“We’re good to go!” Gajeel called out as he landed back on the deck. “Where do we go from here?”

“It will be several hours to the south from here,” Tobias called back. “The fourth one is not that far from that.”

As the day turned to night, the shifts began as they traversed the sands under a clear almost moonless night. The cool breeze made the girls hug closer to their men in their bunks, with Natsu being a natural furnace and Ash being extremely receptive to the cuddle piles when they weren’t on shift. 

The sun was rising as Tobias held the wheel. He had been up most of the night as the pilot, volunteering to take over from Misty. As he drove, he heard the door to the bunks open and out came Dawn, who was combing her bed head with the penguin thing she called Piplup.

“Morning, darlin’!” Tobias called out. 

Dawn looked up and waved. “Morning,” she yawned as she climbed the stairs and sat in the navigator’s seat. “How much further do you think?”

“Maybe another two hours, give or take. I’m gettin’ worried we haven run into Dah’ren yet.”

“Guess we can count our blessings,” Dawn muttered as she pulled out her sketchbook and pencils.

Tobias hummed. “So what’s your story? I figured a dainty little thing wouldn’t be caught up in the guild life.”

“Well neither would Lucy or Levy,” Dawn countered.

“Blondie? I figured she got too tired of the stuff life and hooked up with Pinkie. As for the bookworm, I think she was intrigued by it. As for you, I don’t get it. You look like you belong at a beauty pageant or some kind of posh mansion.

Dawn nodded. “I guess I kind of was. I used to train Pokemon, my summons to show off. I had to get dressed up and everything. I met Ash when I started my journey. You can say love makes us do crazy things.”

“Love huh,” Tobias chuckled. “Well unless he don’t mind sharing, Sparkie and Miss Mermaid are joined at the hip.”

“Oh trust me, Misty knows how to treat a girl right,” Dawn said casually. “May would know too and Anabel has a special charm that makes you fall under her spell.”

“Wait...what?” Tobias asked disbelievingly. “Next you’ll tell me Pinkie is also hooked up with Miss Blue Eyes.”

“And her sister.”

Tobias' jaw dropped and almost lost control of the wheel. “I...really don’t get you guildies. But not my business. But I stand by what I said, you look like you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Well then I guess my act worked,” Dawn giggled.

The door opened to reveal Drew yawning. “Geez, how do sailors sleep on these hammocks?”

“Morning Drew, you sleep well?”

“As well as I could have, I suppose,” he said, pulling out the binoculars. “Guess I should get metalhead up.”

“I got it,” Dawn said, racing down the stairs and into the cabins.

As Drew yawned again, his ears perked up. Looking into the horizon behind them, he frowned. “Thunder, interesting.”

“Look sharp, we’re at the Beacon!” Tobias called out as he shut the engines down. 

As Gajeel hopped off, Drew called out. “Make this quick, I’ve got a really bad feeling.”

“Don’t be paranoid,” Gajeel waved him off.

“Now, Argo!” Drew ordered.

“Fine, fine!" he grumbled, staggering off.

Levy made to follow, but Misty grabbed her. "What?"

"I've been with Drew long enough to know something’s about to happen. Stay here." Levy nervously nodded.

"Lis get up in the air, I need eyes!" Drew called out. 

Lisanna quickly turned her arms to wings and flew up past the crows. Scanning the horizon, she spied several leaping figures going through the sands. Then, out of the distant horizon a dark spear rose and sank. Rising again it began to head towards the _Syren._

“We got incoming! What do we do?” Lisanna responded.

“How much time have we got?” Drew asked.

“Maybe...five minutes!”

“Get Gajeel!” He ordered as the lighthouse began to activate, the Take over mage flying straight up.

Up on the roof, Gajeel was pulling his ring out as Lisanna landed.

“What’s going on, Little Devil?”

Lisanna’s cheeks puffed up. “Don’t call me that! We have to go NOW!” She flew over and grabbed his shoulders with her talons. 

“LET GO!” The dragon slayer growled as they flew out and down onto the ship. Seeing the two land, Drew flipped the engines on and quickly sped off to the last beacon.

“Where is it?” Drew called out.

Ash looking off the starboard side spotted the figure rising and falling back. “Holy cow, this thing reminds me of Groudon!”

“That big? Crap, get on the guns and get your belts!” Drew ordered. “Tobias, you might need to fly us in. Levy! Get up here and help!”

“We’re gonna need people to carry the cannonballs up from the brig, same with the bolts!” Tobias called back.

“Lily! Happy! You're on runner duty, Ana, May, help them out!"

Everyone scrambled into their positions, with Misty joining Ash on the starboard, Lucy and Dawn on port and Anabel and Gajeel behind them. The ship shook as the creature breached the surface. It was massive, easily as long as the ship they were on, and covered in thick, rust-colored, armor-like hide. As they watched it past, they saw evidence that they weren’t the only ones who have tried to take this thing down, with burns from explosions and arrows sticking out of its body.

“What is with this world and huge monsters?” Misty asked.

“Heads in the game!” Drew called out as Dah’ren Mohran hit the surface. The landing shook the ground and the ship, knocking the crew off their feet. Drew recovered first.“Everyone alright?” 

“Can we get off this roller coaster?” May moaned.

“It will be alright!” Ash called out. “Should we transform?” He asked his fellow Guardian.

Drew stared at the wake as it made another round. “Do it! Let’s see what Friedrich’s tinkering did to them!”

“Transform?” Tobias wondered as he watched the group pull out various buckles and ring. He was surprised as belts formed out of nowhere as Ash and his crew inserted cards into their belts, the creature called Pikachu forming Ash’s. Meanwhile, Drew pulled out a rectangular device and pressed something on it.

**STANDBY: VISCOUNT! LEO!**

The mages slipped on rings in the meantime, while Lucy pulled out a golden key. The belts began to chant different words.

**SHABADOOBIE! TOUCH TO HENSHIN~!**

**RAISE ANCHOR!**

As one they posed and shouted. “HENSHIN!”

**COMPLETE**

**EVOLVE**

**FLAME…PLEASE~! HI! HI! HI HI HI~!**

**SUMMON: ARCHER**

**ARGO! SETTING SAIL**

**SET! OPEN! D-O-V-E! DOVE!**

The deck lit up in a cacophony of lights and sounds as each Rider transformed. When they all finished, they quickly realized that their armors had changed from their formerly skin tight, dress-like forms, at least for the girls.

Zodiac’s armor had been overhauled, transformed into a sleek, glossy gray armor, inlaid with intricate, glowing red engravings, his helmet now resembling a roaring lion’s head even more, with a ‘mane’ of flames trailing behind it.

Aura was now clad in a set of dark blue plates, made from an almost bone-like material, with bright yellow fins all along his thighs and shoulders. His helmet’s large eyes were now crowned by a pair of antenna, shaped like lightning bolts.

Triton’s color scheme was a richer blue, with an armored, scaly half-skirt around her hips, armored boots and along her broad shoulders were two sets of upward-swept spikes. A knight-like visor now ran along her eyes, and her mouthpiece was fitted with a rebreather-like device.

Kusa’s armor kept some of its dress-like qualities...though in this case it now looked more like something Erza might wear. Her skirt now reached down to her ankles, made up of great steel plates, reinforced with a mottled green material.

Kyokan remained rather streamlined compared to the others, her colors mostly dark, with hints of red and blue. The skin-tight undersuit across her midsection now bore a silver fishnet pattern, and her boots were wide, mostly hiding the shape of her feet.

By contrast, Hanabi’s armor could only be described as soft and fluffy. She now wore a large, puffy white coat, pants and boots, with a large swathe of cloth around her shoulders, and a fur-lined cap over her large, bug-like Rider eyes.

Draco’s helmet had been transformed into that of a knight, but with a huge, jutting lower jaw, and his long coat had been abbreviated to an open vest of sorts over his armored chest, with a thick fur collar. His pants were now patterned orange and red, like flaming tiger stripes, and his undersuit clung tightly to his powerful biceps.

Finally, Argo was dressed in what could be considered a gladiator’s armor, only instead of gold or another bright color it was dark like the iron that the dragon slayer ate. His faceplate was round and flat, apart from the customary large, dark eyes.

Zodiac looked at his armor and clenched his fist. “Not bad, Fried.” 

“Nice light show, but we still have that beast!” Tobias pointed to the stern.

“Kusa, Kyo, get on the guns! Draco, Argo, we’re gonna try to get on as it passes! Pleia, Hanabi, keep us from falling!” Zodiac ordered. 

The two Riders quickly got up on the ballista turrets and looked down their sights. Dah’ren roared as it breached the sands again and began to swim towards the ship. With a pull of the trigger, the arrows flew from Hanabi’s weapon while with explosive force, Kyo launched the cannon. The projectiles struck the beast, causing it to roar in pain as it leaped up and dove back into the sand. The two girls kept firing until out of range and entered the range of Triton and Pleias. They pulled the triggers and let loose the ordinance, the kickback rocking the boat backwards. When the ship stabilized, the three Rider rushed up and leaped off the deck and onto the beast.

Catching themselves by digging into the skin, Argo called out. “This thing’s got armor plating! What the hell?”

“If its armor we gotta get underneath!” Zodiac realized. Looking around, they spotted where some of the ship's shots had found their mark. “Argo! Draco! Crack through that piece there!”

The two dragon slayers nodded and crawled their way towards the crack in the armor. Pulling out their guns, they began to pump rounds into them. Unfortunately, they had slower firing weapons compared to someone like Zodiac’s pistols, but the tradeoff was the incredible damage they were dishing out as each round chipped the armor. After several powerful shots, the cartaliedge was exposed. 

“This oughta get some damage,” Zodiac grinned as he walked up spinning his sword and planting it, igniting the sword. This caused Dah’Mahren to roar in pain. With a snap of its body, it flung the boys off and dove under the sand.

“Damn it! Hang on guys!” Pleiades shouted as she thrust Mutsraboshi out of her hands. The metallic whips caught the dragon slayers as they flew over the deck. Zodiac, being further up and considerably lighter than the two flew out of range and their friends watched as he dropped below the deck.

“Zodiac!” Aura yelled as he watched his friend sink below the ship. 

The Fire Guardian righted himself and pointed his wrist at the ship. A grappling hook fired from its launcher and struck the hull. Sending power into his feet, he propelled himself the ship, pulling himself with the wire. Landing his feet on the hull, he fired his other hook up to the railing and pulled himself all the way up, rolling onto the deck in front of his friends. “SAFE!” He declared, imitating an umpire. “And thank you Friedrich! You keep saving my bacon!”

“Where did you get that?” Aura asked.

“I'm the only one without a way to get into the air, so I asked Friedrich to whip up something that I can get around the battlefield. I can say it worked!” The Guardian grinned. Looking over the bow, he pointed out something. “That’s the last beacon! Argo, you're gonna have to run the moment we pull up!”

“Right!” Argo replied, pulling up Condemnation and aiming the hook on the bottom. Once they got close, he fired it, the hook sailing into the cliffs and pulling himself up.

“Everyone else, keep up the pressure!” Zodiac ordered. “Tobias, keep us sailing!”

“Triton, Pleia let’s go!” Aura shouted as the Dah’ren Mohran surfaced and they leaped out to keep doing damage, the roars of the beast as it fought showing they were still doing work but it was still fighting hard as it flew and collided with the ship.

At the beacon, Argo had climbed his way up and found the slot to activate the mechanism. Slamming it in, he waited impatiently as the tower activated. Hearing the rumbling outside, he cursed. “Damn it, I should be fighting not doing maintenance work!” He stormed out onto the railing and watched as the _Syren_ raced around the isolated structure. “How am I gonna get down there and onto the ship with that giant whale throwing us off.” Looking at his hands, he suddenly got an idea and chuckled. “Watch this, Rat boy.” Taking aim at the exposed parts, he fired off 12 large spears of iron right at the beast. By good fortune, Dah’ren was rising out of the sand, so its great size could not move fast enough to avoid the impacts. It let out a loud roar of pain as it slammed back into the ground, dazed from the blows. 

“One fried Shark coming right up! **IRON DRAGON’S THUNDER SPIKE!”** Electricity built up in his hands, creating a large ball of energy, before he thrust it forward, releasing it with a massive boom. The blast raced through the air before hitting the top most beam. The electricity traveled down the metal bar before jumping to the rest, causing the beast to roar in agony.

“That is awesome!” Zodiac cheered. Then he saw the thing was slowly starting to rise. “We need to finish it before it goes underground, everyone activate your finishers! We need to take it down in one shot!”

“Use the cannon!” Tobias called out. “That thing can pierce through that armor, but you only have one shot!”

Pleiades nodded and snapped her arms forward. Mutstraboshi fired past the deck and landed behind Morhen’s eyes and ribs. The Guardian slid forward, the size of the east starting to overwhelm her. “Not good! Levy! Grab Taurus’ key and slide it into my belt!”

“On it!” The blue haired girl shouted racing up to her friend. Finding the key, she grabbed it and after fumbling with it, she slid it in and twisted it.

**SUMMON: BULL**

Now in her bulkier and stronger form, the Guardian stopped sliding, holding the beast in place as it writhed and bellowed in pain.

“Great job! Now it's our turn!” Hanabi shouted, pulling two cards out, charging them up, Kyokan matching it.

**BOUNCE  
DRILL PECK  
COMBO: DRILL KICK!  
METAL CLAW  
HAMMER ARM  
COMBO: HAMMER KICK!**

The two raced down Mustraboshi’s whips, their legs glowing pink and silver respectfully. When they got in range they leaped up and kicked upwards into an exposed flesh. The surprising force from the two girls knocked it into the air. As they fell, they both summoned Light Screens as stepping stones for Aura, Kusa and Triton.

**HIGH JUMP KICK  
FORCE PALM  
COMBO: AURA KICK  
AQUA TAIL  
AQUA JET  
COMBO: JETSTREAM STRIKE!  
BLAZE KICK  
DOUBLE KICK  
COMBO: BURNING BARRAGE**

All three bounced off the transparent screens, their legs glowing with power. Kusa went first and with swift blows, pounding the beast further and further up, once she ran out of momentum, she summoned a Vine Whip and grabbed the two Guardians and flung them forward. Aura’s legs glowed blue, while water swirled around Triton’s legs, forming a dolphin’s tail. With a loud shout they connected with their kicks, the power coursing through their bodies focusing on their legs as they sent the beast further into the air. On deck, Zodiac rushed towards the bow, his arms stretched behind him.

“How about some more!” Zodiac called sliding to a stop and snapping his arms forward. Behind him, Draco was wrapped around his grappling cable with Columbia on his shoulders in her . When the Fire Guardian snapped forward, Draco used his flames to propel himself forward, Columbia holding on tight as they were launched like a jet fighter towards their target. Once they were away, Zodiac rushed over to the Dragon Cannon to help Levy load it.

Up in the air, Draco pulled out his finale ring and slipped it on, Columbia doing the same, before placing them over their belts.

**FABULOUS! KICK STRIKE! SAIKOOOOU~~!**

**GATE, OPEN! DOVE POWER STRIKE!**

The two riders reached the apex of their flight before Columbia flipped Draco above her and twisted to aim at Mahren. With a loud shout, both Rider descended rapidly, the image of a fiery dragon and a silver dove descending behind them. The two kicks struck the top of the head, the impact sending the beast spiraling into the sands. As it reached the sands, Levy stood by a huge wooden lever that stuck out of the ground, ready to throw it. With a calculating eye, she waited for the right moment to flip the switch. Seeing what she wanted, she heaved it forward with a cry. “Take this!”

Suddenly, the prow of the ship split open to reveal a massive barrel, before a massive, multi-edged, serrated spear launched out, piercing straight into the monster’s head while spinning at high speed and releasing a gargantuan spray of blood. The blow finally put the beast out of its misery as it collapsed into the sands, its body falling still.

“HELL YEAH!” Draco called out.

“That was freaking awesome!” Zodiac grinned cheering as the rest of the Riders cheered on board.

Tobias watched from the helm and tipped his hat. “You boys and girls are something else. Not bad.”

An hour later, the Riders were busy packing up the remains of the Dal’haren. In order to transport it, the guys had to cut it up into various parts, which Tobias was all too eager to help them do so.

“This should be the last of it, you boys and girls sure don’t want to be in the hunting business?”

“Nah, we got our own stuff to worry about!” Ash said hoisting up one of the spines. “How much are these worth?”

“You're looking at easily the amount we’re paying you for some of the internal parts. Most of these can be made into armor or worked into weapons,” Tobias revealed. 

“Well we won’t know till we take care of the stuff here,” Lily pointed out. “The Temple is somewhere out in the wastes. It could take days to find it.”

“Well, I guess we need to look at the map,” Ash sighed as they packed the materials in the hold. Everyone made their way to the bunks where Drew, Gajeel and Levy were pouring over both maps.

“Any luck?” Ash asked.

“Not yet,” Drew grumbled sitting down and looking at the ceiling. “It’s hard to match the landmarks on our map and compare it here.”

“So we’re here,” Gajeel pointed at a spot which was marked by a miniature of the ship, “The other beacons are these circles right.”

“We might be out here a while,” Levy sighed. “This desert goes on for hundreds of miles. No wonder the temple couldn’t be found.”

“I wonder if it will make more sense to go into port, cash in and go back out,” May pointed out.

“That still runs a risk of someone finding out and hounding us,” Anabel countered from her lap.

“Why can’t there be an x like on most treasure maps?” Dawn pouted.

Drew slowly widened his eyes. “Wait a minute...

“What?” Everyone asked

(Start He’s a Pirate from Pirates of the Carribean.)

“I…” He said his face morphing into a grin. “I need a ruler!”

Levy created one and handed it to him. Lining up the ruler with two of the circles he drew a line that connect the two, then did the same with the other two. “There was an X and it was staring at us all the time.” Everyone stared at the Argo map and then at the field map Tobias had.

“Four hundred years, and no one thought to connect the bloody dots.” Tobias groaned.

“Well, what are we waiting for, get the sails going!” Drew ordered. This made everyone scramble up the masts as Drew took the wheel, spinning it in the direction he wanted and activating the thrusters to full speed. 

A half hour later, everyone was excitedly scanning the horizon. “We’re close guys, keep looking. Gajeel, anything?”

The Iron dragon slayer looked at his rings. As they got closer, his transform ring began to glow slowly. They concluded that as they got closer it would blink faster. He held it up and pointed in different directions, getting a stronger reaction off the port bow. “That way.”

“Alright,” Drew called out, slowing the engines down. “Guide us in.”

Gajeel nodded and marched up to the bow. He called out each direction as the rings shining got brighter and brighter. Five tense minutes later, the dragon slayer felt something spark. “STOP!”

The engines shut down at that order and the boat waited patiently as Gajeel swept the air in front of him. The ring pulsed then shot a large beam at the sand in front of them. Moments later, the ground began to shake. Slowly, a large stone structure rose from the depths of the sands. It was made of sandstone, the sand easily sliding off it. Multiple statues lined the walls, of different animals and creatures. As the temple came to a stop, a long staircase unfolded from the main entrance which opened with a loud groan. 

The shaking stopped and everyone took in the sight of the large temple.

“This...is a Temple?” Levy asked. “This is so big, what did the ancient build this out of to last so long?”

“This is...amazing,” Lisanna whispered.

Drew, Ash and Misty approached Gajeel, with the Fire Guardian patting the slayer on his shoulder. “Welcome to your test, Captain Argo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter  
> UO: Done and Done! Many this was a lot to fit in. The training segment was put in cause we needed something to show their progress. This was also an excuse to change the armors under Friedrich’s guidance. For those familiar with Monster Hunter, they would be familiar with Dah’ren Mohran.  
> NS: For those NOT familiar: a big sand whale that must be shot with slow-ass ballistas while it chucks rocks at you.  
> UO: And showing off the new gear. So thanks for sticking around  
> Preview: Gajeel tackles his temple and quickly realizes brute force won’t win when his senses are put to the test.  
> Next time: Legendary Resolve  
> We have a discord come check us out: https : // discord. gg/ sBv6Fa6XrV  
> OSPREY...SWOOOSH

**Author's Note:**

> END OF Chapter
> 
> UO: Alright New story and hopefully new fans. I hope you like it. This is the unbetaed version, once its betaed, I will post it. But for now, read and review kindly.
> 
> Preview: A new world greets the Guardians. But their old enemies rear their ugly head. New friends and their abilities will make them selves known. What will happen? Find out next time.
> 
> Next time: Welcome to Fiore


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